[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgAhDy41Vwk&w=500&h=307&rel=0] In this short video Portuguese singer Carmen Souza speaks about her third album “Protegid” (which she recorded with Theo Pas’cal), her Cape Verdean roots, the “Rabelados” (Creole for ‘rebels’, or, ‘non-violent rebels of the Cape Verde Island’, as they are known these days) and jazz pianist Horace Silver (himself born to a Cape Verdean […]
Belgian cartoonist GAL turned 70 this year. The relations between Belgium and Congo haven’t been absent in his work. (I provided some context below each cartoon.) Happy birthday, Gal. January 2001. Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel (he famously said, “King Leopold II was a true visionary for his time, a hero“) criticizes the Austrian government, […]
The International Society for Human Rights‘s new campaign. Via Osocio.
A post about Ethiopia that is not about Meles Zenawi’s regime. Next week (Tuesday 7 till Sunday 12 December 2010) the inaugural Addis Photo Fest, featuring a group of African and African diaspora photographers, takes over the Ethiopian capital. (The festival is curated by the young, photographer Aida Muluneh). One of the highlights is a […]
Long before football blogging became commonplace and banal, Davy Lane wrote about football politics as a fan. Brilliantly.
By Peter Alegi In a few hours WikiLeaks will release thousands of secret FIFA documents detailing World Cup match fixing and widespread corruption within football’s governing body. Never before have such confidential documents been released into the public domain. The documents will give people around the world an unprecedented insight into FIFA’s activities on the […]
In 1987, two years before the Congolese grand maître Franco died (although never substantiated, it is widely believed because of AIDS), he released “Attention na Sida” (Beware of AIDS). Today’s new generation of Congolese musicians hasn’t forgotten. Préservons-nous.–Tom Devriendt
By Caitlin Chandler This World AIDS Day, rather than pay attention to celebrities who are “dying digital deaths,” or wearing red, do something small or big that can have an actual impact.
This is the second post in what might become a regular series of posts of snapshots– we’ll call it T.I.A. This is Africa*–that we’ll take ourselves with our phones, digital cameras, screen shots, etc, in our everyday wanderings. Okay, we cheated today since this is a screen grab, but I got this catalogue in the […]
The campaign is accompanied by print ads featuring celebrities in coffins to represent their digital deaths. Can this stop, please?
K.ommando Toxik’s output has been prolific this year. See for example their Persona Non Grata or their appearance in the all-star videos Le Clip Kongolais and Bana Congo RD. “Afrika Star” is another single from their latest album. Shot in ‘les 2 Congos’ (Kinshasa and Brazzaville), it also features Mokobé and M’Passi.–Tom Devriendt.
What is either a gollywog or coon ornament in a Christmas display of an East 17th Street between 5th and Union Square West, Manhattan store, was spotted by my neighbor, Chinnaya Nwosu, last week. According to Chinnaya there were a variety of these kinds of items in the store, including what looked like Sambos with grass […]