Israel’s “blackwashing”
Israel's promotion of itself as a technologically-advanced "white savior" on an aid mission to poor black nations, is a marketing ploy to cover the occupation.
Politics
Mandela Day: Where is our imagination?
We’ve just passed that time of year when the Charitable Industrial Complex puts on its Sunday best for Mandela Day. This is the time every year when well-meaning South Africans clad in carefully chosen ripped jeans paint murals while wearing crisp protective clothing (in case they actually have to touch the disenfranchised). No rest for those thumbs […]
The ‘Brazil of Africa’
That's not a compliment. It is about how development institutions are financing land grabs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Obama Sevens
A complete run-down of all the craziness going down in Kenya ahead of Barack Obama’s visit.
The lesson of Marikana
The relationship between the massacre of workers at Marikana and the rational destiny of market fundamentalism.
El Chapo’s New Escape
El Chapo is already a cartoon that has too much literature. Just like the Mexican government has too much corruption.
In Morocco, a judge agrees: #mettre_une_robe_ nest_pas_un_crime
Yesterday, in Inezgane, south of Agadir, on the southern part of Morocco’s Atlantic Ocean coast, a judge decided that two young women were not guilty of… outraging the public through some sort of indecency. Supporters rejoiced. Defense attorney Houcine Bekkar Sbai declared: “I am very pleased with this verdict. This is a victory not only […]
Five things that can’t be ignored about development photography
Here's two: Cultivate solidarity, not pity. And, showing suffering should be specific. Study up.
Buying, Swapping and Selling domestic workers
The blinding privilege of South Africa’s ‘white’ middle and upper class which has found new means of subjugation: online community groups.
What you need to know about #free15Angolans
For one, their original crime: Gathering as a book club and reading the books 'From Dictatorship to Democracy' and 'Tools to Destroy a Dictator and Avoid a New Dictatorship.'
Germany’s new scramble for Africa?
Germany’s military shift represents the country’s belated entry into a “colonial present.“
What can Africans learn from the Greek crisis?
I asked African and Africanist thinkers and commentators what they make of Syriza's approach to dealing with creditors and what wider connections they can draw to our conditions.
Flying to Frankfurt with a Super Eagle
The author writes about a fleeting encounter with the former captain of Nigeria's national football team, Sunday Oliseh.
Morocco joins the miniskirt wars
In Morocco, the real story is once more that of women organizing, pushing back and pushing forward, creating new spaces precisely where others try to shut them down.
Hillary and Bill Clinton’s Past in Haiti
It’s surprising how little the failures and destruction of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s presence in Haiti have been brought up so far.
An Independence Manifesto
Black people should not be held not responsible for the social limits and ideologies undergirding legal structures.
Colombia and the search for truth
The agreement to establish a truth commission for Colombia have the sides looking at the South African experience.
No country for widows
The astonishing lengths to which the South African state went to demean and diminish Marikana miners, dead and living, and their loved ones.
What Does Democracy Feel Like for Gay South Africans?
During a visit to Durban Pride, the authors conclude that democracy feels strange. For one, it feels like increased LGBTI visibility and increased backlash.
Issa Hayatou: Most Valuable Player?
Every so often efforts are made to justify the world’s obsession with football by casting it as an engine for social development. Football is touted as having the potential to break down barriers between Palestinians and Israelis (Sepp Blatter boasted along these lines last month), football will improve health, reign in street children, pacify gangs […]