The Rise of Grace Mugabe of Zimbabwe
With the exception of Hillary Clinton’s attempt at entering politics during Bill Clinton’s first term as president there hasn’t been a more contentious First Lady.
Politics
Weekend Special, No 1002
A bunch of us went to the African Studies Association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the world’s largest gathering of Africanists. Much transpired. The problems with conferences this large is you can’t cover everything. We made notes and hopefully we’ve found new contributors. For a general sense of what transpired, the tweets of […]
Apartheid Israel
Is it fair to compare Israel to Apartheid South Africa? And no, making the comparison is not antisemitic.
How not to write about Africa: Use “African Spring”
The “Arab Spring” has become our reference point for revolutions in this digital age, including in Africa south of the Sahara. It's ahistorical.
The Right to Grow Old: Photos of the Central American Migrant Crisis
Central American migration, and especially the migration of undocumented children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to the United States, blew up in the American media during the summer. It was a time when many U.S. citizens felt that their government was deporting too many of these children back to the mostly violent and poverty-stricken […]
Football between above and below
In "Futebol Nation," British journalist David Goldblatt explores the social and political history of Brazilian football.
Belgium’s blackface problem
Racism in Belgium is endemic, and not taken seriously. Few people talk about it and even fewer are listening.
Mexico’s deadly virus
The United States lives in a state of constant fear. Currently, Ebola is to blame. The U.S. fears (but maybe also hopes) to be part of a world that is, to some American minds, every day likelier to live a pandemic outbreak like the one in The Walking Dead. But they are afraid to get […]
Bienvenidos a América Latina es un país
Latin America is a Country is the newest member of the Africa is a Country family. The section is coedited by Pablo Medina Uribe and Camila Osorio.
#MyDressMyChoice
In Kenya, women are organizing against the gender and moral police. Theyr'e using hashtags: #SavetheMiniskirt, #StripMeNot and #MyDressMyChoice.
Tis the blackface season in the Netherlands
Zwarte Piet is just more evidence of how the Dutch majority silences and denies racist realities, especially that of black people there.
How To Use a Sjambok
This and other lessons from the South African front lines.
Has the giant fallen?
The split within South Africa's largest trade union federation, COSATU.
Willy Sagnol’s Race Problem
If you tell a lie enough times then people will start believing it as gospel. You know, stuff like ‘He’s not that sort of player’ or ‘Actually it’s about ethics in games journalism.’ The football world is replete with this sort of thing. First there’s The Guardian‘s presentation of Luis Suárez’s interview with Simon Hattenstone. […]
The key figures in Colombia’s Picó sound system culture
The sound system, or Picó culture of the Caribbean coast of Colombia is very close to my heart. Not only is there a strong relationship between it and the popular music of 1970’s and 80’s West and Central Africa, but the propensity towards innovation via digital production (something that I’m near obsessed with as a DJ) is […]
The whole ‘Zambia has a white president’ meme
When Zambian President Michael Sata died in London last week after being sick for some time, Western media (and some on Twitter) spent little time reflecting on his rule (basically a neoliberal disaster coupled with economic nationalism, out and out xenophobia towards Chinese and a massive temper). Instead, people who never write about Africa or […]
How Frelimo rehabilitated Renamo in time for Mozambique’s Elections
An interview with political scientist Domingos Manuel de Rosário, of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, about the October 2014 elections.
Oscar Pistorius and the Judge
South Africa is a divided society with a vile history of injustice. Injustice runs along very bright lines: black versus white, women versus men, the rich versus the poor, government versus the people. For a long time, there wasn’t much debate about whom the law favoured: white, rich males, usually wielding the political power of […]
The Politics of Postapartheid Housing
Rather than the endpoint of the post-apartheid urban crisis, deficient delivery reproduces it anew, accentuating discontent in the process.
What next for Burkina Faso?
The post-coup power struggle is between factions of the military with very different interests and goals.