Why Blogging is a Threat to the Ethiopian Government
In the past decade, more journalists have fled Ethiopia than any other country in the world.
Politics
The Politics of the Belly
The bottom line of politics in electoral democracies in 21st century capitalism: Whatever patronage politicians dispense, there’s no free lunch.
Fumana isazisi sakho. Bhalisa. Vota.*
I came across this image taken by a press photographer in May 1990 after one of the first public meetings between the last white minority government and the liberation movement (led by the ANC), to negotiate a new political order. This was the ANC delegation to that meeting in Cape Town. The people in the image […]
Elections and captured politics
Twenty years after 1994, there is the deep discontent among the population about electoral politics and of politics in general. Freedom turned out to be a mirage.
A Rwandan storify: The sensational tale of Rwanda’s gospel-singer-terrorist
Stories shift quickly in our 24-hour news cycle. The sensational tale of Rwanda’s gospel-singer-terrorist is no exception. Authorities have attempted to shape the narrative and control the headlines. For better or worse, Rwanda’s embrace of social media allows us to see how a most clickable story unfolds, and changes, over a few weeks. Kizito Mihigo has long […]
Seven Things To Tell Young Black South Africans
Being Black in South Africa today must be a baffling, sometimes humiliating experience.
This is Freedom
The AIDS activist Zackie Achmat reflects on South Africa’s 5th democratic elections in this interview with Cape Town independent media outlet, GroundUp.
The Villain Is Back
Senegalese president, Macky Sall, is so unpopular that the PDS party of Abdoulaye Wade and Y’en a Marre - sworn enemies - agree on things.
“Our hearts are bleeding. We are mothers.”
Last week, Guardian lead writer Anne Perkins wondered about the discrepancy between media coverage of the South Korean ferry tragedy and the abduction of 200 girls from a girls’ school in Chibok, in Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria. She asked why there was so much coverage of the Korean children who died in a ferry […]
What do Nigerians really think and know about homosexuality?
Nigeria's homophobia is at variance with Google analytics, which shows that Nigeria ranks in the top five in the world for searches for gay porn.
Who sold Nigeria to the British for £865k in 1899?
The Royal Niger Company and the founding of what became Nigeria.
The Economist sees a bright side of Oscar Pistorius’ trial
For accurate, detailed and nuanced information about violence against women in South Africa, don't read The Economist.
The post-1994 power brokers and black liberation
Where does this leave the majority of largely poor, black and unskilled people affected by the competing interests of powerful groups?
News from Nigeria
The writer, who lives in the U.S., travels with her teenage son back to Nigeria just as the country proposes a new law to criminalize same sex love.
Nigeria, come get your president
Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent in Nigeria, gets the hashtag treatment - gets mocked on Twitter - for his government's inaction and policy uncertainty on a range of fronts.
A History of Nigeria’s Police Service
Asides from a few isolated cases, Nigeria's police force was never really an investigating force.
Africa Is a Country Radio: Episode #1
Listen to Africa is a Country Radio every month on Groovalizacion. March’s episode was the first one, and it features music from Sierra Leone, Angola, Colombia, Brazil, Portugal, Nigeria, Ghana, and more! Old episodes will be archived on the site here, and via our new Mixcloud account. Last month’s show is streaming below. Look out for the next […]
Race Science Files: New York Times edition
Just what level of racist insanity does an "expert" have to exhibit before the New York Times starts to think they're not an expert?
Who are Boko Haram, and how did they come to be?
This is currently Boko Haram's structure: a cellular structure, and no centralized command, and seemingly no unity of purpose.
A Short History of the Slave Trade in Nigeria
A public service as a response to Nigeria's removal of history from its school curriculum