Congo blues
Until Joseph Kabila publicly recuses himself from running for a third term, many Congolese will be suspicious of any dialogue proposed by the government.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Congolese Oil Curse
Those extracting value from the DRC's soil over last 20 years show they're willing to do anything—including 6 million deaths—to satisfy global commodity markets.
Sex, beer, and ndombolo
A Congolese writer whose work oscillates between gripping dystopia and humanist celebration.
What are you scared about, Joseph Kabila
Being a pro-democracy, nonviolent youth activist is a dangerous thing in some countries. Like in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
What Liberia Teaches About the Failures of Aid
While health professionals are crucial frontline responders, the Ebola crisis is indeed too important to be left to medical personnel.
Niçoise with sweet potatoes
Differences can be harmonious and allow people to come together despite their background and roots.
Akon’s “giant Ebola air bubble”
That story about Akon, the Senegalese-American R&B singer, performing in an air bubble to thousands of screaming Congolese in Goma, because he doesn't want to get Ebola is false
Christmas Day*
UPDATED: So there you have it. After 120 minutes and a great goal by Mario Goetze (whose name will now be part of German lore like Gert Muller and Andreas Brehme), Germany are World champions. It’s been a magical month. But it is also basically the last time (till the next World Cup in four years) […]
In Search of Freedom
Belgian-Congolese filmmaker, Nganji Laeh, along with musician and composer Badi and filmmaker Monique Mbeka Phoba, explore present day DRC via film.
The Congolization Movement
Creating spaces where artists related to the Congolese diaspora can freely tell their side of the story.
The DRC: A country only imagined without agency
Can European film producers narrate African pasts without reducing these to just European historical developments?
Deadline Congo
Harry Belafonte and Martin Scorsese are planning a TV series on King Leopold II of Belgium's brutal rule in the Congo.
Chief Boima interviews … Alec Lomami
This summer I’ve been hired as a freelancer for Iggy, MTV’s global music website. The site is aimed at young people to introduce them to the idea that pop music is a global phenomenon (if today’s tech savvy youth already didn’t know.) I get paid by Viacom every time I put something up there, but it’s a pretty quick moving stream of content, and posts tend to disappear rather quickly. I thought it would be good to run each one of my posts as a series over here on Africa is a Country.
VICE and the “new journalism model”*
The business of journalism as we know is in trouble and there’s a scramble for a “new journalism model,” with VICE.com held up as the latest prototype (see here, here and here). I am not so sure VICE is the new journalism–it’s partnership with “old media” (CNN, HBO) is old fashioned, it mostly produces sponsored content (nothing new there), owns an advertising agency and makes nice with Rupert Murdoch. Of course, VICE’s style represents something fresh. With its diversity of topics and irreverence, it is a vast improvement on the talking heads of cable news. But, there is also much to dislike about Vice.
Ben Affleck makes the DRC cool again
The New York Times, in its infinite wisdom (it comes with being The New York Times), decided that one of the paper’s reporters, one Brooks Barnes, should write what amounts to a fluff piece (it’s not actual reporting) splintered with quotes in the “Fashion & Style” section about actor Ben Affleck’s supposed maturity and all-round […]
Congo Gold
Congolese-Belgian MC, Baloji: "In Congo, we had gold, but we turned it to something that had no value because we didn’t treat our country with the right respect."
'The Best African Movie'
Last week the Congolese film “Viva Riva” won “The Best African Movie“* award at the MTV Movie Awards. That’s the kind of publicity African films can’t buy and should count for something when the film opens in New York City, Los Angeles and Portland (OR) this weekend. (It is calculated that foreign films make up […]
Tintin in Congo
Earlier this year, the Congolese government declared European development commissioner Karel De Gucht persona non grata because of comments he made to the European Parliament, stating that the weakness of the Congolese state meant that EU aid had limited impact. Kinshasa dubbed De Gucht’s comments as ‘racist, disrespectful and irresponsible,’ barring him from entering the […]
‘The Blood Diamond Myth’
It would be interesting to hear people’s opinions about this argument by writer Adam Hochchild (the author of King Leopold’s Ghost: ) published earlier this year in Mother Jones magazine:
Yesterday and Tomorrow
Nine young filmmakers and artists look into Congo's histories, its present and future desires.