Power against Power in Ghana
Art – especially music – occupies a double-edged place in Ghanaian history in its relation to power.
Ghana
MLK was a Pan-African
On the third Monday of January each year, Americans mark MLK's birthday with a public holiday. Africans should too.
The market decides if we are free
Ghanaian political-economic actors are limited in their ability to change conditions because of massive debt and the influence of investors and loan-makers.
All you need to know about Ghana’s December 2016 elections
We asked a group of experts--journalists, academics and an architect--a bunch of questions about the elections. First: Does it matter whoever Ghanaians elect as president?
Africans Migrate in Africa All the Time
The majority of African migrants move between countries on the continent.
If you love me, help me grow Ghana
It’s hard not to imagine what could have been, or indeed could be in postcolonial Ghana if the political will and right management was in place.
Shadow and Axed
The latest installment of our film news series, #MovieNight.
Ghanaian Facebook Proverbs
No, Albert Einstein never said this on Facebook: “Having an okro mouth does not mean you will be given banku to go with it.”
Love, race and history in Ghana
Historian Carina Ray on her book that explores the history of interracial intimacy in the Gold Coast and Ghana.
From Lisbon to Lagos
It's the end of the year, so Hipsters Dont Dance made a "Top World Carnival Collabs" of 2015.
The stories of Ghana’s young filmmakers
Heritage inspires content and art conjures thought. With this ethos guiding us, Rebecca Oheneasah Hesse and I launched Bεnpaali Young Filmmakers Festival in Accra as a forum for young artists. A year before, we attended Legon International Film Event (LIFE), a gathering of mostly men from Ghana’s pioneering film industry. By day two, LIFE began to feel incredibly […]
Ghana Takes The Apollo
We arrived at the Apollo Theater to see hiplife superstar Sarkodie at 7:00 p.m., an hour before the show was supposed to start. At 8:00 p.m., the Apollo was barely half-full, none of the opening acts had taken the stage, and we were feeling anxious. Three hours later, and after several heavy Afrobeats hitters brought […]
Ghana’s CHALE WOTE Street Arts Festival and the corporations
The CHALE WOTE Street Art Festival in Accra has grown over the last four years, expanding to new audiences in Ghana and across the world, particularly through social media and word of mouth. In 2015, the crowds came out in full speed and so did the corporations. Local authorities estimate that more than 30,000 people […]
Black Magic Women
‘Black Magic Woman’, by Azizaa, from Ghana, is a feminist reclaiming of the sacred from Christianity.
When I was in school, being African was a diss
Here's Hipsters Don’t Dance's monthly installment of "Top World Carnival Tunes" for July 2015.
Africa, in a state of constant self-discovery
Afripedia is a visual guide to contemporary urban culture on the continent.
Like a weary protest song that has been marching since the 1960’s
Kae Sun, who we’ve featured on this site before, has just released a new single. With an organ vamp that registers like an extended Prince intro, the interrogative lament wanders over handclaps, and rolling snare drums to give the feel of a weary protest song that has been marching since the 1960’s. Fittingly, the song is called “l o n g […]
Obroni, a History
Most Ghanaians think "obroni" means "white person" or "foreigner", but it stems from the Akan phrase "abro nipa" meaning "wicked person."
5 Questions for a Filmmaker: Hawa Essuman
Essuman believes that confining any storyteller to labels like "African stories" is a disservice to the story and the one telling it.
Your concepts of African belonging
The El Foukr R'Assembly collective wants to challenge dominant ideas of African identity and cultural diffusion on both sides of the Sahara.