Africa Is a Country

Winter In America Edition

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Winter In America Edition

By
Africa Is a Country

Music Break Number 102 goes out to our American family, set to face four years of struggle against a new set of rulers.

Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Image credit John Lucia via Flickr CC BY 2.0.

The former British colony of the United States of America, inaugurates its 45th president – a far-right fascist – today. The great theorist of American foreign policy, Noam Chomsky sums up the general mood to Brooklyn Rail:  “… The stakes are very high: literally, survival of organized human society in any decent form.”

For that reason, this weekend’s Music Break goes out to our American family, who are set to face four years of struggle against a new set of rulers led by “a mendacious and cathartic white president.” The political decisions made in the nation with the largest military, some of the world’s largest corporations, and the loudest media companies in the world affect all of us.

But let’s not be too quick to panic.

Suppose American citizens are firm in their resistance. In that case, the regime will be checked by a balance of powers (we’d recommend some political history, e.g. Corey Robin and Stephen Skowronek), and a law-making and enforcement regime that is spread between 50 semi-autonomous states (though the power these states enjoy, could see some of them – those governed by hard-right Republican Party politicians – introduce retrogressive laws around trade union organizing,  the minimum wage, abortion or gender rights).

For starters, you can play these sounds – 21 minutes long and courtesy of Chicago MC Common and the imitable Steve Wonder – to drown out the noise of Donald Trump’s inauguration speech today.

 

Further Reading

Africa and the AI race

At summits and in speeches, African leaders promise to harness AI for development. But without investment in power, connectivity, and people, the continent risks replaying old failures in new code.

After the uprising

Years into Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict, the rebellion faces internal fractures, waning support, and military pressure—raising the question of what future, if any, lies ahead for Ambazonian aspirations.

In search of Saadia

Who was Saadia, and why has she been forgotten? A search for one woman’s story opens up bigger questions about race, migration, belonging, and the gaps history leaves behind.

Binti, revisited

More than two decades after its release, Lady Jaydee’s debut album still resonates—offering a window into Tanzanian pop, gender politics, and the sound of a generation coming into its own.

The bones beneath our feet

A powerful new documentary follows Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi’s personal and political journey to recover her father’s remains—and to reckon with Kenya’s unfinished struggle for land, justice, and historical memory.

What comes after liberation?

In this wide-ranging conversation, the freedom fighter and former Constitutional Court justice Albie Sachs reflects on law, liberation, and the unfinished work of building a just South Africa.

The cost of care

In Africa’s migration economy, women’s labor fuels households abroad while their own needs are sidelined at home. What does freedom look like when care itself becomes a form of exile?

The memory keepers

A new documentary follows two women’s mission to decolonize Nairobi’s libraries, revealing how good intentions collide with bureaucracy, donor politics, and the ghosts of colonialism.

Making films against amnesia

The director of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ reflects on imperial violence, corporate warfare, and how cinema can disrupt the official record—and help us remember differently.