Steve Biko’s Son
Nkosinati Biko on a close and present relationship with his father that is unusual for children in general and for the children of activists in particular.
6395 Article(s) by:
Fatima B. Derby
Fatima B. Derby is a Ghanaian feminist writer and queer activist.
M.anifest has a new music video
Big up @M.anifest for the new video (showcasing Accra's transportation infrastructure), and congrats to the Black
Inbox
It has come to this. Don't focus too much on the 'your scholarship' line. An email
Salone Got Riddim
Short film about the rhythm of daily life in Sierra Leone, and the dancing talents of the country’s women.
Trouble at the Global Fund
What's going on at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB & Malaria (GFATM)? It recently canceled a new round of grants because funding has severely declined, and commitments made by donor countries have yet to materialize. As a result of the lack of funding, progress in many countries against the three diseases will be crippled until GFATM has the resources it needs. Last week Executive Director of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine also resigned.
Die Antwoord Butchering Old Beats
Die Antwoord play the media game well. What they still do badly is “borrowing” from other people’s work.
Very African and Very Modern
Congolese artists Konono N°1 and Baloji collaborated by merging “traditional” sounds from Africa’s biggest country with hip hop.
Rapping in ‘Father Banana’s Country’
The challenge of creating anti-commercial rap in Angola: a market with bling, swag and surly sisters.
The First Black Woman to win Sundance Best Director
Aava DuVernay leads a movement to organize African-American film festivals and secure theatrical releases for black independent films.
Dubai could do with a lot more of this
Dubai can actually be a city of gems that might surprise you. Like soul musician Hamdan Al-Abri, who is of Zanzibari descent.
Shoutout Banlieue
Number 8 in our series, Paris Is a Continent, showcasing the music of the French capital, is about bragging rights and one song.
The Nordic Connection
Hip hop artists from Stockholm and Helsinki team up; also repping their ancestral lands of Congo and The Gambia.
Colonial Fantasies
Just a sample: A “Heart of Darkness”-themed ship, Tarzan in South Africa and a travelogue on the Congo River.
Africa is a Country is on Twitter and Facebook
We have a new @Africasacountry Twitter account. Follow us there and on Facebook too.
Oprah’s expensive South African education
The talk show host started a private school for girls in South Africa. Shocker: it mostly makes things worse.
Thandie Newton is bi-racial, and not Igbo
Thandi Newton choice as a female lead in the screen adaptation of “Half of a Yellow Sun” has some people upset.
Vincent Kompany is from the DRC
What countries do footballers playing in Europe’s top five leagues come from? That’s not such a straightforward question and answer.
A photograph cannot give you concrete information
Despite her reluctance, Zarina Bhimji’s work does engage with her personal history of Indians’ expulsion from Uganda.
The whole ‘Afrobeats’ thing
Afrobeats is broadly what most people think when they try to define black music in the UK. But it is hard to pin down.
The forefront of innovation
There needs to be another solution than free market capitalism globally to promote artistic creativity. The experience from Sierra Leone is not encouraging.