The committed cameraman
New films from Mila Turajlić salvages footage from the Yugoslavian news archives to tell a story of non-aligned internationalism against Cold War bipolarity.
6382 Article(s) by:
Fatima B. Derby
Fatima B. Derby is a Ghanaian feminist writer and queer activist.
Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo
How ‘Dawn’ magazine illustrates the significant role women played in South Africa’s armed struggle against apartheid.
Will there be another uprising in Egypt?
Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is running for a third term. On the Africa Is a Country podcast, we discuss what this means for the country.
The junta belt
What’s fueling the military takeovers sweeping across West and Central Africa?
Reading List: Joeva Rock
We often hear from Western donors that Africa suffers from food ‘scarcity.’ The real problem is the exploitation of African land, labor, and knowledge.
The Airbnb’fication of Cape Town
AirBnb is making the idea of a liveable, walkable city unattainable, while deepening inequality and decimating local industries.
African digital culture in context
How might a longer view of African art-making affect our understanding of what counts as art, text, and authorship?
Underground politics under Senghor
In the 1970s, young left-wing activists fought clandestinely for Senegal’s democratization under Senghor’s brutal regime.
The people’s cup
This week on the Africa Is a Country podcast, we discuss the politics and spectacle of African football with Maher Mezahi.
Reading List: Vincent Bevins
The last decade saw the most protests in human history. But how is it that so many uprisings led to the opposite of what they asked for?
Reimagining non-alignment
In the context of climate apartheid, a new scramble for resources, and debt crises, the Global South must find another way to be human.
Living on the land
Small scale farmers in Tunisia are caught between international actors and a domestic policy that protects corporations.
Against exceptionalism
Although visibility is important, contemporary queer African literature reveals how easily representation privileges narratives of the resourceful and upwardly mobile.
Amazon in Cape Town’s murky waters
The predatory tech giant is at the center of a heritage site land grab, pitting indigenous and environmental activists against city authorities.
Divided loyalties
Somalia’s political landscape is increasingly fragmented due to regional and clan differences. Is this the end of the centralized state and a unified, national identity?
Landscapes of ambition and neglect
While Ethiopia’s leaders chase shiny new projects that are grand monuments to themselves and modernity, they ignore the country’s rich, natural heritage.
An ungovernable mind
Frustrated by most of his contemporaries, but supported by like-minded friends, Zimbabwean author Dambudzo Marechera forever changed our notion of what African literature is.
Taking care of each other
How a new underground club in Nairobi offers Kenyans respite from the harshness of everyday life.
Nothing good comes of France
France is not a new problem for Africa. Since the 19th century, it has stood in the way of the continent’s self-determination.
Beyond the headlines
Recent violence across the Eritrean diaspora is being instrumentalized by populists. But the violence is a desperate cry for attention and requires the Eritrean opposition to seize the moment for regime change.