Martin Scorcese namechecks Ousmane Sembene
Scorcese not only restores prints of African cinema classics, he also counts Ousmane Sembene as one of cinema’s greatest directors.
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Miguna Miguna
Miguna Miguna is a Kenyan activist and lawyer.
What Obama means to Black Americans
Black America want better schools, better jobs, cheaper health care, lower taxes, smaller prison populations, stronger labor unions.
The Case of the Missing President
The case of Nigeria’s missing president, Umaru Yar’Adua, can be added to the already long list of problems in Africa’s largest democracy.
The Dadis Show
The most lasting legacy of Guinea’s just deposed recent military leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was his media tactics.
The Music of Alex van Heerden
Van Heerden was a fixture in Cape Town’s jazz and alternative music scenes. His music is now available for purchase online.
Mos Def and the Battle of Algiers
What is that sample of Arabic during Slick Rick’s verse on Mos Def’s “The Auditorium”?
Working class Coloured life in South Africa
The film “Shirley Adams” is the story of a coloured mother in Mitchell’s Plain in Cape Town, struggling to care for her recently disabled son.
Where is Angola?
A random terror attack on a football team gets media to pay attention to the conflict in Cabinda. In the process, they also expose their ignorance.
Superheroes of History
Batman watches Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro addressing US media in an imagined black-and-white 1959 photograph.
The Indominable Lion
Samuel Eto’o is the official face of the 2010 World Cup. He is also the most impressive African footballer of the last decade.
Structures fit for animals
A selection of news items, videos, music from and drive by commentary before I shut down for December 2009.
Why the fear, the fire and the guns remain
The song “Weeping” by Bright Blue is one of five South African tunes (and some of the albums they’re on) that I have on repeat right now.
Delayed and watered down
You don’t come to Africa Is a Country for positive news and analysis. This week’s round-up won’t disappoint you.
Fela Kuti was an AIDS denialist
Fela’s AIDS diagnosis and denialism was fairly well known and an open secret.
South Africans fought for freedom, but won democracy
The famed South African musician Hugh Masekela has a history of speaking his mind on postapartheid politics.
Blood on the chair
Platon, the New Yorker staff photographer got many of the world’s leaders to sit for portraits. A number of African leaders obliged.