When Achieng met Ellen
Ellen DeGeneres wanted an African story. Achieng Agutu obliged. Don’t hate the player, though, hate the game.
6429 Article(s) by:
Paul Milchick
Paul Milchik is a pseudonym for the author of this piece. His name has been changed due to his status as an international student in the US during the second Trump administration, in a context where foreign students have been targeted for detention and deportation as a result of expressing pro-Palestinian views.
Arabic literature and the African other
Racist, anti-black stereotypes persist in Arabic literature. It reveals a racial anxiety and othering of Africa among celebrated Arab authors.
The ruins of a mining economy
The physical and psychic ruins of colonial mining practice in a small town in Liberia.
What are the alternatives to neoliberal trade?
The African Continental Free Trade Area and alternatives to neoliberalism.
Celebrating May Day: Trade unions as schools of democracy
At the heart of the protest movement in Sudan is a trade union. Proving again that democratic influence and change require collective participation and organization.
The African Lion
Labour challenges in Ethiopia’s industrialization.
The energy that never dies
On the eve of Baaba Maal’s first New York City concert in 8 years, Oumar Ba interviews him, asking about protest movements, the music business and Senegal.
The margins of urban life in Angola
In Angola, the poor are not entitled to full citizenship rights. They also are the base of resistance to the regime.
Renovating the AfricaMuseum
An overview of some of the problems and opportunities that the reopening of Belgium’s infamous AfricaMuseum brings.
Why I’ll keep talking to South Africans about race
While Nigeria’s class divide is not between rich whites and poor blacks, it still has a lot in common with postapartheid South Africa.
The revolution in four-part harmony
A good time to bring back this piece—first written in 2002—on the power of song to fuel political struggle.
Rescuing Nelson Mandela from sainthood
There is a lively, angry, often chaotic debate about the role and place of the father of the South African nation.
Reclaiming the narrative of the Algerian revolt
The outcome of the Algerian revolution should not be pre-determined by a (neo)liberal Euro-American global order. Listen to the people.
Why are South African children struggling to read properly?
Poor reading scores among South African children highlights the need for decolonization in book publishing, teaching and policy implementation.
Another rhino report
Media coverage of rhino poaching in Southern Africa not only fails to address white control over conservation, but also reinforces it.
The African Union passport and dreams of democratic mobility
On mobility, democracy and making a decolonized future for Africa.
Gutting the public sector serves no one
Structural Adjustment Programs, implemented by the World Bank and IMF in developing countries, leave the administrative state especially unequipped to deal with climate change.
The Nigerian electricity story
The erratic electricity supply in Nigeria is a metaphor for life there.
Who gets to speak for black French people?
There is a long history of white artists representing black people in France, reproducing stereotypes and failing to capture the people they claim to represent.
Zombie statistics and poverty porn
Two sides of the same e-waste documentary.