The two mutually irreconcilable Nelson Mandelas
Both Nelson Mandela’s historical role in the South African transition to democracy and his own management of his legacy paved the way for vacuous treatments of his life.
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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.
The Woolworths ‘Tribute’ to Nelson Mandela
Are corporate entities really well intentioned in celebrating Mandela the freedom fighter or are they merely using these tributes to position their brands on the right side of history?
Why aren’t we discussing Nelson Mandela’s politics?
As much as the world wants to deify Mandela, to do so in the abstract with no reference to his actual politics is absurd.
Poster art that challenged apartheid
The African Activist Archive Project website contains posters from the African solidarity movement from the 1950s to the 1990s.
My Favorite Photographs: Justine Brabant
Since the mid-1990s, the North and South Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo have
Windhoek characters
Netta Kornberg watch film trailers so you don’t have to: This time, Namibian short films are the focus of her #TrailerTakedown.
We embarrassed Nelson Mandela
For the author, watching memorials for Mandela, South Africans have lost their ability to generate theater, the theater of the mass event.
The day Jacob Zuma lost control of the ANC?
At an event meant to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s life, Jacob Zuma was not only embarrassed by the crowd (they booed him multiple times), by those on stage.
The problem with the Hollywood Mandelas
Hollywood films about Nelson Mandela separates him from the movement that produced him. The fact is, movements made Mandelas, not the other way around.
Four Women Musicians from Niger
Safiath, ZM, Habsou Garba and Fati Mariko: producing diverse sounds in rap, hip-hop and soul.
Remember to call at my grave
John Langalibalele Dube was the first President-General of the ANC. Nelson Mandela its 11th president. Mandela was a great admirer of Dube, an exceptional figure in his own right.
Nelson Mandela Did Not Walk Alone
In the early 1990s I was teaching Economics in a fifth floor classroom at Khanya College
Miley Cyrus has Nigerian parents
Parody performers, the Naija Boyz, take on Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” It is unclear what they’re trying to say.
A Brief Cinematic Guide to ‘Mother of George’
The film is a complex and nuanced exploration of the questions and limits of what one will do for love, told by an unorthodox filmmaker.
Should the Left celebrate Nelson Mandela?
The Mandela who needs celebrating is the Mandela who, if he was not Lenin, never pretended to be something else.
The people need a new myth
The Brother Moves On is not anti-ANC. Their new music rather speaks to the ideals of the liberation movement and asks if this is what we fought for.
The triumphant end of Africa’s liberation struggle
The one individual the African continent was unanimously proud and infinitely grateful of, was Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela’s Humanity was a Political Education
The author, remembering Mandela, writes how South Africa galvanized progressive energies in the US in the 1980s.
When Nelson Mandela had an Ethiopian Passport
In April 1962, Mandela traveled on an Ethiopian passport in the name of David Motsomayi. He visited Morocco, Algeria, and Mali.
Mandela and Hip-Hop
Two years ago, South African rapper and former frontman of The Volume, Tumi Molekane (stagename: Tumi) released 'POWA',