Blue Note
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrvzEbrf8Ow&w=500&h=307&rel=0] Master musician Dudu Pukwana, he played the saxophone, who was part of a great generation
Culture
Obrigado, Pelé
A short film imagines what if Pele, who can claim to be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time), scored his final international goal against Argentina, Brazil's greatest rival.
South African music is more than Graceland
What often gets lost within the narratives of oppression and exile is that the 1960s and 1970s also proved to be an exceptionally vibrant and creative period.
The World Cup and Pan-Africanism
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie observes that international soccer allows for “a kind of nationalism that expands as your country loses.”
Dirty Paraffin is "genre-defying"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5hvSTsYTGk&w=500&h=307&rel=0] We’ve been following The Fader’s Pitch Perfect documentary series since the start of the World
Postcard from Johannesburg
The photographer Krisanne Johnson believes you can learn many things about a country by the way youth live—from fashion to music to home environments.
African Child
The comedy "Get him to the Greek" is a forgettable vehicle for Russell Brand, except for the spoof music video "African Child" opening the film.
Coming to America
How much damage, if any, did "Coming to America" do to a generation of young Americans' views of Africa and Africans?
Adopting Africa
We should talk about American celebrities' obsession with adopting African babies. The mostly unfunny comedian Pauly Shore is not our guide.
Long Live Busi Mhlongo
Some sad news–amid the euphoria of the World Cup–from journalist Bongani Madondo: Busi Mhlongo passed away
Madonna: International Human Rights Defender
The breathless reporting of Madonna's various doings in Africa, including when she is given credit for things she didn't even do, should stop.
Iman is fierce
The achievements of the Somali model and designer, Iman, in a very racist fashion industry, particularly Paris and New York, should be widely celebrated.
Africa on Film: Tarzan!
Few other authors in the 19th and 20th centuries made greater contributions to Hollywood’s racist images
Music Fridays
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watchv=aHkRx1IKlOg&w=500&h=307&rel=0] Ice Cube was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon earlier this week. Of course to
The Stories We Tell About Africa
Chris Abani's musings on telling African stories gets at just about everything Sonja thinks about as she encounters "Africa" every day, and then attempt to write about it.
Tell ’em to skate
The first, and only, half-pipe in East Africa, built entirely by the youth from the Kampala suburb of Kitintale.
From Now On*
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq_HP8mgT8A&w=500&h=307&rel=0] The video for Dutch hip hop group Zwart Licht‘s single “Vanaf Nu.” Via @Mustafa Maluka:
After the Bulldozers
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/11738776 w=500&h=281] Beautifully shot short film about the fate of 10,000 residents displaced after a thriving
Africa on Film: A New Series
We also aim to educate. Over the next few months, Allison Swank will commence a new
Rihanna: Back in Blackface?
In the music video for her latest single, "Rockstar 101," singer Rihanna appears in what looks like blackface.