The New Yorker on violence against lesbians in South Africa
How does an American publication write critically about a country without running the risk of reifying sexual and racial stereotypes?
Politics
Lesotho votes today
The coverage of Lesotho's 2012 elections don't move beyond superficialities and actually delve into the complexities of local politics.
Pinkwashing South Africa
The positive media surrounding ‘Cape Town as a gay paradise’ obscures far more complex realities.
The loneliness of the Kenyan long distance runner
How the death of a very talented Kenyan marathon runner points to structural problems in the country's national running industry.
Joyce Banda and Gay Rights
Is Banda serious about repealing Malawi's anti-gay laws? Is she just cynical so as to secure donor cash? And, what about Malawian public opinion?
Mali: Soldiers Acting Like Children
It's very hard to figure out what the soldiers who took power in a coup in Mali, have in store for the country. Or if they even have a plan.
Blackwater’s “Rwanda”
The fantasies of Blackwater, the Michigan firm of mercenaries and as contractor to imperial powers. Also, how it employs Africa as a rhetorical device to get more business.
The future of Françafrique
Is it France's interests to reform its unequal, exploitative relationship with Africans?
The Other African Election: Sarkozy K.O.’d
What does all that mean for French-African politics? It’s hard to tell what will next emerge from that fetid swamp.
Art and assassination in Angola
A locally produced arts festival creates panic for Angola's authoritarian government, who has, predictably, responded with panic and repression.
No room for ambiguity
Kenyan activists raise their voices, placards and fists over US$500 million allocated but not yet spent for anti-retroviral medications. That’s a lot of money, drugs, and lost lives.
Don’t Talk About Somebody’s Mama
Malians have little patience for Amadou Toumani Touré, Mali’s former president, deposed in a coup on 22 March.
David Cameron’s Libya Doctrine
Britain's secret service, MI5, passed on sensitive information to their Libyan colleagues to torture dissidents.
The verdict on Charles Taylor
A comment on the enigmatic, and ambivalent, presence of rebel leader and former president, Charles Taylor, ten years after he left Liberia.
The Other African election: France’s First Round
Both of the front-runners, incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist François Hollande, have run against FrançAfrique. Easier said than done.
In Praise of Jeffrey Gettleman’s Pulitzer
Pulitzer awarded Gettleman $10,000 for "his vivid reports, often at personal peril, on famine and conflict in East Africa."