Typical Colombians
"Manos Sucias," produced by Spike Lee, is set in Buenaventura, Colombia’s biggest city on the Pacific Ocean and also the country’s biggest port. The city is 90% black.
Politics
The Rise of a Post-colonial University
In the last two weeks, students belonging to the #RhodesMustFall collective have rechristened and remade of
Googling “Jan van Riebeeck”? This is for you
Despite his negative legacy in South Africa, Van Riebeeck gets presented by some as someone locals should admire.
Memorializing all Kenya’s terror victims
"I want to go to a place ... where we can find the names of all those who have died for Kenya since 1963."--Binyavanga Wainaina.
How to Govern Nigeria
The historic change that happened with the election of General Muhammadu Buhari has hopefully set the country on a way to rethink its brand of federalism.
How to make sense of #Garissa
For starters, you may want to switch off television news, especially "global news networks," and follow local media as well as the people below on social media.
Jonathan runs out of Goodluck
Goodluck Jonathan becomes the first incumbent president in the Nigeria's history, since the advent of democratic rule in 1999, to lose to the opposition.
Will Africa’s Industrial Revolution Be Made in China?
In 2014, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the African Union that China was planning to move a number of labour-intensive industries to Africa.
Should the African Union Run a Country?
The AU seeks an increased role in emergencies like the Ebola crisis in West and Central Africa and the civil war in South Sudan.
A Closer Look at Mexico’s Drop in Violence
The catastrophic consequences of Mexico’s militarized war on drugs, despite all the breezy media coverage.
The General
Twitter has declared General Muhammadu Buhari as President-Elect of Nigeria, Africa's biggest democracy.
The Mercenary Playbook
Why do Western media outlets still fantasize that Apartheid's foot soldiers will be the ones to stop Boko Haram?
Paralyzed with Fear of the Past
J.M. Coetzee wondered in the late 1980s what price white South Africans are willing to pay for fraternity with Black South Africans.
Can the Somali Speak?
The hashtag #CadaanStudies put the spotlight on the domination of Somali Studies by whites scholars.
The FBI’s obsession with African-American Literature
The agency was the "most dedicated and influential critic" of black writers, with agents writing detailed analyses of authors they were spying on.
Was Cecil Rhodes really a genius?
By studying the actions of his British South Africa Company (BSAC) in present day Zambia, starting about 1890, the answer is an emphatic: No.
So What Happens After Rhodes Falls?
One of the most scandalous statistics at the University of Cape Town: only 3% of academic staff are black, and only two full professors are black in the faculty of Humanities.
Senegal’s “Mister 15%” Goes to Jail
Karim Wade, the son of Senegal's former president, is emblematic of how Abdoulaye Wade's family made the state their personal property.
What is to be Done for Nigeria?
A conscious effort must be made - mustering Nigeria's considerable human capital at home and in the diaspora- to build alternative structures of political engagement.
Rhodes Must Fall from Zimbabwe
Protests are important because they raise awareness. Awareness leads to dialogue. And dialogue may lead to lasting solutions.