South Africa
Make Ignorance History
That old excuse of ‘We didn’t know’ (previously also heard as ‘Ons het nie geweet nie’ and ‘Wir haben es nicht gewuszt’) may be factually accurate, but it is never an ethical defense.
The Naked Woman on Mandela Square
Her nudity wakes us up, either in protest or solidarity to the fact that everything is not okay in South Africa.
The Redemption Trope in South African Cinema
The politics of three prominent South African films: the classics 'Come Back Africa,' late-1980s 'Mapantsula' and Oscar winner 'Tsotsi.'
The promise of revelation
James Matthews has the distinction of being one of the first Black Consciousness poets and publishers in South Africa. He is the subject of a documentary by director Shelley Barry.
The winners and losers of the platinum strike in South Africa
Will the trade union that organized the strike will unify and rally workers outside of the ruling alliance.
White Schools in postapartheid South Africa
"Former" white schools propose color blindness to tackle racism against its new black students, invariably leading to alienation and discomfort on the part of the latter.
It’s time to drop the “world music” label
The progressive rock of The Brother Moves On is a great case study for why the category of "world music" is at best dated, and at worst problematic.
Umlilo is young, black and queer in South Africa
The artist Umlilo documents their metamorphosis from a tortured outsider to a fully realized divine being.
Oscar Pistorius’ anxiety spectacle
Biased media reporting won’t advance popular and professional understandings on how psychiatric conditions interact social and economic sources of stress.
The small businessman who took on the bread cartel
The struggle over the price of bread in South Africa is the struggle for adequate nourishment, and securing the right of the poor to flourish.
Relegating good intentions to the dustbin
The last third or so of Director Phil Harrison’s film about Irish multinationals in South Africa suffers from needless flattening.
Buckingham Palace
District Six was the start of a really vibrant, none racial South African and that’s why it had to die.
Probing Subliminal Violence
The artist Mohau Modisakeng mines the contours of colonial and post-colonial history.
Brenda Fassie’s revolution without harmony
Brenda Fassie was a woman who stepped out of line, talked out of turn, wore the pants, pulled up her skirt and loved women and men.
Adam Sandler’s “Africa”
It's unfunny and borderline offensive. But Late night TV talk shows can't get enough of it.
In Front of Our Very Own Eyes
"Miners Shot Down," by director Rehad Desai, is a haunting and emotional documentary of the Marikana massacre in August 2012.