January 18, 2023
Eswatini: Regina Twala Was a Towering Intellectual and Activist in Eswatini - but She Was Erased From History
Born in South Africa and exiled to neighbouring Eswatini, Regina Twala was one of southern Africa's most important intellectuals: a pioneering writer, academic, political activist… Read more »
January 13, 2023
South Africa: Madosini, a South African National Treasure Whose Music Kept a Rich History Alive
Renowned African musician, songwriter and storyteller Latozi "Madosini" Mphahleni passed away late in 2022. The cultural and indigenous music activist, who laughed as often as she… Read more »
January 12, 2023
Africa: New Statue Celebrates Malawi Pan-Africanist the World Forgot
Samson Kambalu is a Malawian conceptual artist, writer and academic, whose sculpture Antelope was installed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London in September 2022. Read more »
January 10, 2023
Senegal: Ousmane Sembène at 100 - a Tribute to Senegal's 'Father of African Cinema'
1 January 2023 marked the centenary of the birth of Ousmane Sembène, the Senegalese novelist and filmmaker hailed as the "father of African cinema". Over the course of five… Read more »
January 03, 2023
Africa: Kick Up Your Heels - Ballroom Dancing Offers Benefits to the Aging Brain and Could Help Stave Off Dementia
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. Read more »
December 27, 2022
Africa: Afrobeats in 2022 - Global Mobility, Election Songs, Placemaking Albums - and Tems
More than Nollywood films, Afrobeats is arguably Nigeria's strongest cultural export since the turn of the millennium. It is a hugely dynamic music category that incorporates a… Read more »
December 15, 2022
Benin: Benin Is Building a Theme Park to Remember Slavery - Is History Up for Sale?
The Marina Project is a vast memorial and tourist complex under construction in Ouidah, a coastal town in the Republic of Benin in West Africa. The country hopes to market itself… Read more »
Africa: 'Tis the Season to Be Jolly - Singing Christmas Carols Together Isn't Just a Tradition, It's Also Good for You
On a December night 50 years ago, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashed in the Everglades, Florida. Miraculously, 77 people survived the initial impact but then endured a traumatic… Read more »
December 14, 2022
Africa: Can You Name a Single Character From Avatar? What Is a 'Forgotbuster' and Is Avatar One of Them?
James Cameron's Avatar 2: The Way of Water, is released worldwide today. It's the long-awaited sequel to Avatar (2009), also directed by Cameron, and has cost an enormous amount of… Read more »
December 15, 2022
South Africa: Dear Comrade President - Book Highlights ANC Leader Oliver Tambo's Role in Preparing South Africa for Democracy
More than three decades have passed since the apartheid government in South Africa unbanned the African National Congress (ANC), the country's leading liberation movement, and… Read more »
Benin: Benin Is Building a Themed Park to Remember Slavery - Is History Up for Sale?
The Marina Project is a vast memorial and tourist complex under construction in Ouidah, a coastal town in the Republic of Benin in West Africa. The country hopes to market itself… Read more »
December 06, 2022
South Africa: Music Streaming in South Africa - New Survey Reveals Musicians Get a Raw Deal
Musicians worldwide have been placing their tracks with global streaming platforms such as Spotify for many years. South African musicians, however, have reported only sparse… Read more »
November 30, 2022
South Africa: Ending HIV As a Public Health Threat - 3 Essential Reads
In 2014 the United Nations set an ambitious goal: to end the AIDS pandemic by the year 2030. Read more »
November 23, 2022
Africa: Black Panther Is a Step in the Right Direction
From Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness to the recent She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, comics and their adaptations or spin-offs are big business. The just-released Black… Read more »
November 28, 2022
South Africa: Koos Prinsloo - the Cult Afrikaans Writer Has Been Translated to English - Here's a Review
There are some writers you wish you had encountered years ago. There are some authors you only discover - for many reasons - years after their death. Read more »
November 26, 2022
Africa: Rock Art - How South Africa's Coat of Arms Got to Feature an Ancient SAN Painting
A new exhibition in Johannesburg titled !ke e: xarra ke - People who are Different: Come Together celebrates the rock art of the San people, the first inhabitants of southern… Read more »
November 25, 2022
Africa: Black Panther - Wakanda Forever Reclaims the Myth of an African Utopia
Black Panther is set in the fictional country of Wakanda. The creation of the Wakandan African identity has been a contentious issue. Borrowing aspects of cultures from around… Read more »
November 23, 2022
South Africa: Black Panther in the Classroom - How Afrofuturism in a Film Helped Trainee Teachers
Back in 2018 I joined the millions of people who flocked to cinemas worldwide to watch Ryan Coogler's Black Panther. The story of an ultra modern African society not shaped by… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Egypt: Why the Discovery of Cleopatra's Tomb Would Rewrite History
It couldn't have been a case of better timing. Egyptologists celebrating the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, now have a promising new archaeological… Read more »
November 17, 2022
Senegal: Wolof Is Reclaiming Ground in Senegal As the French Language Wanes
The French language was introduced into Senegal through colonisation. According to Papa Alioune Ndao, professor of linguistics at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar: Read more »
November 16, 2022
Nigeria: Asake, the Breakout Pop Star From Nigeria Who Owned 2022
Asake's first commercial releases, beginning with the song Lady in 2020, didn't really portend a seismic shift in Nigeria's teeming Afrobeats scene. The 27-year-old genre-blending… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Africa: Woman King Is Set in Benin but Filmed in South Africa - in the Process It Erases Real People's Struggles
The latest film by director Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Woman King, is about a legendary all-woman African army in the 1800s, the Amazons of Dahomey. It takes place in what is today… Read more »
November 14, 2022
South Africa: Juby Mayet, Legendary South African Writer and Journalist, Remembered Through New Book
South African writer Juby Mayet passed away in 2019 at the age of 82. She wrote her autobiography in 1997 but it has only now been published, 25 years later. Freedom Writer: My… Read more »
November 11, 2022
Africa: 'Black Panther - Wakanda Forever' Continues the Series' Quest to Recover and Celebrate Lost Cultures
As someone who teaches and writes about Afrofuturism, I've been eagerly awaiting the release of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." I'm particularly excited about the introduction of… Read more »
November 07, 2022
Rwanda: Hotel Rwanda - a Film That Proved to Be a Double-Edged Sword for Kigali
Paul Rusesabagina is perhaps one of the world's best known Rwandans. His actions during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi were made famous in the 2004 Hollywood film Hotel… Read more »