Google “Maasai” and “products”, and you will find Maasai figurines, by a British company called The Emporium Gifts, Masai Land Rover accessories, Maasai Beanies by 10 Deep, Maasai Red lace-up shirts by Ralph Lauren, Masai Barefoot Technology trainers. Why is Maasai wear so fashionable now?
Arts and Culture Yoruba deities as movie superheroes
“Oya: Rise of the Orisha” is an upcoming feature film that blends the Western superhero genre with Yoruba mythology. The film garnered internet attention following their Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign.
African identities 25 and not Married?!
Fifty years ago an unmarried 25-year-old African woman was seen as odd. A husband and family was supposed to be your life’s goal. Thank God we’ve moved on. Or have we?
Politics and Society How bad was Gaddafi?
While the world celebrates Gaddafi’s downfall and removal, the response across Africa is more muted. Could that be because we always saw through the Western media’s propaganda, even while acknowledging the man’s deep flaws?
Politics and Society President Zuma, think like an African
Jacob Zuma recently advised South Africans that they must not “think like Africans”, adding that Gauteng’s highways are “not some national road in Malawi”. Does Zuma believe the myth that the more an African country was colonised, the better developed it is?
Politics and Society Mali and Azawad independence obscured
You will, by now, have read one article or another about the French intervention in northern Mali, the general gist of which is that Islamic extremists trying to take over the country and destroy Mali.
Arts and Culture Photos for social change in Mozambique
African photography is on the rise. From street to art photography, conceptual and documentary to fashion shoots, home-grown photographers are increasingly showing the world what they see through the lens (and not only in Africa’s Francophone countries).
Lifestyle Hip hop didn’t kill Pan-Africanism
The recently published critique by Sandile Memela, “The Coca-Colonisation of African Culture,” was mired in alarmist histrionics, showed little consideration for history and just waved a finger at “anti-African” hip-hop and young people. Wrong targets.
Politics and Society Why is South Africa “not really Africa”?
There seems to be a general consensus amongst Africans that while it is acceptable to compare countries on the continent with one another (and occasionally group them together), South Africa stands alone as it is “not really African”.