Songs provided motivation and guidance to protesters in Sudan during their uprising against Omar al-Bashir.
Africans rising Iddris Sandu, a tech genius, software engineer and cultural architect
Iddris Sandu is the technological virtuoso behind algorithms that made Uber, Instagram and Snapchat what they are now. The software engineer also considers himself a “cultural architect” who aims to “level the playing field” between Silicon Valley and young communities of colour.
Arts and Culture How to be Oliver Mtukudzi
Oliver Mtukudzi is dead but the world has hardly begun to skim the surface of his greatness. In this tribute, Stan Mushava flips through the African superstar’s catalogue, looking at how conscientiousness, attachment to heritage and artistic integrity were not only central to the making of the legend but are also the universal mainstays of art.
Politics and Society Omar al-Bashir: a military autocrat with a shrewd sense of politics
Al-Bashir’s ability to play a skillful combination of internal and external balancing acts, plus ruthless repression and a divided opposition, kept him in power for three decades.
Arts and Culture God as a Black woman: The Afro-Cuban painter who reimagined the depiction of God
Religious sensitivity has always been a difficult issue to navigate, even in the contemporary world. When it comes to the depiction of God, the whitewashing of the Almighty is not only historically false in the case of Jesus but creates an implicit cultural and historical bias in favour of one race.
Politics and Society In Africa’s future there is no place for old and corrupt dictators
African leaders ignore their youthful population at their peril.
Politics and Society Academics have shaped Sudan’s political history, and may do it again
Sudan’s academics have been instrumental in bringing regime change and negotiating transitions.
Arts and Culture What Nigerian hip-hop lyrics have to say about the country’s Yahoo Boys
Hip-hop artists in Nigeria unpack the realities of the country’s cyber fraudsters.
Politics and Society How Sudan’s protesters upped the ante, and forced al-Bashir from power
Sudanese protesters against al-Bashir’s regime have scored an important victory. But there’s a long way to go before democracy is restored.