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”.
Politics and Society South Africa’s new apartheid – Part 2
A to Z list of what we cannot simply blame on apartheid, what we would not have expected of a government that claims to be committed to social justice, to fundamental human rights, to eliminating poverty and to correcting the inequities of the apartheid past.
Politics and Society South Africa’s new apartheid – Part 1
A to Z list of what we cannot simply blame on apartheid, what we would not have expected of a government that claims to be committed to social justice, to fundamental human rights, to eliminating poverty and to correcting the inequities of the apartheid past.
Arts, Culture and Sport Who taught you to hate your [dark] skin?
Skin-lightening/bleaching is a problem, but it’s only a sign of much deeper inter-related issues: self-hatred, a race-based identity crisis, and the internalisation of Western-created cultural ideas that are inimical to the mental health of black people.
Politics and Society The Coca-Colonisation of African culture
African recording artists have as much right as anyone to borrow influences from anywhere in the world, but when we celebrate those who have succumbed to the Coca-colonisation of African culture, what are we celebrating?
Lifestyle Twerk: booty-dancing a white privilege?
You ain’t down if you ain’t got the twerk. But why do white girls win cred for twerking while black girls get called “ghetto”, among other things? A case of white privilege?
Lifestyle Sex, Nollywood and Nigerian hypocrisy
If you’re one of Nollywood’s millions of fans around the world, you can’t fail to have read one of the sensational headlines in the blogosphere and Nigerian media earlier this year: “Nollywood now producing blue films”, “From Nollywood to Pornllywood”.