Funerals used to be about mourning our loss and paying our respects to the deceased. Now they are opportunities to put on extravagant shows of wealth, with some turning into 3-day parties costing a year’s salary. People are incurring debts just to put on a good show.
Lifestyle “Sex and the City” accused of blasphemy
Arts, Culture and Sport Thomas Mapfumo’s underground Cape Town show
Thomas Mapfumo, Zimbabwe’s 69-year old chimurenga music star, performed in Cape Town last Friday night, but besides a small segment of the city’s Zimbabwean diaspora hardly anybody knew about it.
African identities A human face in South Sudan
Most people’s impressions of South Sudan are likely to have been formed by the pictures of anonymous rebels, soldiers and refugees they keep seeing in the news. The crisis is real, but there’s more to the South Sudanese than that. Here’s one man’s story.
Politics and Society Mandela bust unveiled at parliament
The bust of former president Nelson Mandela unveiled at Parliament on Monday shows how far South Africa’s democracy has come in a short space of time, President Jacob Zuma said as SA observed its Freedom Day holiday
Politics and Society South Sudan frees leaders accused of plotting coup
The South Sudanese government on Thursday announced it is dropping its case against four politicians who are accused of attempting to oust President Salva Kiir in December
Politics and Society Exhibiting Africans like animals in Norway’s Human Zoo
Next month in Norway a ‘human zoo’ will open, a re-enactment of the voyeurist exhibitions of Africans that took place during the colonial era. The organizers aim to spark discussions on the legacy of racism and colonialism, but have they overlooked the pain and humiliation this may bring to Africans worldwide, and the danger of the resurgence of racial stereotyping?
Lifestyle A Nigerian gay rights activist in exile
Michael Ighodaro is a Nigerian activist and LGBTQ rights advocate based in New York City. In response to the anti-gay law passed by President Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria, Ighodaro helped organize a Global Day of Action in protest of this law. The protest in NYC was held on March 7th. Protests were also staged in front of Nigerian consulates in many cities all over the world. I spoke to Ighodaro before the March 7th protest.
Politics and Society Mali militants “kill” French hostage
France has in a statement vowed to “do all to uncover the truth… and will not leave this unpunished” after Islamist group claimed to have killed captive French citizen, according to AFP