Maakomele R. Manaka revisits a soundtrack of his dreams, long and rhythmic […]
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The skin I’m in: Afro-Bengali solidarity and possible futures
Naeem Mohaiemen reviews Vivek Bald’s Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of […]
‘Nation Is A Skin Stretched Over The Bones Of The State’
Jon Soske struggles to pin down Hamid Parsani, the elusive, mercurial Iranian archaeologist, […]
A Letter from Laura Bush
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 05:43:12 -0700 (PDT) From: “Laura Bush” <laurabush@hotmail.com> […]
A Letter from Home
By Chimurenga on December 21, 2013 in Archive, Cash & Commerce, Faith & Ideology, Systems of Governance
by E. C. Osondu My Dear Son, Why have you not been […]
Homeless in the Afterlife
Death in the diaspora remains a difficult part of the immigrant experience. […]
Paris-Algiers, Underground Class
by Mustapha Benfodil It’s romance landed me this job. I am a mailman […]
I Travel with the Dead
Sudirman Adi Makmur spends an inordinate amount of time alone or in the […]
Number 11
Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño muses on writing, borders, Latin American literature and the […]
The Last Angel of History
Filmmaker, theorist and co-founder of the Black Audio Film Collective (BAFC) John […]
Birthing the American
Yemisi Aribisala explores, with mixed emotions, the enduring opportunism of a Nigerian elite that ensures that generations of children claim US birthright. Despite the assumed status that goes with being born “abroad”, the American dream, she argues, is in fact only a Nigerian backup plan.
Wrestling With A Warlord
Louis Chude-Sokei narrates a story of Nigeria, of splintered identity, of exile, and of the Biafran War and its godfather – his godfather – the military strategist, strongman and celebrated hero, General Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
Protected: Tawfiq Saleh: To Rise and Fall on One’s Own Terms
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A History of Blacks on the Green
In an attempt to dispel the myth that renders black golfers as […]
Setting The Pace is a Small Town’s Big Business
The ‘mystique’ of the Kenyan long-distance runner is to be found not […]
Fuzzy Goo’s Guide (to the Earth)
Playing with words, the original Black Heretic Insider Dambudzo Marechera writes his own rulebook […]
Even the Dead
Jeremy Cronin reports of corrupt apartheid-era games; questioning our (in)ability to remember the […]
Nothing but… Grobbelaar
A line-up of football stories wouldn’t be complete without Simon Kuper. In a […]
Banyana Banyana
As footballers and coaches typically spiel, it’s a game of two halves. […]
Ready, Willing & Able
Lolade Adewuyi profiles one of the continent’s most successful football coaches – […]
Shoes
Shoeless and bible blacked, Sandile Dikeni recounts childhood kickabouts on uneven playing fields […]
You’re… Terminated
Under the parental shadow of Table Mountain, children play on the streets […]
Stickfighting Days
A good sport? Olufemi Terry summons up the spirit of (K.Sello Duiker’s) Ah-zoo-ray […]
A Three Point Shot from Andromeda
When not teaching white boy’s how to shuffle, acting Tuff, or fixing […]
Say What You Mean
Vocabulary and translation, exercises, games — lessons — from Karen Press for you to get your […]
Americanah and other definitions of supple citizenships
By Chronic on October 8, 2013 in Arts & Pedagogy, Books & Oration, Chronic, Faith & Ideology, Media & Propaganda
Yemisi Aribisala reads the new novel by Nigeria’s ‘woman of letters’ and encounters […]
Onitsha Republic
Uzor Maxim Uzoatu visits the sprawling city of his childhood in the […]
Depth of Field
Depth of Field (DOF) collective, a group made up of six Nigerian […]
Neo Africanus: In Teju Cole’s World
Teju Cole, author of the award winning book Open City, recently announced […]
I Have Always Meant to Fail
Isoje Chou knows the road is long, winding and full of mythical, […]
Nigeria’s Superstar Men Of God
Who needs the God of the bible with his promises of trials and tribulations, crosses and paths of repentance? Yemisi Aribisala listens to the sermons, counts the money, watches the high-flying life of Nigeria’s mega-preachers and wonders.
How to be a Nigerian
Peter Enahoro a.k.a. Peter Pan’s How To Be A Nigerian was first […]
A Corpse and its Jurisdiction – a letter from Lagos
By Chimurenga on October 8, 2013 in Archive, Books & Oration, Healing & bodies, Systems of Governance
Akin Adesokan tropes on the detective genre after he stumbles on an […]
When We Hear the Name of President
Nigerian poet Tanure Ojaide evokes a language of high stakes, hi-jinx, and […]
George Osodi
George Osodi is a photographer from “the oil-rich Niger Delta region”. His images […]
Lagos Underground
In the 1930s, Harry Beck published a map of the London Underground […]
Lagos: A Pilgrimage in Notations
Having lived away from Nigeria for most of his adult life – […]
Mining Sounds: Lagos – Cairo
Emeka Ogboh‘s art works require audiences to hone their listening and hearing skills. Turning […]
Bantu Serenade
an excerpt from ‘Bantu Serenade’ by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Naila Belvett) … […]
Washing Henry – a letter from New York
by Dave McKenzie As a memento of the process, I received a […]
Altourism – Where Altruism Meets Adventure
Post Kony fall-out fatigue? Relax, pack a bag and take a break in other […]
Laugh it Off
From: “Mandisi Majavu” To: chimurenga@panafrican.co.za Subject: laugh it off/young capitalists/samething? Below is […]
Interactions: A Strategy of Difference and Repetition
Interactions Interactions is an edited excerpt from filmmaker, writer and artist Aryan […]
The Power of Wikipedia: Legitimacy and Control
The most astonishing global source of knowledge has the power to act […]
The story of a South African firm
In this edited extract from their book, Ethnicity, Inc., Jean and John […]
Guilt Trips
Kai Friese interrogates the colonial fantasy that lives on in the sententious […]
The First Lady Syndrome
By Chronic on August 21, 2013 in Archive, Cash & Commerce, Media & Propaganda, Systems of Governance
Mama Chantal Biya Yves Mintoogue* traces the nepotism and political patronage that […]
Manufacturing the post-election peace: A reporter’s 2013 election diary
Parselelo Kantai watches as NGOs, the media and the state rally together […]
A Civil Society Of African States
Paula Akugizibwe assumes observer status at the African Union and finds the […]
Che
First published in 1968 in Buenos Aires, the biography of Ernesto “Che” […]
Death by Memory [of Freedom]; Truth & Reconciliation
By Chronic on August 5, 2013 in Arts & Pedagogy, Books & Oration, Healing & bodies, Systems of Governance
A tryptych in honour of Steve Biko. Firstly, Graeme Arendse, as his alter-ego Ramgee, presents In […]
A Fieldguide for Female Interrogators
by Coco Fusco (illustrations: Dan Turner) This graphic story previously […]
America Will Always Blame…
Rigo 23, born Ricardo Gouveia, is a Portuguese muralist, painter, and political […]
Hauling Humans: a tricky business for trans-border truckers
Veteran long-distance driver, Aden, has been witness and participant in the business […]
Howl Marikana
Announcing his intentions with a howl that echoes Ginsberg, Aryan Kaganof offers […]
Itineraries
These maps by Philippe Rekacewicz show how the phenomenon of migration relates to […]
Who’s Free, Who’s Not, Who Was, Who Wasn’t, and Who’s Dead: And, Are You Sure You Know Which Way Is Up?
A Letter from Istanbul by Ed Pavlic Trayvon remains underground, to my […]
The Road To Wellville
The Institute of Naturopathy and Yogic Sciences occupies some seventy acres of […]
Suspect Sammy
A Letter from Toronto by Andrea Meeson It’s another Monday morning after […]
What’s Next
Socially conscious rhymes and hipster swag; sexy dance moves and magical mbira; […]
Memento Mori
A Letter from Harlem by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts. When I came home from abroad, […]
Body Paths
The city, for many African immigrants, offers a horizon of hope, but […]
Speech to the Science Graduation Ceremony of the University of Witwatersrand, 2008
By Chronic on August 4, 2013 in Arts & Pedagogy, Books & Oration, Healing & bodies, Systems of Governance
Good Evening. I will use my own life history tonight to argue […]
Home and away
Niq Mhlongo recently launched his new book Way Back Home in his […]
The way back home
There are many ways back home. In South African novelist Niq Mhlongo‘s […]
Threatening the Hormonal Stability of Imbeciles
Born in Honduras in 1957 and raised in El Salvador, Horacio Castellanos Moya is […]
Way Back Home excerpt
South African novelist Niq Mhlongo has been hailed as a spokesperson for […]
Name Death & Text
Achille Mbembe unpicks the assassination, disfigurement, and attempted degrading of Ruben Um Nyobè. Ruben Um […]
The Way Back Home Article
The Way Back Home On the death of a close relative, Niq […]
Damballah
Audio/visuals from AfroSonics-sis, Harmony Holiday, originally produced for Fence Books‘ podcast series. “Loose Tracklist” Weldon […]
Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989)
Photographs by Rotimi Fani-Kayode. These photos first appeared in print in Chimurenga Vol. 4: Black […]
Rest In Peace Chiwoniso Maraire
Zimbabwean musician Chiwoniso Maraire, died on July 24, 2013, at age 37. […]
We Used To Dance
Sandile Dikeni reviews We Used To Dance, an album from Andile Yenana. Listen. […]
Dead Cow Spreads Fear and Rumour in Lagos Suburb
Jide Adebayo Begun reports from Lagos. On 9 May the residents of […]
Relaxing
By Chronic on May 31, 2013 in Archive, Arts & Pedagogy, Cash & Commerce, Faith & Ideology, Healing & bodies
Okello Sam, a dance and theatre artist (amongst other things), examines the […]
Dance of the Infidels presents: Nollywood Confidential
starring: Zeb Ejiro, Ajoke Jacobs, Tunde Kelani, and Aquila Njamah Andy learned […]
Graveyards, monuments and African Studies
by Nicole Sarmiento. “I have argued that the problem with this course is […]
Authority Stealing: The business of crime writing in Kenya, India and Nigeria
Kenya In pursuit of some scriptwriter talent, Billy Kahora discovers that […]
Achebe The Native Intellectual
There Was A Country, Chinua Achebe’s autobiographical account of the Nigerian Civil […]
Moses’ outro
Does life begin at 40? That’s the time signature Moses Taiwa Molelekwa […]
Godhead
Excerpted from Godhead, Ho Che Anderson‘s science fiction novel. A kind of class struggle […]
Ten paragraphs of Music Criticism
More Brilliant Than the Sun? Kodwo Eshun discusses ten paragraphs of music criticism. […]
In Defense Of The Films We Have Made
by Odia Ofeimun On the theme of Motion Picture as a tool […]
Bajove Dokotela
Let the good Dr [Philip Tabane] inject you in three ways; music, words, […]
Three Men, A Fence & A Dead Body
Sean O’Toole travels to the northern reaches of Limpopo where South Africa […]
The night Moses died (Parts one and two)
The night Moses died (Part one) by Nicole Turner The night […]
Everyday is for the Thief
An excerpt from Teju Cole‘s novella exploring the spectrum of crimes, wrongdoings, misdemeanours, International […]
Unchain the art
Gwen Ansell maps the distance between words and music, fiction and autobiography, […]
I Smoked A Spliff With Jesus Christ
I smoked a spliff with Jesus Christ last night. Then leaned over […]
Kin La Belle
Yvonne Owuor takes a pilgrimage to Kin La Belle and finds a […]
WHO’S CALLING?
Parker Bilal is the pen-name of Jamal Mahjoub. Born in London and […]
To Be or Not To Bop
To Be or Not To Bop by Amiri Baraka I was […]
Who Killed Christopher Okigbo
1.Night/Outside At sea. Mythic times There is a storm. We see wooden […]
The anti-art of Kongofuturism
In the multidisciplinary lifework of Bebson Elemba, Eléonore Hellio discovers the mind […]
Guns, Girls and Gentle People
The Afflicted Yard proudly proclaims that it is “A non-registered member of […]
Reading Fred Ho
A jazz suite in the key of red Gwen Ansell and Salim […]
Pulp!
In the Indian hinterland, crimes of passion happen every single day, and […]
Call for an Archive of AfroSonics
By Chimurenga on April 13, 2013 in Archive, Arts & Pedagogy, Books & Oration, Chronic, Healing & bodies, Media & Propaganda, Music, PASS
The collective improvisations of black America – and their profound impact on poetry and sound – are near impossible to find in the annals of US academe. In fact, their absence is as stark as the control of archiving is white, writes Harmony Holiday.
Imprinting Afrosonics
The collective improvisations of black America – and their profound impact on […]
Beautiful Voices – a call for AstroandAfrosonics recordings
In the spirit of National Poetry Month in America, Harmony Holiday‘s AstroandAfrosonics project […]
Language Games
For poet Karen Press opposites are already united; they depend on each […]
Letters to Hillbrow
As part of a walk-in research project inspired by the novels Welcome […]
Is Biko’s legacy being besmirched?
By Chimurenga on April 8, 2013 in Archive, Books & Oration, Media & Propaganda, Systems of Governance
In October 2002, 25 years since Stephen Bantu Biko‘s death, poet James Matthews penned […]
Monica Maxwell and Samson Botsotso
Scamming the scammers? Though a buzzing of charades, of tall tales, of […]
Notes Towards A Question of Power
Pieces, notes really, fragmentary speculations,remnants, a sense of the feminine under assault, […]
50 Years Ago: Zeke in Nigeria
Es’kia Mphahlele and the Anti-Apartheid Association of Nigeria Moritz Isaac (Manu) Herbstein […]
Bra Tebs talks
Was Bra Tebs’ “4 Blokes & 1 Doll” show the highlight of Cape […]
The Forest and the Zoo
The Forest and the Zoo* (Aryan Kaganof with Johnny Mbizo Dyani) […]
Diary Of A Bad Year
Diary Of A Bad Year: President Mbeki’s Letters to the Nation by […]
All Roads Lead to Hendrix
Greg Tate‘s epic Hendrixian map hyperlinked to the hilt. As all roads […]
Walking through walls
Eyal Weizman reports on military tactics known as ‘walking through walls’ where […]
Cover Story
He’s been described as the “founding father of African literature”, an author […]
When history is suspended
(In memory of Ernesto Alfabeto Nhamuave) by Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa I […]
Must You Stage an Escape?
Stacy Hardy reads the work of two itinerant poets – Johannes Göransson […]
San Pedro V: The Hope I Hope
Identity, politics, rock ‘n roll, soap operas and sentimental songs; humor, hysteria and […]
New Bushs Old Ghosts
Cyber crime is a burgeoning business in West Africa, despite often primitive […]
The Afflicted Yard: The Rock
In 2004, the famously anonymous British artist Banksy visited Jamaica, and met Peter Dean Rickards, […]
EU fortifies its mission on North African frontline
Supported by Libya and Tunisia, the European Union is ringing the Mediterranean […]
Migration Business is Good Business
Jean-Christophe Servant argues that while Africa is being welcomed into the pool […]
Secret Cities
Göran Dahlberg writes that cities in and of themselves are becoming more […]
La Frontera
Klas Lundström finds himself in an isolated corner of the Amazon jungle […]
Salut Deleuze!
Culled from a comic book tribute to, and intellectual biography of, Gilles Deleuze […]
Did You Kiss the Dead Body?
Two in one: firstly Rajkamal Kahlon introduces her project, Did You Kiss the Dead Body?, then […]
An Introduction to Arithmetic Sorcery
Cyclonopedia – Complicity with Anonymous Materials (re.press, 2008), a “theoretical-fiction novel” by Iranian […]
The last words of Fela Anikulapo Kuti
In 1996, Keziah Jones visited Kalakuta Republic every day for a week […]
The Life and Death of Media
There are thousands of people who are paid to invent and publicise […]
The Boys are Doin’ it!
Fela is dead and so is his anti-materialist political message. Modern Afropop […]
Uncertainty in Cuba after the Death of Hugo Chávez
As the world bids adiós to Hugo Chávez, Ivan García (of Desde La Habana) reports on […]
Moving ‘White Man’s Deads’ is no second hand business
With no right to protection from the states between which they trade […]
52 Niggers
By Stacy Hardy. Julius Eastman had a way of walking. He had […]
The Death of Jacob Dlamini
Political analyst, Jacob Dlamini, argues that the death of another so named […]
The Test
By Chimurenga on March 9, 2013 in Archive, Books & Oration, Healing & bodies, Media & Propaganda, Systems of Governance
Read the following text carefully: “Know thyself, thus says the quotation […]
Under the rainbow rays
Dathini Mzayiya‘s new exhibition Onder die reёnboog strale (Under the rainbow rays […]
Chicken Core: The Rise of Kings
SporeDust is a young animation studio, still a rare species in the […]
Dr Satan’s Echo Chamber
Reggae, technology and the diaspora… Louis Chude-Sokei documents the transatlantic (un)making of […]
The Adventures of Dr Evil in Dakar
President Abdoulaye Wade recently claimed intellectual property rights of the “African […]
Not Yet Uhuru
Ugandan journalist and activist, Kalundi Serumaga, reflects on his time as a political […]
The New Normal
Oscar Pistorius first gained international fame amid a raging debate over […]
Our cyborg past: Medieval artificial memory as mindware upgrade
By Ruth Evans The philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark has […]
The Warm Up
The xenophobic violence sweeping many communities in the past weeks is not […]
Once There Were Humans
In the hills above Kingston, Jamaica Annie Paul unpacks some baggage in […]
Voudou Priestess Madame Evonne Auguste
Voudou Priestess Madame Evonne Auguste spoke to Sokari Ekine last August, in […]
Les Saignantes
A young woman, beautiful, 20-something, is fucking […]
Platinum Dreams
Anglo American’s boardrooms at 44 Main Street, Joburg, and Carlton House Terrace, […]
The Rise Of Somali Capital
The increasingly visible presence of the Somali community in Nairobi during a […]
Yellow Fever, NKO?
Skin bleaching is often described as a manifestation of ‘colo-mentality’. However, argues […]
Folk Dancing For Beginners
Karen Press (He sets the tone) In my country the president rises […]
Do Right Women: Black Women, Eroticism and Classic Blues
By Kalamu ya Salaam 1. I’m going to show you […]
Fish Soup As Love Potions
Yemisi Aribisala lives in Calabar in Cross River State, where the scent […]
The Quiet Encroachment of the Ordinary
Asef Bayat A traveller to Middle Eastern cities, Tehran, Cairo or Rabat […]
Black Like Us
Tunde Giwa recalls the comics of 1970s Nigeria with a nod to […]
A New Consciousness
Itumeleng oa Mahabane A man walks down a street. His shoulders […]
France’s war for uranium
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Elvis on the move
Milton Papamoscito An unfamiliar congregation – in ‘a riot of electric red […]
Evidence
Brent Hayes Edwards The cell is four meters long and two meters […]
Juba ‘I will make my life here’
The metronomes of ancient history, the legacy of war, the wavering prosperity […]
If you want to see the African Game go to a Stadium
Knox Robinson If you want to see the African Game go to […]
Somewhere between a scream and a lullaby
In a city where the boundaries between life and death are laid […]
Sortir de la grande nuit. Essai sur l’Afrique décolonisée
By Chimurenga on December 8, 2010 in Arts & Pedagogy, Books & Oration, Media & Propaganda, Systems of Governance
Norbert N. Ouendji interviews Achille Mbembe before Afropolitanism (circa 2010) « Sortir de […]
Calabash Afrobeat Poems
By Chimurenga on October 15, 2010 in Arts & Pedagogy, Media & Propaganda, Music, PASS, Systems of Governance, Video
by Dike Okoro Ikwunga Wonodi is not a new face among Afrobeat […]