“Three generations of white South African men were bound together at that table. Vermuelen was the first generation. He defined Africa, made it safe for Basson to defile. I was the last generation, the last to grow up in segregated neighborhoods. Between us was the silent photograph of Wouter Basson. Like a distant father, Basson was absent at the dining table.” – Henk Rossouw (Hole in the White ‘Hood). Also Mahmood Mamdani on Bantu Education at UCT, Gael Reagon on sisterhood, Binyavanga Wainaina on dis-covering Kenya, Gaston Zossou on African intellectuals and more…
Cover:
Strange Fruit by Lewis Allen
Chimurenga Chronic: The Invention of Zimbabwe (April 2018)
14 November 2017. News breaks of a coup d’état underway in Zimbabwe. Tanks, armoured vehicles and military personnel are seen patrolling the capital, Harare. The images send shock waves through social media, traditional broadcast news networks and diplomatic channels. After nearly four decades at the helm, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Commander-in-Chief, is set to be deposed by his own army, the Zimbabwean Defence Force. Before the month is over, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, is ushered in as the country’s third president.
These events form the backdrop of this issue of the Chronic bringing together voices of journalists and editors, writers, theorists, photographers, illustrators and artists from the country to tell a different story of Zimbabwe, now and in history, and to dream new futures.
Contributors to the broadsheet include Bernard Matambo, Simbarashe Mumera, Ranga Mberi, Percy Zvomuya, Marko Phiri, Dwayne Kapula, Netsayi Chigwendere, Panashe Chigumadzi, Florence Madenga and more
The accompanying books magazine, XiBARUU TEERE YI (Chronic Books in Wolof) asks the urgent question: What can African Writers Learn from Cheikh Anta Diop? The cover itself reworks the cover of the first issue of TAXAW, the journal founded by Cheikh Anta Diop in 1977. XiBARUU TEERE YI includes writings by Boubacar Boris Diop, Ayesha Attah, Ibrahima Wane, Mamadou Diallo, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Khadim Ndiaye, Sumesh Sharma and many more.