“Mandela was not the only head of state taken in by Koagne. Le king kept snapshots of himself with many a man of power, among them Mobutu Sese Seko and Denis Sassou Nguesso […] He took Mobutu for 15 million dollars. Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso lost 40 million to him. Sassou, Etienne Eyadéma of Togo, several high officials of Gabon, Tanzania and Kenya, a member of the Spanish government and an ex-operative of the Israeli Mossad were bamboozled as well.” – Dominique Malaquais (Blood Money: A Douala Chronicle).
Bantu Serenade by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Nah-ee-lah) (read excerpt)
Santu Mofokeng: Trajectory of a street photographer (part1) (read excerpt)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Hell In Bed With Mrs Peprah (read excerpt)
Dominique Malaquais: Lindela (the winnie suite) (read excerpt)
Boubacar Boris Diop: Myriem (read excerpt)
Cover:
Neo Muyanga
How to Spell Conflict by Natasha Sadr Haqeian, in Arabic (Kayfa ta, 2018)
James R. Murphy is a teacher from LaGuardia, New York. Murphy considers mathematics to be the most powerful, abstract, and malleable language available to humanity. To introduce his students who don't "like" math to abstract and systematic thinking, he placed a thread between their hands and taught them how to make shapes with it. "How to Spell Conflict" traces a thread that has been running through our fingers for centuries. This thread has evolved from the tangible shapes our hands made in childhood to the more elusive computational algorithms that occupy our fingers today as they constantly interact with digital devices. By tracing this thread through its various twists and turns, the study evokes a discussion of the meaning of collective agency, aiming to rethink current models of perception, education, and power.