Ever Heard Of Benin City?
With its mathematical layout and earthworks longer than the Great Wall of China, Benin City was one of the best planned cities in the world when London was a place […]
Category Archives: Culture
Brazil’s New Problem With Blackness
As the proudly mixed-race country grapples with its legacy of slavery, affirmative-action race tribunals are measuring skull shape and nose width to determine who counts as disadvantaged. PELOTAS, […]
Black Women Tackle Dangerous Stereotypes
The pop culture landscape is littered with lazy images of black women ― the nurturer, the hussy, the angry bitch. Hovering around the all-encompassing myth of the “strong black […]
Zin’naariyâ! (‘The Wedding Ring’)
It’s a beautiful new film by the Nigerien journalist and film director, Rahmatou KEÏTA, which explores the themes of longing, love and travel. The film is called Zin’naariyâ, which means the […]
Road trip in Senegal
On a road trip in Senegal, Dakar’s nightlife shines and Saint-Louis sings DAKAR, Senegal — From dizzying Dakar to vibrant Saint-Louis, Senegal pulsates with rich culture, history and […]
The Woman, The Soul, The Worshiper
the Woman woke up one clear night under the spell of a mighty cough it scratched her throat until it bled sore raw red and in […]
Don’t Forget Maya
I read my first Maya Angelou poem in elementary school. The girls in my class would roll their neck and shout, “phenomenal women” like the old church women shout “Hallelujah” […]
5 Hot Dances From Africa That You Should Check Out
I’m a dance enthusiast. I started taking dance classes as a child. I was about six years old when I took my first ballet class. I moved onto liturgical dance. […]
Preserving a ‘Poor Man’s Sport’
Recently, I became quite interested in a sport called dambe. It’s a martial art derived from the Hausa people of West Africa. It’s akin to boxing, or kickboxing, actually, […]
10 Stories I Want to Write In The Near Future
I’m always looking for a good story. I already have a lot of ideas on my brain shelf that I want to pursue journalistically. It’s just a matter […]
Remembering #IfAfricaWasABar
One of the best hashtags ever! Remember? The hashtag grabbed the attentions of millions of people. I was certainly one of them. It all started in July 2015. […]
A festival of African masks
In Burkina Faso: FESTIMA, a festival of African masks The frantic music and dancing transform the mask wearer into a spirit which communicates with ancestors. Dedougou, Burkina Faso – The 20th […]
The Music Never Ends In Mali
Oumou Sangare is a grand woman. The tips of her fingers are colored in black and red dye. She wears those boubou gowns with the wide necklines that fall over […]
In Nigeria, neglected women bear the shame of fistulas
At least 500,000 women have vaginal fistulas, largely as a result of lack of medical care during pregnancy and labor JOS, Nigeria — After giving birth five times, all Amina […]
Annual Voodoo Day Celebration
Ritual dances, goat slaughtering and gin: Thousands gather for voodoo religious festival in tiny African country of Benin COTONOU Jan 10 (Reuters) – The national voodoo holiday in the West […]
White South African Sangoma
Bare-foot, with rattles on his ankles and wearing a colourful beaded ceremonial skirt, a white boy with short blond hair makes shamanic-like dance moves to a frantic drum […]
TAIYE SELASI: I Am Not My Hair
I leapt from high-maintenance hair to an all-natural crop—and found a tangle of emotion and politics caught up in all the curls. Recently my best friend, Heather McGhee—the […]
Sounds of Kinshasa
Sounds of Kinshasa: music, dance and culture are a lifeline in Congo The Congolese have long been neglected by those in power, doing what they can to get by in […]
I Allowed People to Mispronounce My African Name for 25 Years
My Thing Is: I’ve finally reclaimed “Mame.” For my parents and me, it’s an homage and a spiritual connection to my ancestry. In a recent interview with the Improper Bostonian, […]
Gay Nigerians targeted as ‘un-African’
Despite evidence of homosexual customs pre-dating the colonial era, intolerant laws are flourishing across Africa. Abuja, Nigeria – Fourteen years ago, at the age of 19, Ifeanyi Orazulike could no […]
Becoming Nigerian Part 1: One Year In
This is part 1 of my series ‘Becoming Nigerian’ I flew into Abuja, Nigeria on a Lufthansa aircraft in December 2012. It’s been one year, a year of profound personal […]
Africa And The ‘West’: An Abusive Relationship We Don’t Want to Leave
Today I found myself reading this article about the first female Masai warrior. You will expect to see a strong Masai woman standing on the cover photo right? well sike!!! sorry. Just […]
First Woman Maasai Warrior?
Dear white “saviours”, please get over yourselves. A young white, middle-class woman from California learned on a trip to Kenya that Maasai women were not allowed to become warriors. Apparently, […]
The Way You Make Me Feel: My Ode To Highlife
He came close, like danger. And nearly stole my heart, nearly snatched it out of its pulsating cavity. But he didn’t use his hands. He used the lazy groans of […]
