On 15 February 2023, Peter Jones, a stalwart of the South African Black Consciousness Movement and confidant of Steve Biko, passed away. The Jones and Biko family and so many others were saddened by the news about his passing. ‘PC’, as he was known, was a comrade since 1969. With Biko, he was a member of the South African Student’s Organisation SASO. From those days onward they intensely worked together in the struggle against apartheid, building organisations for liberation. On 17th August 1977,...
On 15 February 2023, Peter Jones, a stalwart of the South African Black Consciousness Movement and confidant of Steve Biko, passed away. The Jones and...
A packed Studio ZAM at the first, exclusive screening of the documentary Murder in Paris in the Netherlands on Friday 24 March 2023. Filmmaker Enver Samuel, who travelled to the Low Countries for the annual Movies that Matter festival, attended the screening and answered questions from the audience afterwards. Murder in Paris tells the story of ANC representative Dulcie September, assassinated in Paris in 1988, and is inspired by Evelyn Groenink's decades of research into the background of this...
A packed Studio ZAM at the first, exclusive screening of the documentary Murder in Paris in the Netherlands on Friday 24 March 2023. Filmmaker Enver...
At least six African countries have decriminalised same-sex relations in recent years. It seems nonsensical to still frame equal rights for LGBTIQ+ people as ‘Western’. Ugandan President Museveni has said that his country “will not embrace homosexuality and the West should stop seeking to impose its views”. In an article for the organisation’s website, Human Rights Watch’ Director for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program Graeme Reid calls this statement “a false dichotomy” since...
At least six African countries have decriminalised same-sex relations in recent years. It seems nonsensical to still frame equal rights for LGBTIQ+...
A documentary on the murder of South African freedom fighter Dulcie September sparked a conversation between a white student and her black professor. Part 1: The student Josephine Trilling As a female jazz guitarist, I have experienced considerable misogyny. I know what it’s like to have men look you in the eye and tell you with a smug expression: ‘you don’t belong here.’ In this male-dominated profession I have never felt at ease. Their scoffs were a silent demand for me to leave, and their locker...
A documentary on the murder of South African freedom fighter Dulcie September sparked a conversation between a white student and her black professor....
As the Church rages against Canterbury, Museveni’s authoritarian regime might be the last guarantor of sexual minority rights. On 1 March, 2023 the Ugandan parliament granted opposition MP, Mr Asuman Basalirwa, leave to introduce the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 . This draft bill prescribes ten years of imprisonment for persons who will be found guilty of homosexuality, aggravated homosexuality, and persons who attempt to commit homosexuality. It also proposes a two-year jail term for those aiding...
As the Church rages against Canterbury, Museveni’s authoritarian regime might be the last guarantor of sexual minority rights. On 1 March, 2023 the...
As interesting and necessary as it may be, it seems to me that the current critique of the presence of colonial symbols in our public spaces needs to be, as of this moment, reexamined. Let me emphasize “as of this moment.” I readily acknowledge that there will be some who believe the time has not yet come for internal criticism of a process that remains incomplete and that has even, in a certain sense, just begun. Is there not, as they say, a time and place for everything? Should we not prioritize...
As interesting and necessary as it may be, it seems to me that the current critique of the presence of colonial symbols in our public spaces needs to be,...
A man hired by the Ministry of Defence to clear up after an army exercise in Kenya did not know he was collecting live explosives. The findings of an internal investigation by the British army are damning, Declassifieduk reveals. High up on a hill near Mount Kenya, Irene Kipsuge looks out over a rolling savanna. In the distance lies Lolldaiga, a safari resort where Western tourists pay up to $400 a night to stay in a colonial settler-style house, in the hope of seeing elephants. To her left is Ole...
A man hired by the Ministry of Defence to clear up after an army exercise in Kenya did not know he was collecting live explosives. The findings of an...
Lemekani Nyirenda, a Zambian student recently killed while fighting for Russia in their invasion of Ukraine, was recruited by the infamous mercenary Wagner Group, the Zambian Government has confirmed. Nyirenda’s body arrived in the country on December 11th. While at the airport waiting for the body to arrive Chembo Mbula, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, confirmed that the cost of flying Nyirenda’s body to Zambia were borne by the Wagner Group, a...
Lemekani Nyirenda, a Zambian student recently killed while fighting for Russia in their invasion of Ukraine, was recruited by the infamous mercenary...
The picture frame I see in front of me is made of gold, but the picture it surrounds portrays an invading army. This is a metaphor I often use in my training sessions to empower new migrants and refugees in the Netherlands. I tell them to create their own golden frame. And I convince them that they should never let anyone convince them to believe their frames are made of ash or toilet paper. Teaching people to believe in themselves is paramount, because if they don’t believe in themselves, who else...
The picture frame I see in front of me is made of gold, but the picture it surrounds portrays an invading army. This is a metaphor I often use in my...
Campaigning to become president of Uganda can be very, very dangerous. The People's President, which documents Bobi Wine's epic presidential run, drew thousands of visitors in Amsterdam. Close to 2000 people welcomed Ugandan pop star Robert Kyagulanyi, more famously known as Bobi Wine, after a screening in Amsterdam’s Carré Theatre, while even more attended other screenings across the city. Many of them voted for the documentary, made by Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp. With 9488 votes, The...
Campaigning to become president of Uganda can be very, very dangerous. The People's President, which documents Bobi Wine's epic presidential run, drew...
African countries encountered “COVID refugees,” young Europeans who had temporarily relocated to work remotely from Africa to escape pandemic despair at home. A similar flow of refugees could be caused by climate change. Climate negotiations have repeatedly floundered on the unwillingness of rich countries, but let’s hope their own increasing vulnerability instills greater solidarity. As COP 27 in Egypt nears its end, I find it difficult, almost impossible, to talk to my children about climate...
African countries encountered “COVID refugees,” young Europeans who had temporarily relocated to work remotely from Africa to escape pandemic despair at...
On October 10th Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President, addressed his ambassadors in Brussels. It began most promisingly, with Borrell decrying the number of authoritarian regimes in the world, including those "on our side.” He railed against rising "nationalism, revisionism and identity politics” while acknowledging the presence of more important players on the world stage: Turkey, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and Mexico. He turned...
On October 10th Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President, addressed his ambassadors in Brussels. It...
The use of Marxist-inspired arguments, often distorted, to support racist or nationalist political positions, is known as "rossobrunismo" (red-brownism) in Italy. Those following immigration politics in Europe, especially Italy, may have noticed the appropriation of the words of Marxist and anti-imperialist heroes and intellectuals by the new nationalist and racist right to support their xenophobic or nationalist arguments. From Samora Machel (Mozambican independence leader), Thomas Sankara...
The use of Marxist-inspired arguments, often distorted, to support racist or nationalist political positions, is known as "rossobrunismo" (red-brownism)...
The recent eleftion of Colombia’s first left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, and first black vice-president, Francia Márquez, creates a new opening to revitalise ties with Africa. Colombia is often overlooked as a nation of interest because of its reputation of violence. Its negative standing results mainly from the decades-long armed conflict between previous governments and the Marxist-Leninist group FARC. The conflict has been linked to the production and export of illicit drugs. It ended with...
The recent eleftion of Colombia’s first left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, and first black vice-president, Francia Márquez, creates a new opening to...
Why do many journalists fill hours of airtime about the British royal family without critically questioning the significance of the institution for its former colonies? Dutch journalist Bram Vermeulen calls upon his colleagues to explore this colonial legacy. Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, hours of broadcast time have been filled with what anybody could see with their own eyes in recent years, provided you weren't living under a rock. That she had been faithful to her royal duties for...
Why do many journalists fill hours of airtime about the British royal family without critically questioning the significance of the institution for its...
Despite her key role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, details about Lilian Ngoyi’s life remain sparse. The short paragraphs on her legacy repeat a few well-worn phrases. South Africa’s “mother of the black resistance”, a widow and rumoured lover of Nelson Mandela, and the first woman member of the national executive committee – the core leadership of the African National Congress (ANC), the resistance movement that would later become the government of a democratic South Africa....
Despite her key role in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, details about Lilian Ngoyi’s life remain sparse. The short paragraphs on her...
After the flames that gutted the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on 18 April 2021 were finally extinguished, the archives were thought to be lost. The Reading Room, where researchers could study some of the rare African books available from the short-loans desk, had been completely destroyed. It was a devastating loss of archival material, much of it irreplaceable. But in the days after the fire, the basements that housed the archives and parts of the African Studies collection...
After the flames that gutted the Jagger Library at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on 18 April 2021 were finally extinguished, the archives were...
Hosted by Musawenkosi Cabe, Radio New Frame unearths the roots of Afrikaans - once the ‘language of the White oppressor’ - and focuses on contemporary Black Afrikaans. The programme also tackles the misconception that Nelson Mandela rejected the use of violence in the struggle against Apartheid. A new book reconstructs his role as commander-in-chief of Umkhonto weSizwe and its war against Africa’s strongest army. Listen here. New Frame is one of our favourite not-for-profit social justice media...
Hosted by Musawenkosi Cabe, Radio New Frame unearths the roots of Afrikaans - once the ‘language of the White oppressor’ - and focuses on contemporary...
A new BBC Africa Eye/BBC Eye investigation reveals children in Africa are being exploited to make personalised videos, including racist content, for sale on Chinese websites and social media. Watch their shocking report here:
A new BBC Africa Eye/BBC Eye investigation reveals children in Africa are being exploited to make personalised videos, including racist content, for sale...
Only by grasping the political processes that reproduce death, destruction and destitution will Kenyans finally exorcise the demons of their history. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness in this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12 The first episode of the popular Netflix series Narcos opens with the title card: “Magical realism is defined as what happens when a...
Only by grasping the political processes that reproduce death, destruction and destitution will Kenyans finally exorcise the demons of their history....
April 6th used to be a public holiday in Apartheid South Africa. It was supposed to be the day that Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa in 1652 as the chief colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company’s new colonial settlement to settle what is now Cape Town. Who of my generation does not know this? It was drilled into all our minds at primary (read: elementary) school. And even if we were not lucky enough to go to school, the mythology certainly did not pass us by. The version of...
April 6th used to be a public holiday in Apartheid South Africa. It was supposed to be the day that Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in South Africa in 1652 as...
