Pravin Gordhan: a lifetime of service to South Africa – as an activist and then in building the new democracy: It is hard to give an account of Pravin Gordhan’spolitical commitment in a few words. The former South African Finance Minister, who has died aged 75, was reviled by some, misunderstood in some quarters, blindly …
Wole Soyinka at 90: writer and activist for justice: Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, the legendary African author and activist, is proof of what words and acts can achieve in the struggle for justice and human rights. Soyinka, aged 90, embodies unrelenting activism and literary excellence. The importance of Soyinka’s work lies in demonstrating the powerful role …
Edward Webster: South African intellectual, teacher, activist, a man of great energy and integrity, and the life and soul of any party: Eddie Webster (82), sociologist and emeritus professor at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, who died on 5 March 2024, lived a huge life, …
Zuleikha Mayat: South African author and activist who led a life of courage, compassion and integrity: Few Indian South African women have achieved wider public recognition than author, human rights and cultural activist Zuleikha Mayat, who passed away on 2 February 2024. An honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal was just one of many …
Nkoli: The Vogue Opera – the making of a musical about a queer liberation activist in South Africa: The history of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid (separatist white minority rule) is taught only through the broadest of brushstrokes in the country’s schools. So might music be a way to bring the story of one anti-apartheid …
Greta Thunberg is far from the only neurodivergent climate activist – many who see the world differently also want to change it: Liv Oeian/Shutterstock Amid her calls for governments to act on climate change, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has spoken openly about her Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She is not the only environmental campaigner …
Pat Arrowsmith’s legacy – the antinuclear activist was a peace poet too: Pat Arrowsmith, the British peace activist and notable figure in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, passed away last week at the age of 93. Obituaries have celebrated her commitment to the peace movement, noted her one-day marriage (despite being a lesbian, Arrowsmith married …
South African activist Frank Anthony wrote a novel that has been forgotten: why it shouldn’t have been: Detail of a photo of Frank Anthony (front left) on Robben Island with Walter Sisulu (front right). © Unknown/Courtesy Nelson Mandela Foundation How does it come about that a man who dedicated the greater part of his life …
Harry Belafonte: a singer and actor but an activist at heart: Denis Macarenko/Shutterstock The Caribbean-American singer and actor Harry Belafonte has passed away from congestive heart failure at the age of 96. Although he was well known for songs like Day-O (The Banana Boat song) and Jump In The Line, which earned him the title …
Sasha Huber’s You Name It: Swiss-Haitian artist renegotiates colonial history in activist exhibition: In 2008, Sasha Huber, a Swiss-Haitian multimedia visual artist based in Finland, began a project to challenge the problematic legacy of Swiss-American glaciologist and natural scientist Louis Agassiz (1807-1873). Agassiz was a devout creationist who lectured on his belief in racial segregation, …
Cape Town’s ‘Day Zero’ threat concentrated minds: an activist group used the moment to secure environmental victories: A tractor ploughs a field in the Philippi Horticultural Area in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo by Nardus Engelbrecht/Gallo Images via Getty Images Major cities across the world are being increasingly plagued by severe water shortages. From Bangalore, …
Regina Twala was a towering intellectual and activist in Eswatini – but she was erased from history: Regina Twala in a rare photograph with her first husband Percy Kumalo, 1936. Courtesy Ohio University Press Born in South Africa and exiled to neighbouring Eswatini, Regina Twala was one of southern Africa’s most important intellectuals: a pioneering …
Epitaph for a baobab: remembering South African poet and activist Don Mattera: Don Mattera in 2013. Lerato Maduna/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Images The towering South African poet, activist and humanitarian Donato Francesco Mattera passed away on 18 July at the age of 86. What he represented to South Africa is far larger than his contribution to literature. …
Priti Patel’s ‘activist travel bans’ are another blow to human rights in the UK: Colin Fisher / Alamy Stock Photo Home Secretary Priti Patel is proposing new police powers and tougher penalties for protesters, including giving courts the power to ban activists with a “history of disruption” from travelling to particular protests. Patel justifies this …
Tribute to Yusuf Grillo: Nigerian art activist, scholar and bridge builder: Yusuf Grillo contributed significantly to art and art education in Nigeria. TY Bello/Instagram Nigerian contemporary visual artist and scholar Yusuf Grillo died on 23 August 2021, aged 87 years. Art scholar Sule James explains Grillo’s influence and impact on art on the continent. Who …
South Africa in the news: MDC Alliance activist Chigumbu burial today: PROMINENT MDC Alliance activist Clint Chigumbu, who died in South Africa on Wednesday last week, will be buried in Bulawayo today.Chigumbu was one of the …: “South Africa” – BingNews Nepal becoming transit hub for drug peddlers: The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested three …
Joséphine Baker: artist, activist, resistance fighter and now honoured in France’s Panthéon: PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy In the midst of the second world war, at the edge of the vast Saharan desert, Joséphine Baker took the stage. Her backdrop was a midnight sky, painted with stars. A crowd of adoring Allied soldiers …
How a film is fighting the erasure of South African activist Dulcie September: A demonstration in memory of Dulcie September, Paris 1988. Georges Merillon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Film impact involves designing and implementing strategies to ensure a social justice film reaches the right audience so it has the best chance to bring about the desired …