Rwanda’s genocide: why remembering needs to be free of politics – lessons from survivors: Memory and politics are inherently intertwined and can never be fully separated in post-atrocity and post-genocidal contexts. They are also dynamic and ever-changing. The interplay between memory and politics is, therefore, prone to manipulation, exaggeration or misuse by clever actors to …
Queer life in Africa is also full of joy – remembering the carnival in Mozambique: In late colonial Mozambique, in the city of Lourenço Marques (today’s Maputo), a carnival festival was held almost every year. From the 1950s to the 1970s, the event was more than just a street parade. It also became a space …
John Hlatywayo: remembering a great Zimbabwean artist who was woefully neglected by history: John Hlatywayo, who has died at 96, was a great painter, sculptor and mentor. However he is woefully neglected in the art history of Zimbabwe and southern Africa. Belonging to an early generation of Zimbabwean artists, Hlatywayo was overshadowed by international interest …
Black November: remembering Uganda’s massacre of the opposition three years on: November marks a sombre anniversary in Uganda’s recent political history. In 2020, the east African country’s leading opposition politician, Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, was arrested. He was on the campaign trail ahead of the 2021 presidential elections. Mass demonstrations demanding the release of …
Remembering South Africa’s “Grand Geek” Barry Dwolatzky – engineer and programming pioneer: Professor Barry Dwolatzky was passionate about innovation in all that he did. Wits University To some of his former students, Professor Barry Dwolatzky was the “Grand Geek” – a name of which he was very proud. But Barry, who passed away in Johannesburg, …
The Holocaust: remembering the powerful acts of ‘ordinary people’: “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” the British author LP Hartley once wrote, hinting at the mystique of history – the idea that people in the past were somehow different to us in the 21st century. As many historians will tell …
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. …
Remembering Frantz Fanon – six great reads: Fanon was among the early exponents of decolonisation. Tony Webster/ Minneapolis Police Department. Wikimedia Frantz Fanon, the Martinique-born psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary and leading pan-Africanist, would have been 97 on 20 July 2022. He left a remarkable imprint. His views influenced many in the field of mental illness as …
Challenging the whiteness of classics – remembering the Black Romans: Septimius Severus was an emperor who was born in Roman Africa. CPA Media Pte Ltd/Alamy As with every humanities discipline, classics has responded to Black Lives Matter with justifiable introspection. As the study of the ancient world, and particularly that of the Mediterranean cultures, classics …
Remembering Louis Maqhubela, pioneering and enigmatic South African painter: Artist Louis Maqhubela and his wife Tana passed away within days of one another. Image courtesy the Maqhubela family The pioneering South African artist Louis Khehla Maqhubela passed away on 6 November 2021 at St Thomas’ hospital in London, UK, a few days after his wife …
Freddie Mercury 30 years on – remembering the theatrical, eccentric genius: There is no doubt that Freddie Mercury was a genius: it’s clear in his music, his theatrical performances, and his eccentrically stylised persona. These different art forms constructed a full creative package and made Mercury an icon. As we mark 30 years since his …
Remembering the Black abolitionists of slavery in Yorkshire: Henry 'Box' Brown's arrival in Philadelphia. Wikimedia “Cunning better than strong” is a Jamaican proverb; a message of survival and resistance that urges us to use our brain rather than our brawn to overcome oppressors. It’s a proverb that is encapsulated by the Jamaican trickster folk hero …
South Africa in the news: Remembering Africa’s Deadline Day Duds: After failing to establish himself with West Ham, South Africa’s all-time top scorer was cut from the Bafana Bafana squad for the 2010 World Cup on home soil. Like McCarthy, Samba looked like a classy …: “South Africa” – BingNews New COVID Variant C.1.2 Detected …
South Africa in the news: Remembering Pingali Venkayya, the architect of India’s national flag: He was a polymath with interests in geology, education, agriculture, and languages.” – M Venkaiah Naidu on Pingali Venkayya. A country is identified and distinguished by its flag, emblem, anthem, that …: “South Africa” – BingNews The first water-resistant Redmi Note …
The Village Pope has passed: remembering Tsepo Tshola, Lesotho’s musical giant: Tsepo Tshola performs at A Night With Legends Live in Johannesburg in 2020. Screengrab/Slice Events “It’s the love of what I’m doing that’s kept me in the business,” declared singer and composer Tsepo Tshola, who passed away in Lesotho on July 15, aged 68. …
Remembering Pat Mokoka of the Malopoets — seminal South African music: The late Pat Mokoka photographed at home in 2019. Ihsaan Haffejee/New Frame The lack of archive around the life and music of bass guitarist Patrick Thabo “Pat” Mokoka is emblematic of how little South African cultural history has really been preserved. Mokoka, a founder …
Remembering Tania Douglas: a brilliant biomedical engineer, academic and friend: Professor Tania Douglas is warmly remembered as an excellent scientist and a remarkable human being. Je'nine May/UCT Health Sciences Tributes from friends, colleagues, collaborators and students have poured in for South African academic Professor Tania Samantha Douglas, an internationally recognised scholar, biomedical engineer and innovator. …
South Africa in the news: Remembering June & Andrew Mlangeni: ‘We will live up to their example’: Former President Kgalema Motlante was speaking at the wreath-laying ceremony for Mlangeni on Sunday morning on what would have been his 96th birthday.: “South Africa” – BingNews What is the G7 summit and when does it take place …