Tag: african history

• The intertwined histories of the African American freedom struggle and Ethiopia’s war against fascism

  June 14, 2020

  The uproar from the horrific murder of 46-year old African American George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25 continues to reverberate globally, as African Americans… more ›

• Is France breaking with its colonial past in Africa?

  May 24, 2020

  It is the end of an era in West Africa as France moves to scrap the currency used by its former colonies. Eight West African countries will soon be using… more ›

• ‘You are still a soldier to me’: The forgotten African hero of Britain’s colonial army

  May 17, 2020

  In a crowded, Zambian slum on VE Day, a family gathered to bury one of the last veterans of Britain’s colonial army. Jaston Khosa of the Northern Rhodesia Regiment was… more ›

• Africa Is Not Waiting to Be Saved From the Coronavirus

  May 17, 2020

  As Covid-19 races its way across Africa, there are two stories happening at once. The first is of governments using their armies and militarized police to beat, threaten, and shoot… more ›

• Mapping Makoko: How data could help legitimize Nigeria’s informal settlements

  May 17, 2020

  MAKOKO, Nigeria — On Jan. 21 Shedrach Zunze woke up to the sound of gunshots in his home in Tarkwa Bay, the little corridor of the Lagos Lagoon, on the… more ›

• How colonial rule committed Africa to fragile authoritarianism

  November 4, 2019

  The impact of colonial rule on sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the subject of intense debate and controversy. Barely a year goes by in the UK without a public figure… more ›

• The horrific consequences of rubber’s toxic past

  July 24, 2019

  The black-and-white photograph shows a man, perched on the edge of a wooden deck, looking down at two objects. At first, you can’t take in what they are. In the… more ›

• Visualizing Africa’s Free Trade Ambitions

  April 18, 2019

  At a glance, it may seem like the world’s biggest technology companies have a lot in common. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/africa-free-trade/ more ›

• Mansa Musa: The richest man who ever lived

  March 11, 2019

  Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, according to the 2019 Forbes billionaires’ list released this week. With an estimated fortune of $131bn (£99bn) he is… more ›

• The Poesis of Mimesis in Les Maîtres Fous: Looking Back at the Conspiratorial Ethnography of Jean Rouch

  January 3, 2019

  While on a surface level the film recounts an African possession ritual which critically burlesques colonialism, many viewers found it to have a colonialist perspective, exoticising “primitive” practices and reinforcing… more ›