Features and Essays

Slave Trade
Recognition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a Crime Against Humanity Should Lead to Repair

No form of reparations can ever fully compensate for the gravity of the transatlantic slave…

Afrobeats
The Paternity Test of Afrobeats

Afrobeats is the polar opposite of Afrobeat, musically and philosophically. Which raises the only question…

Sef Adeola
An Artist of the Times: A Retrospective Review of Sef Adeola

Sef Adeola taps into a tradition well-honed and long maintained, leaving the viewer with no…

KFCB
KFCB’s Notice and The Problem With The Film and Stage Plays Act

In Kenya, where press freedom is delicate, often contingent on political and economic conditions, the…

South Sudan
Why the Crisis in South Sudan Does Not Need Another “Peace Agreement”

South Sudan should redirect peace investment from national elite bargains to community-led processes. By Jack…

beguiling beauty
Beguiling Beauty

What appears beautiful within one communal framework may overwhelm, confuse, or even repel another—not because…

spirituality
Nollywood and African Spirituality: The Demonisation of a Continent’s Tradition

The problem with Nollywood was never that it showed the difficult dimensions of traditional practice.…

piracy
The Ethics of Knowledge and the Difficult Conversation Around Book Piracy in Africa

Is piracy justified or unjustified? Is piracy good or bad in a continent like Africa?…

visa denials
How Visa Denials Are Costing African Film Professionals More Than Just a Trip

Visa denials for African film professionals is not a bureaucratic inconvenience sitting at the edge…

east africa
The Long Retreat of East African Conscious Music

At a moment when politics presses hardest on daily East African life, the music that…