Alexis Okeowo

New York

Author and Writer at Freelance

writing about human rights, conflict, culture 'blessings and disasters: a story of alabama' out from @henryholt august 2025

Articles

“I’m Hungry”: Tennis’s Jack Draper Wants More-On the Court and Off

1 month ago | vogue.com | Alexis Okeowo |Tom Guinness

It’s the left-handed thing. When you’re watching Jack Draper, the top-ranked tennis player in Britain and the 14th best in the world, it takes a minute to remember you’re watching him in reverse. He lives his life right-handed—but then picks up a racket with his left, and has done so since he was a boy. It’s an advantage he makes the most of, crossing his powerful forehand to his opponent’s backhand. “I’m a bit odd,” he says. “I throw right-handed, I write right-handed, golf right, everything.
Ethiopia’s Agony: ‘I Have Never Seen This Kind of Cruelty in My Life’

Dec 6, 2024 | martinplaut.com | Alexis Okeowo |Martin Plaut

Source: New York TimesA rare look inside a region still reckoning with the toll of war crimes, even as new conflicts roil the nation. From left, Mekdes, 21, and Tihune, 22, are members of Fano, which is fighting against the central government, in Amhara.
The Civil War in Ethiopia That Never Really Ended

Dec 5, 2024 | genocidewatch.com | Alexis Okeowo

A rare look inside a region still reckoning with the toll of war crimes, even as new conflicts roil the nation. By Alexis OkeowoAlexis Okeowo spent almost two weeks in Ethiopia for this article, visiting Amhara, Tigray and other areas with limited access to foreign journalists. Before war broke out in Ethiopia, in late 2020, Mehari could take the bus home from her work as a doctor at a public hospital in Axum, a town in the country’s northern region Tigray.
The Civil War in Ethiopia That Never Really Ended

Dec 5, 2024 | nytimes.com | Alexis Okeowo

Listen to this article, read by Janina Edwards Image Tigray's leaders balked at ceding power. After they held regional parliamentary elections in 2020, in defiance of Abiy's orders, Abiy severed relations with the state. The T.P.L.F. then attacked an Ethiopian military camp in Tigray, claiming it was a pre-emptive strike before the federal government's planned invasion. Abiy immediately sent more troops into Tigray.
ELLE möter Tyla: "Jag har blivit mer bekväm med att göra misstag"

Nov 22, 2024 | elle.se | Alexis Okeowo

Sydafrikanska superstjärnan Tyla har drömt om att stå på scen och sjunga sedan hon som liten framförde Justin Bieber-covers för familjen hemma i vardagsrummet. Hon ville också sprida sitt hemlands speciella sound över världen. Nu är hon 22 år – och drömmen har blivit sann. Logga in på ditt kontoSkapa ett konto här!Kvällen innan sommarens OS-invigning i Paris var Tyla ovanligt lugn.
How Binyavanga Wainaina Wrote About Africa

Oct 30, 2024 | newyorker.com | Alexis Okeowo

Not long ago, I saw an article that would have both delighted and exasperated the late Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina. “Entrepreneurs are planning autonomous ‘charter cities’ as an answer to Africa’s population growth,” a passage read. The article, in the Financial Times, described the efforts of investment bankers and wealthy libertarians, including a grandson of Milton Friedman, to solve one of the continent’s most pressing problems—at least, according to people who don’t live in Africa.
Tyla Covers ELLE's October 2024 Issue

Sep 10, 2024 | tomandlorenzo.com | Alexis Okeowo |Lorenzo Marquez

Home » Style » Tyla Covers ELLE’s October 2024 Issue Posted on September 10, 2024 Tyla covers the October 2024 issue of ELLE Magazine photographed by Gregory Harris and styled by George Cortina.
The Cult in the Forest

Aug 19, 2024 | newyorker.com | Alexis Okeowo

Everyone hopes for a miracle. And in Kenya—where evangelical Christianity is so popular that the President frequently prays with preachers during official events—the more miracles a pastor performs, the more followers he will gain. Some swiftly build large congregations and become multimillionaires. In 2018, Halua Yaa, a woman in the coastal town of Malindi, heard about a pastor named Paul Mackenzie, who, it was said, could heal the sick.
He’s One of the Best Runners on the Planet. There’s Just One Problem: He Has No Country to Run For.

Aug 8, 2024 | runnersworld.com | Alexis Okeowo

PrologueBefore you turn nine years old, your life is split in two. In the first part, you are happy. Your parents are farmers, and you live with them and your sisters in Chukudum, a small village in the green Equatoria region of what is now South Sudan, not far from the border with Uganda. You play with your friends in the green. In the second part, you are separated from your family after your home is attacked.
How Activist Niemat Ahmadi is Raising Awareness About the War in Sudan

Jan 30, 2024 | vogue.com | Alexis Okeowo

The videos keep coming: armed fighters taunting men with their hands tied behind their backs, bodies piled in an open grave. The videos are from Sudan, where two generals began a struggle for power last spring that has killed more than 12,000 people, displaced 6.6 million, and turned the nation into a battlefield, one that has flooded social media with images and videos that give the impression of a country burning alive.