Sean Jacobs

1 week ago | africasacountry.com | Jaume Portell Caño |Magdi El Gizouli |Sean Jacobs

In one of the final scenes of the film No Simple Way Home, Akuol de Mabior sits inside a vehicle, describing the people along the roadside as the car drives by. There, individuals selling tea strive to make a living. These are the ones who, as she puts it, hold everything together and prevent it all from collapsing.

1 month ago | africasacountry.com | William Shoki |Sean Jacobs

In today’s multipolar world, economic sanctions have become a primary tool of American foreign policy. While they are typically framed as nonviolent targeted mechanisms for influencing “rogue” regimes, a deeper inspection suggests that sanctions operate as instruments of civilizational warfare—seeking not only to alter policy but to dismantle the cultural coherence and sovereign legitimacy of states in the Global South.

1 month ago | africasacountry.com | Christopher J. Lee |Nathan Yardy |Vanessa Burger |Sean Jacobs

South Africa’s swerve from liberation to bungling kleptocracy is not unique—the United States is in the throes of an analogous meltdown—but the speed and extent of that unraveling continue to both perplex and prefigure thinking about the prospects for recovery. The latest book by Vishwas Satgar, one of South Africa’s leading figures on the left, is a trove for anyone seeking a clearer understanding of the country’s hobbled efforts to step free of its past and a beacon for seeing past the gloom.

1 month ago | africasacountry.com | Luis Castellví Laukamp |Michael Ugarte |Joseph Mangarella |Sean Jacobs

Prácticamente analfabeto y afectado por la lepra, Eyí Moan Ndong (1928-2000) aprendió a tocar el nvet, un instrumento ancestral de tubo de caña de un metro o poco más de largo, que solía llevar hasta tres calabazas como cajas de resonancia. Ingresado doce años en la leprosería de Micomeseng, sus sesiones de nvet para enfermos y cuidadores fueron célebres. Las autoridades coloniales españolas nunca lo vieron con malos ojos, pero tampoco lo tomaron en serio, pues les parecía un payaso folclórico.

1 month ago | africasacountry.com | Karen Chalamilla |Sean Jacobs |Jesse Weaver Shipley |Tom Devriendt

When I was little, I had a very clear image of what it meant to be a grown woman. I imagined owning my own apartment, driving my own car, the ability to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and an unlimited supply of midriff blouses. This was the epitome of what being a grown, free woman meant to me. So, when I saw Lady Jaydee on the CD cover of her sophomore album, Binti, clad in a black two-piece that showed off her belly button, it immediately resonated with me.