Tom Devriendt

1 week 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.

Dec 5, 2024 | africasacountry.com | Ana Lucia Araujo |Guido Melo |Tom Devriendt

It’s Carnaval Monday night in Salvador, Bahia—Brazil’s “Black Rome.” Dressed in yellow, red, black, and white, a huge crowd of ordinary people, artists, and politicians are gathered in the Liberdade neighborhood. Under the balcony of the Candomblé temple Ilê Axé Jitolu, they attend a brief religious ceremony that opens the procession of the Carnaval group Ilê Aiyê. Africa is not a country. Yet, if there is a country in the Americas where we can find Africa, it’s Brazil.

Nov 5, 2024 | africasacountry.com | Tom Devriendt |Sean Jacobs

Saidu left his home in Senegal to pursue the elusive promise of a better life in New York—a solitary pilgrimage without the available support of family. He eventually made his way to Harlem, where he now shares a small apartment with three friends who also made the journey. In his first year, Saidu managed to find work as a security guard in Manhattan—one of the many jobs West African migrants often take up as they carve out new lives for themselves in the city.

Jun 28, 2024 | africasacountry.com | Mohammed Elnaiem |Tara Alami |Tom Devriendt

Colonialism only loosens its hold when the knife is at its throat. We can’t talk about Fanon without grappling with his analysis of violence and the psychology of oppression, especially during the present era of destruction and death. What would Fanon say about the colonial genocide and “avalanche of murders” currently taking place in Gaza and other places? What would he say about the traumatic and tormenting effects on Palestinian children, women, and men?

Mar 29, 2024 | africasacountry.com | Jonathan Duncan |Tom Devriendt |Portia Zvavahera

Roy Guthrie, who died in Zimbabwe on March 5, was once a widely known refrigerator salesman in South Africa before he migrated to then Rhodesia as a young man in the late 1960s. He continued in his trade of buying and selling electronics until he took over Gallery Shona Sculpture from a disillusioned couple who were leaving the country after the “unilateral declaration of independence” came into effect.