LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jun

22

2023

The Riky Rick Foundation launches “Stronger”, a song that promotes mental well-being

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFTER winning our hearts for decades, on 23 February 2022, Rikhado “Riky Rick” Makhado, an icon, rapper, producer, and hip-hop artist, lost his battle with mental illness. Before he passed, he tweeted his final tweet; “I’ll return a stronger man”. One year later, during youth month, his track ‘Stronger’ will be dropped. The newly formed Riky Rick Foundation for the Promotion of Artivism is behind the release of the track. The foundation aims to bring attention to the issue of deteriorating mental health and well-being, as well as raise funds to support the efforts of individuals and organisations who promote…

Jun

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Milisuthando: a powerful documentary that will get South Africans talking about identity

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MILISUTHANDO is a debut feature-length documentary film by Milisuthando Bongela. Taking the form of a personal essay, it’s an intimate story about family and ancestors, about “inside apartheid’s experiment” and negotiating the complex world of post-apartheid South Africa. Bongela, born in 1985, offers a version of her life story in five parts organised poetically and thematically. The film is built on her experience of being born in the former Transkei “homeland” – one of the “independent states” designated by the racist apartheid government to institutionalise “separate development”. It explores what it means to have grown up in this society. JULIA…

Jun

15

2023

By The African Mirror

Shaka Zulu is back in pop culture – how the famous king has been portrayed over the decades

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SHAKA Zulu is one of the most famous figures in South African history, even though not much is actually known about him. The subject of a hit 1980s TV show and of many books, Shaka is reframed by each generation. Now he’s back in popular culture with a major new South African TV series, Shaka iLembe. Dan Wylie is an English professor who has written two academic books on Shaka. We asked him four questions. Author DAN WYLIE, Professor of English, Rhodes University Who was Shaka Zulu and what did you learn from writing about him? Shaka kaSenzangakhona is universally…

Jun

15

2023

By The African Mirror

South African activist Frank Anthony wrote a novel that has been forgotten: why it shouldn’t have been

LITERATURE

HOW does it come about that a man who dedicated the greater part of his life to a vision of a just South Africa, and sacrificed his family and personal relationships to do so, disappears from the annals of the country’s history? How does a writer with consummate command of two of South Africa’s national languages – English and Afrikaans – and whose work in poetry and prose reflects deep insights into world politics, literature and culture come to be virtually totally forgotten? Author F. FIONA MOOLLA, Senior Lecturer in English, University of the Western Cape This is what happened…

Jun

14

2023

By LERATO MOGOATLHE, BIRD STORY AGENCY

My Mogadishu: This photographer’s work is creating a dazzling visual language of Somalia

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IT is a Thursday afternoon at Lido Beach in Mogadishu and a group of young boys are playing football on the white sands, while fishermen sort out their boats, women vendors sell drinks and snacks and the air is filled with laughter and joyful conversation as the city residents run or stroll along the beach against the beautiful backdrop of a sparkling Indian ocean. Mamadou Omar trains his camera on the scene in order to capture these simple moments of everyday life in Mogadishu. He will post them on his Twitter and Instagram accounts along with the rest of his…

Jun

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Animal Farm has been translated into Shona – why a group of Zimbabwean writers undertook the task

LITERATURE

SINCE independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has in some ways become like Animal Farm. Like the pigs in the classic 1945 novel by English writer George Orwell, the country’s post-liberation leaders have hijacked a revolution that was once rooted in righteous outrage. In Zimbabwe, the revolution was against colonialism and its practices of extraction and exploitation. Author TINASHE MUSHAKAVANHU, Junior Research Fellow, University of Oxford The lead characters in Animal Farm have the propensity for evil and the greed for power found in despots throughout history, including former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe’s leaders have also acted for personal gain. They…

Jun

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Sex, money and love: what South African university students say about romance and dating in a material age

LIFESTYLE

TRANSACTIONAL sex – the exchange of consensual sex for material support like gifts, money or food – occurs on university campuses in many parts of the world. South Africa is no exception. Some scholars have highlighted the importance of understanding transactional sexual relationships beyond seeing it only (or mostly) as a way for young women to mitigate poverty, or because they want to enjoy the advantages of what is perceived as an elite and glamorous lifestyle. It’s more complicated than that. Author PULENG SEGALO, Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair, University of South Africa We came together as a trio of…

Jun

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Ama Ata Aidoo: the pioneering writer from Ghana left behind a string of feminist classics

LITERATURE

PROLIFIC author and former Ghanaian education minister Ama Ata Aidoo passed away on 31 May 2023 at the age of 81. News of her death reverberated around the world, proof of her towering influence in literary, feminist and political spaces. Aidoo was Ghana’s foremost woman writer and her distinguished career spanned several decades. Her literary contribution places her among the first generation of African women writers of the post-independence era. After independence in Ghana in 1957 she became a leading feminist voice within postcolonial writing. Author ROSE A. SACKEYFIO, Associate Professor of English and Liberal Studies, Winston-Salem State University For…

Jun

08

2023

By PATRICK NELLE FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY

Were Ancient Egyptians Black or White? Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra has revived a century-old controversy

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

"I announce on this day to the media that Cleopatra was not black. Cleopatra was Greek, similar to the queens and princesses of Macedonia. If we look at the scenes in the Egyptian temples, we can see that the pharaohs are depicted and in front of them were Nubian, Libyan, and Asian captives, the king is always completely different from all of them. I am not against black people at all, but here I am just listing the evidence that Cleopatra was not black," renowned Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of Antiques, Zahi Hawass, wrote on his Facebook page after…

Jun

07

2023

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia’s musicians fled the country after the 1974 revolution – how their culture lives on

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE overthrow of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie in 1974 led to violent conflict that had a particularly heavy impact on musicians. Sing and Sing On: Sentinel Musicians and the Making of the Ethiopian American Diaspora is the first study of the forced migration of musicians out of the Horn of Africa dating from the revolution. The book traces their struggles and what happened to their rich and diverse music traditions when they settled in the US. Ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman Shelemay talks about her book. Author KAY KAUFMAN SHELEMAY, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African…