LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Sep

2020

Dear Dambudzo Marechera… The letters Zimbabweans wrote to a literary star

TINASHE MUSHAKAVANHU, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand THE writer Dambudzo Marechera, who died on 18 August 1987, remains a popular figure in Zimbabwe. He is heralded by a young generation as a radical and counter-culture figure. Marechera became an instant star when his first book The House of Hunger was published to critical acclaim in 1978. The novella tells of growing up in colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in raw and exquisite prose, a harrowing portrait of lives disrupted and young disillusionment. The rumour is that he wrote it in a tent or squat, but then perhaps he did not,…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Black Panther co-stars attend Chadwick Boseman’s memorial

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

African Mirror Reporter FAMILY and friends were in attendance for the American actor Chadwick Boseman’s memorial service, paying respects to the late ‘Black Panther’ star. Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o along with other Black Panther stars attended the outdoor memorial service with Boseman’s spouse, Taylor Simone Ledward, to say their final farewells. Photos published by The Sun showed the stars attending the memorial in Malibu, California, along with a photo of Boseman on display next to a floral arrangement. The memorial service also featured music being played from a hang drum. Chadwick Boseman passed away aged 43 in Los Angeles…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Shepherd-turned-singer mixes Lesotho folk music with techno, rap

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

EMILE BOSCH HE looks every bit the traditional Lesotho sheep herder, wrapped in a blanket to ward off the mountain kingdom's cold and swinging an ornate walking stick while he sings in the local Sesotho language. But since establishing himself in 2015, singer and rapper Teboho Mochaoa has gone beyond his home country's folk "Famo" music - with its trademark accordion and single drum - to produce an eclectic sound mixing electronic dance music, dub reggae and rap. That has enabled him to captivate audiences outside his native Lesotho, including in venues in Paris, Oslo, and Cape Town. He has…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Janet Jackson endorses #Jerusalema!

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER FRESH from an endorsement by Cristiano Ronaldo, the world best footballer, South African viral hit and dance sensation #Jerusalema has received the thumbs up from the queen of pop - Janet Jackson. Jackson posted a video of a South African girl dancing to #Jerusalema, the hit song and dance whose video has been watched over 100-million times on social media and has had doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers, monks and other celebrities around the world dancing. Jackson posted the video on Twitter and said: “Get it sis! #Goingin # BlackMagic @MasterKGsa.” The popular song was featured in…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Prince Harry and Meghan sign production deal with Netflix

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BRITAIN's Prince Harry and his American-born wife Meghan have signed a multiyear contract with Netflix to produce programming ranging from children's shows to scripted series, the streaming platform has announced. The couple, who moved to Southern California with their infant son Archie earlier this year after stepping back from royal duties in the United Kingdom, will produce content on issues that resonate with them and that their nonprofit Archewell is focused on. "Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope," the couple said in a statement. "As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

“This is one of those books that makes you shed tears”

LITERATURE

KHULU MBATHA WOMEN IN SOLITARY: Inside the female resistance to apartheidBy Shanthini Naidoo I recently attended the launch of a publication on the life of anti-apartheid struggle veteran Rita Ndzanga at the Phiri Community Hall, in Soweto, Johannesburg. The launch was organised by the Lawrence Ndzanga ANC Branch of Senaoane and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, which produced the booklet. Rita Ndzanga, was one of the accused at the notorious 1969 ‘Trial of 22’. The names of the 22 trialists were: 1. Lawrence Ndzanga; 2. Rita Ndzanga; 3. Winnie Madikizela Mandela; 4. Shanthie…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID crisis propels homeless Kenyan youth to rising R&B star

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AYENAT MERSIE FOR most of the past three years, up-and-coming Kenyan R&B artist Raymond Georges Ndungu Jane slept under a bridge at the edge of Nairobi's Uhuru Park. Since becoming homeless after a family tragedy at 12, it had been the best place the 22-year-old former choir boy had stayed: there was informal work, generous strangers abounded, and when both dried up there were the massive bald-headed marabou storks that were easy to hunt. Things were stable enough this year for Ndungu Jane, who goes by Ray Gee, to be in the mood to sing for his friends. And in…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Book Review | Tennis for the people

LITERATURE

KELLY FLETCHER THE first lawn tennis matches were played on hourglass-shaped courts. But not for long. Three years after Walter Wingfield was granted the patent for his “portable court” and began selling his lawn tennis sets, the first Wimbledon tournament took place in June 1877 on a rectangular court. The shape of the court and the scoring system from that inaugural Gentlemen’s Singles tournament is still used today. In other ways though, lawn tennis has changed immensely, as David Berry shows in A People’s History of Tennis. Tennis is still seen as a sport for the privileged by many today and…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada dies from COVID-19

BEAUTY AND FASHION

SARAH WHITE JAPANESE fashion designer Kenzo Takada, better known as Kenzo, who created his label in Paris in the 1970s, died on Sunday, the brand that still carries his name said. Aged 81, Takada died of complications linked to COVID-19 at the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a residential suburb on the western outskirts of the capital, his spokesman told French media. Known for his colourful motifs and original silhouettes, which mixed inspirations from Japan, such as the kimono, with other cuts, Takada also branched into perfumes and skincare lines, helping his business boom. He had retired from his…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

The beauty and brilliance of Baxsan, one of the most popular Somali singers of all time

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SEYNAB Haji Ali Siigaale, widely known as Baxsan, passed away on 19 October 2020 and was buried a day later in Sheikh Sufi Cemetery behind the Somali National Theatre building in the capital Mogadishu. Along with the likes of Halima Khalif Omar ‘Magool’, Baxsan was one of the most popular female Somali singers of all time. Almost 60 years after she embarked on her singing career, it remains impossible to find anyone in Somalia who doesn’t recognise her name. MOHAMED HAJI INGIRIIS, Doctoral candidate, University of Oxford Revered even by her adversaries, Baxsan was not buried in a way that…