LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Oct

22

2022

Kenya’s Samburu warriors still practise a rock art tradition that tells their stories

LIFESTYLE

THE Samburu people in northern Kenya’s Marsabit county are pastoralists. They migrate from place to place in search of pasture and water for their cattle, goats, sheep and camels. As part of their lifestyle, Samburu boys go through an initiation period when they live in rock shelters, learning how to take care of their animals and how to become warriors. During this time the young warriors – called lmurran – express themselves by painting images on the rocks. This is one of very few ongoing rock art traditions in the world, but it has gained almost no attention among rock…

Oct

22

2022

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s struggle songs against apartheid come from a long tradition of resistance

LIFESTYLE

STRUGGLE songs, also known as protest music or liberation songs, are defined as “expressions of discontent or dissent” used by politically disenfranchised protesters to influence political conversations and express emotions. Some scholars argue that these songs date back to ancient biblical times when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and “the Hebrew people sang their lamentations”. In the American context, researchers contend that protest music can be traced back to transatlantic slaves. But others note that the use of these songs goes back even further. Author SISANDA NKOALA, Senior Lecturer, Cape Peninsula University of Technology In modern Africa and in…

Oct

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Chasing net zero at Bomanoma

LIFESTYLE

THUKU KARIUKI, BIRD STORY AGENCY TIMES change. And so, too, has Selina Nkoile. Growing up, Nkoile lived in a traditional Masaai community. Today, her modern ranch is a testament to 21st Century lifestyles, its multi-coloured, connected dwellings brightening the bush in rural Kenya. One thing that has not changed, however, is her dedication to a climate-conscious lifestyle. Traditional Masaai communities are extraordinarily environmentally-friendly. Buildings are biodegradable, built with daub (moistened, clay-ish soil) and interwoven branches or saplings. When communities move to follow their cattle, the homes erode and vanish. Dwellings in the homestead, or manyatta, contain sleeping areas, kitchens, and…

Oct

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Rapper Cardi B wins California trial over explicit album cover art

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

BLAKE BRITTAIN A California federal jury rejected claims that musician Cardi B misused a man's image on the cover of her first 2016 mixtape album. The cover of "Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1" did not violate plaintiff Kevin Michael Brophy's publicity or privacy rights by depicting an altered photo of another man with Brophy's unique back tattoo performing oral sex on the popular rapper, the Santa Ana jury found after a four-day trial and an afternoon of deliberations. Brophy's 2017 lawsuit sought at least $5 million in damages from Cardi B and her ex-manager Klenord Raphael, as well as an…

Oct

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Berry Gordy, Smokey Robinson to be honoured as MusiCares persons of the year

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

DANIELLE BROADWAY MOTOWN icons Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson will be honoured by the music industry in Los Angeles ahead of the annual Grammy Awards as MusiCares 2023 persons of the year, the organization announced. MusiCares, which is dedicated to supporting the music community, said the music world will celebrate the legacy of both songwriters during its 32nd annual persons of the year benefit gala. Berry Gordy, 92, and Smokey Robinson, 82, built the Motown record label in the 1960s and for several decades was the highest-earning Black American record label, nicknamed Hitsville USA for its dozens of chart-toppers. Gordy,…

Jul

05

2022

By The African Mirror

The case of the acclaimed South African novel that ‘borrows’ from Samuel Beckett

LITERATURE

RICK DE VILLIERS, Senior Lecturer, Department of English, University of the Free State PEREANT qui ante nos nostra dixerunt: may those who utter our words before us perish. This lighthearted Latin curse speaks a truth many readers and writers have felt: to have our thoughts articulated by someone else. Coenraad de Buys is unruffled by such a possibility. He is the antihero of Willem Anker’s award winning 2014 Afrikaans novel, Buys. Vagabond philosopher that he is, Buys reflects on the nature of memories. Their substance is flaky; their origin sometimes obscure. You might glimpse them in a glass darkly or…

Jul

02

2022

By ALAN BALDWIN

Fashion Brand Hugo Boss returns to F1 with Aston Martin

BEAUTY AND FASHION

GERMAN fashion brand Hugo Boss announced it was returning to Formula One with the Aston Martin team, five years after leaving for the electric Formula E series. The deal announced at the British Grand Prix on Thursday and initially running until 2025, will see Boss branding on the F1 cars with immediate effect and the company providing team apparel from 2023. Hugo Boss Chief executive Daniel Grieder told Reuters the pull of Netflix's "Drive to Survive" docu-series, new rules to make racing more competitive and a push for sustainability were compelling factors. A 30-year friendship with Aston Martin's Canadian billionaire…

Jul

08

2022

By The African Mirror

Spiritual traditions fuel South African jazz artist Tumi Mogorosi’s new album

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Blues … Black … Darker than grey/ Creation sounds Gold Reef Mine rockfall crush-sounds/ Guitar-string gun-spit tear flesh/ Black sonic science/ Darkest Acoustics … (from Where Are The Keys? on Group Theory: Black Music) SOUTH African poet Lesego Rampolokeng often writes about Black music in his poems. His collaborations with musicians on record are rarer but always remarkable. There was the cassette-only 1994 African Axemen collaboration with Zimbabwean Louis Mhlanga and a stellar crew of other pan-African guitarists. And his Tears for Marikana on Salim Washington’s album, Sankofa. And now the track Where Are the Keys? on South African drummer…

Jul

08

2022

By The African Mirror

Wole Soyinka’s life of writing holds Nigeria up for scrutiny

LITERATURE

AKINWANDE Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known simply as Wole Soyinka, can’t be easily described. He is a teacher, an ideologue, a scholar and an iconoclast, an elder statesman, a patriot and a culturalist. The Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet and essayist is a giant among his contemporaries. In 1986, he became the first sub-Saharan African, and is one of only five Africans, to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature. This was in recognition of the way he “fashions the drama of existence”. Author ABAYOMI AWELEWA, Lecturer in African and African Diasporan Literature, University of Lagos His works reveal him as a…

Apr

04

2022

By The African Mirror

SA’s DJ Black Coffee wins Grammy Award

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SOUTH Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa has led the nation in singing praises of DJ Black Coffee - real name Nathi Maphumulo - who has won his first Grammy Award. Black Coffee won the Grammy - the ultimate prize in music - in the dance/electronic category for his album titled “Subconsciously” Ramaphosa said: “Congratulations to Black Coffee for being awarded the Best Dance/Electronic Music award for his album ‘Subconsciously’ at last night’s #GRAMMYs. Thank you for flying the flag and inspiring a new generation of talent to take over the world.” In his acceptance speech, Black Coffee said: “I want to…