LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

Jun

10

2021

Adut Akech named global Estée Lauder ambassador

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO ADUT Akech has become one of Estée Lauder’s newest global faces. The South Sudanese-Australian model was named ahead of Estée Lauder’s new campaign launch for the summer. She joins the likes of Ana de Armas, Anok Yai, Bianca Brandolini D’Adda, Carolyn Murphy, Grace Elizabeth, Karlie Kloss and Yang Mi. The supermodel captured the world’s attention when she debuted in the 2017 Saint Laurent S/S show, and now at the age of 21, she is living the dream as the face of a brand she didn’t think would be part of an iconic brand such as Estée Lauder. “I…

Jun

10

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Coolest kid’ Elsa Majimbo covers Native

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IT’s Elsa Majimbo’s world and we’re all just living in it. The online sensation has been revealed as the digital cover star for Native’s June issue, in a feature that sees the “coolest 19-year-old on the planet” in eccentric braiding styles and colourblock-styled outfits. Titled “Into Elsa’s Multiverse”, Native magazine chats to Majimbo on her massive rise online, her conversations with the likes of Olympian Usain Bolt, Rihanna and Naomi Campbell; and how she has been using her newfound fame to carve a space for young, rising African women like herself. View this post on Instagram A post shared by…

Jun

09

2021

By The African Mirror

During lockdown, South African students wrote a book about ‘a world gone mad’

LITERATURE

SOUTH African student voices have largely remained unheard in formal discussions around COVID-19. A pandemic that should not be put to waste, COVID-19, on some podiums, is seen as laying the groundwork for germination of seeds of change. PEET VAN AARDT, Coordinator: Initiative for Creative African Narratives (iCAN) & Lecturer: Academic Literacy, University of the Free State BRIAN SIBANDA, Lecturer/Researcher: Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of the Free State, University of the Free State The students in this collection of stories by the Initiative for Creative African Narratives (iCAN, a project within the Academy for Multilingualism at…

Apr

23

2021

By The African Mirror

Cardi B files papers to secure ‘Bardi Beauty’ rights

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER RAPPER Cardi B is making “money moves”, to quote her single ‘Bodak Yellow’. According to TMZ, the rapper’s company Washpoppin Inc. has taken legal steps to secure the rights to the phrase “Bardi Beauty”, which could potentially be used across a variety of the rapper’s merchandise and other products. Cardi’s company originally filed the papers on April 16, but news reports only surfaced when her company updated the court documents which both TMZ and Complex viewed. The listed products from the application to secure the rights to the phrase include cosmetics, fragrances, hair care preparations, non-medicated skin…

May

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Thuso Mbedu, Barry Jenkins speak about making slavery drama ‘The Underground Railroad’

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

LISA KEDDIE “MOONLIGHT” director Barry Jenkins switches to the small screen for an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Underground Railroad", a project the Oscar winner says he feared from the start. The 41-year-old read a copy of Colson Whitehead's harrowing tale before its 2016 release, and was enamoured by its young protagonist, Black slave Cora, and her quest for freedom from a Georgia plantation. FILE PHOTO: Director Barry Jenkins attends the 91st Oscars Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, California, U.S. February 4, 2019. REUTERS/David McNew/File Photo Set in the 19th century Deep South, the 10-part series, released on…

Jun

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Snoop Dogg takes executive role at Def Jam

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

RAP superstar Snoop Dogg is joining the legendary hip hop label Def Jam Recordings as executive creative and strategic consultant, the U.S. company has announced. Def Jam, owned by Universal Music, has been home to some of hip-hop's most pioneering artists, from Public Enemy to LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys. Its current roster includes Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Kanye West. Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, professionally known as Snoop Dogg, will be based in Los Angeles and report to Universal Music Group Chairman and Chief Executive Sir Lucian Grainge and Def Jam interim Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Harleston. As…

Jun

06

2021

By The African Mirror

From apprentice to fashion icon: Ivory Coast’s Pathe’O, 50 years on

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY WHEN 20-year-old Pathe Ouedraogo left his Burkina Faso village in 1969 in search of a better life in neighbouring Ivory Coast, his dream was to return with a bicycle and a transistor radio to prove he had made it. He was too thin to work on a cocoa farm, so took the chance to learn how to make clothes instead - a decision that propelled him to fashion stardom. "The most accessible job at the time was to be an apprentice tailor," said Ouedraogo. The man mostly known as Pathe'O is now celebrating a 50-year career during which…

May

31

2021

By The African Mirror

Black feminist writers in South Africa raise their voices in a new book

LITERATURE

DESIREE LEWIS, Professor of Gender Studies, University of the Western Cape GABEBA BADEROON, Associate Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies and African Studies, Penn State IN the third decade of the new millennium, despite many publishers still seeing black women’s writing as having a limited market, readers have far more access than before to publications by writers from the global South. In particular, the perspectives of black women are certainly more visible in the public domain. Yet gaps and erasures – based on intellectual authority, financial resources and visibility in the knowledge commons – mean that it’s still easier…

Jun

05

2021

By The African Mirror

Former minister’s memoir is a candid critique of South Africa’s political economy

LITERATURE

A new book by Rob Davies, a former South African Trade and Industry Minister, provides a candid and detailed insider’s account of the evolution of the country’s post-apartheid political economy. MILLS SOKO, Professor: International Business & Strategy, Wits Business School, University of the Witwatersrand He makes it clear from the outset that this is a memoir and not an autobiography. But, as one reads on, it becomes obvious that it is impossible to separate his personal experiences from the momentous events that have shaped democratic South Africa. The book’s fourteen chapters cover topics as varied as the apartheid context, the…

May

30

2021

By The African Mirror

‘It means everything’: Mary J. Blige inducted into NYC’s Apollo Walk of Fame

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MARY J. Blige has nine Grammy Awards, eight multi-platinum albums, two Academy Award nominations, and now, the singer-songwriter has a plaque on the Apollo Theater's Walk of Fame. Blige, also known as the queen of hip-hop soul with millions of fans across the globe, was inducted into the Walk of Fame on Friday just outside the legendary theater in Harlem. Wearing a sparkling green and black jumpsuit, Blige personally thanked her fans and announced a release date of June 25 for a new documentary that celebrates the 25th anniversary of her second album "My Life." This was a return home…