Africans - The African Mirror

Apr

18

2023

Africans in World War 1: artist William Kentridge’s epic theatre production restores forgotten histories

SOUTH African artist William Kentridge became world famous for his charcoal drawings and hand-drawn animated films, but his work continued to grow in scope and he began staging performances. Today he also creates operas and collaborative stage productions combining numerous art forms. William Kentridge. Stella Olivier One of his largest productions to date, The Head & The Load, tells the forgotten stories of Africans in World War 1, who served mostly as porters for European armies on the continent. The production was first performed in London in 2018; its South African premiere was delayed by three years because of the…

Apr

07

2023

By The African Mirror

Two Africans among four winners of global youth climate prize

NEWS

BIRD STORY AGENCY TWO young Africans have been selected as the global winners of the Young Climate Prize, an award by the non-profit, The World Around, that recognises projects that use "design to address and mitigate the impact of climate change". Foday David Kamara from Sierra Leone and Aziba Ekio from Nigeria were among the four overall winners selected from a shortlist of 25 who had all been paired with a mentor to help them scale up their project in order to bring it to life and address issues related to climate change. Twenty-two-year-old Kamara won the young climate designer…

Mar

29

2023

By The African Mirror

Kamala Harris exhorts Africans to innovate, empower women in Ghana speech

NEWS

COOPER INVEEN U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris challenged Africans to step up innovation and the empowerment of women in order to play their full part in the future of the world, as she delivered a speech to thousands of young Ghanaians in Accra. Her visit to Ghana, the first stop on an African tour that will also take her to Tanzania and Zambia, is part of a charm offensive by Washington as it seeks to counter-balance the growing influence of China and Russia on the continent. Standing in front of Black Star Gate, a monument built on the site where…

Mar

16

2023

By The African Mirror

In conversation with National Geographic’s Vice President, Storytelling: On Africans telling African conservation stories

LIFESTYLE

BIRD STORY AGENCY IN 2017, two South African National Geographic Explorers and filmmakers, Noel Kok and Pragna Parsotam-Kok created the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Filmmakers (NEWF), which empowers Africa's next generation of storytellers to promote conservation through film. "We are building an army of young, inspired producers, directors, cinematographers, composers, and writers all across Africa, focusing on storytelling in environment and wildlife. The reason we are doing this to meet the opportunities that exist within the industry for our fellows to become part of the crews, so the stories of Africa are told from the perspective of Africans," said Noel…

Mar

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis: the first post-colonial papacy to deliver messages that resonate with Africans

RELIGION

WHEN he was presented to a cheering crowd at St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, on 13 March 2013, few people outside Latin America knew much about Jorge Bergoglio. But a decade later, based on my work as a scholar of Catholicism, I would argue that most Catholics know and love Pope Francis. They also see a deep connection between his message and priorities, and their dreams and hopes for a better church and a world that is reconciled. Author STAN CHU ILO, Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul University When Pope Francis was introduced in 2013, I was…

Mar

14

2023

By The African Mirror

Pope Francis: the first post-colonial papacy to deliver messages that resonate with Africans

RELIGION

WHEN he was presented to a cheering crowd at St Peter’s Square, Vatican City, on 13 March 2013, few people outside Latin America knew much about Jorge Bergoglio. But a decade later, based on my work as a scholar of Catholicism, I would argue that most Catholics know and love Pope Francis. They also see a deep connection between his message and priorities, and their dreams and hopes for a better church and a world that is reconciled. Author STAN CHU ILO, Research Professor, World Christianity and African Studies, DePaul University When Pope Francis was introduced in 2013, I was…

Jul

08

2022

By The African Mirror

Africans make up a tiny portion of genomics data: why there’s an urgent need for change

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

A group of Nigerian scientists, in conjunction with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, established the Noncommunicable Diseases Genetic Heritage Study consortium in February 2020. The aim is to produce a comprehensive catalogue of human genetic variation in Nigeria and assess the burden of noncommunicable diseases in 100,000 adults in the country. The Conversation Africa asked genetic epidemiologist Segun Fatumo, one of the leaders of the consortium, to explain what they are doing and why. Author SEGUN FATUMO, Associate Professor of Genetic epidemiology & Bioinformatics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine How does Africa feature in global…

May

19

2022

By The African Mirror

When Africans asked for COVID shots, they didn’t get them. Now they don’t want them

COVID-19

EDWARD MCALLISTER and COOPER INVEEN IT"S noisy inside the Mamprobi clinic in Accra as kids clamber over their mothers while they wait to get their measles vaccines. Outside, an area reserved for COVID-19 shots is empty. A health worker leans back in his chair and scrolls on a tablet. One woman, waiting to get her daughter inoculated, is fully aware of the dangers of measles: the high fever, the rash, and the risk to eyesight. But COVID-19? She has never heard of a single case. The perception that COVID-19 doesn't pose a significant threat is common in Ghana's capital and…

Apr

08

2022

By The African Mirror

Over two-thirds of Africans infected by COVID virus since pandemic began

COVID-19

MORE than two-thirds of Africans have been infected by COVID-19 since the pandemic started, 97 times more than reported confirmed cases, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) study published on Thursday. The study found that by September 2021, 800 million Africans had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, compared with 8.2 million cases reported at that time. The WHO said that under-counting was happening everywhere, but to a lesser degree than in Africa. It said that on average globally, true infections were 16 times higher than confirmed cases. The agency's regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso…

Jul

13

2021

By The African Mirror

Jamaica plans to seek reparations from Britain over slavery

WORLD

KATE CHAPPELL JAMAICA plans to ask Britain for compensation for the Atlantic slave trade in the former British colony, a senior government official said, under a petition that could seek billions of pounds in reparations. Jamaica was a centre of the slave trade, with the Spanish, then the British, forcibly transporting Africans to work on plantations of sugar cane, bananas and other crops that created fortunes for many of their owners. "We are hoping for reparatory justice in all forms that one would expect if they are to really ensure that we get justice from injustices to repair the damages…