Africa Is a Country

Bono did something right

Bono did something right

By
Sean Jacobs

You know we give Bono a lot of grief on this site, but in this commercial for ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 World Cup–bar a few disagreements here and there–he is on point. Did I just say that. Just in this case of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXlBSlyU8xY

* BTW, ESPN has put a lot of money into promoting the World Cup, so it is also worth checking out the short “32 Teams, 1 Dream” videos they made and presented by Beninous actor Djimon Hounsou. I particularly like the ones for the six African qualifiers: South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria,  Cote d’Ivoire (I know the myth of Drogbacite continues) Ghana and Algeria.  What is striking about some of the team profiles are how political, or left progressive, they seem to be: Take the Algeria one where Hounsou brings up the Algerian war of independence and in the Honduras video where whoever wrote the script and produced it, basically condemns the coup against the democratically elected president.

Further Reading

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Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

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À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.