Africa Is a Country

Good doses of pan-Africanism

Good doses of pan-Africanism

By
Sean Jacobs

Since it first came out last year I’ve had Nas and Damian Marley’s concept album Distant Relatives on repeat. There are some lapses on the album, but I really like the track “The Promised Land.” Basically Marley and Nas updates Dennis Brown to big up Africa.

 

Nas doesn’t make much sense, but Damian Marley stays true to Brown’s sentiments:

Imagine Ghana like California with Sunset Boulevard
Imagine Ghana like California with Sunset Boulevard
Johannesburg would be Miami
Somalia like New York
With the most pretty light
The nuffest pretty car
Ever New Year the African Times Square lock-off
Imagine Lagos like Las Vegas
The Ballers dem a Ball
Angola like Atlanta
A pure plane take off
Bush Gardens inna Mali
Chicago inna Chad
Magic Kingdom inna Egypt
Philadelphia in Sudan
The Congo like Colorado
Fort Knox inna Gabon
People living in Morocco like the state of Oregon
Algeria warmer than Arizona bring your sun lotion
Early morning class of Yoga on the beach in Senegal
Ethiopia the capitol of fi di Congression …

Okay, I know, what with “Magic Kingdom inna Egypt”? Or maybe that’s deliberate going by the video for another track “Patience.” (That video is something to behold with its mix of Egyptology, “The Never Ending Story,” Indiana Jones, Shaka Zulu, and “Coming to America” references.) And why model African cities and countries only after the highly unequal glitz of North America?  But we’ll forgive them those lapses. To the Promised Land.

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

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.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

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.