The Black Panther
Before Eusebio, it was unthinkable for a European national team to be dominated by or build around players of African origin.
508 Articles by:
Sean Henry Jacobs
Sean Henry Jacobs is publisher of Africa is a Country and on the tenured faculty of The New School. He edits the substack, Eleven Named People.
Happy New Year!
We're taking a well deserved break. Back on January 11th. Meanwhile, go crazy in our archive.
The problem with the Hollywood Mandelas
Hollywood films about Nelson Mandela separates him from the movement that produced him. The fact is, movements made Mandelas, not the other way around.
Lilian Thuram’s burden
Why should black players have the burden of calling out racism, while white players don’t feel compelled to do the same?
Hollywood Pelé
The news that a major studio is bankrolling a film about the Brazilian Pele, contender for greatest player of all time.
The Emperor’s Son
The decision by Spain’s national football team to go play a football friendly in its former colony, Equatorial Guinea, has spotlighted how the latter country is run.
Football and Dictatorships
How much of Equatorial Guinean’s tax money did the Obiangs pay to the Spanish FA for a meaningless match between its national teams?
Kwadwo Asamoah makes it 150 appearances in Serie A
Asamoah, who just achieved milestone of 150 Serie A appearances, is not shy about publicly sharing his good fortune. He is a relentless tweeter, sharing pics of teammates including one of his son with Giorgio Ciellini (“Beauty and the Beast“), meeting the king of the Asante or — that staple of West African footballers — professing his love of Jesus (serial hashtag: #BecauseofHim).
When marketing men make films about football
I finally got around to watching "Thierry Henry 1:1" on iTunes. The promo material is written
The rains down in Africa
Why is Toto’s ‘Africa,” a song with ridiculous lyrics, so popular with everyone? It has to be the melody and the hook.
No wonder Winnie Mandela objected to this
The film “Winnie Mandela” is what happens when you combine bad history and bad filmmaking.
Like a showbiz Muammar Gaddafi
The contradictions and tensions in pop legend Michael Jackson’s relationship with the African continent.
Tuesday morning quarterbacking*
The meaningless football tournaments of the summer--mostly to the benefit of sponsors--are thankfully now over. Club football calendars from around the world have been synched (mainly to please European club owners), so this weekend was basically the start of the 2013/2014 season. This is also the first time North American fans of the English Premier League can watch every game. With the opening weekend out of the way, we can safely say NBC's off to a good start--no one misses Eric Wynalda and Warren Bartlett or FOX's plastic studio, but Piers Morgan as a guest host? And what's with underestimating the football knowledge of American-based fans or presenting supporting a club is like picking different kinds of cereal? At least NBC have great commercials.
Not stitched together
This week’s Weekend Music Break, no. 50, includes a homage to the 34 striking miners murdered by South African police in August 2012.
When Basquiat went to Africa
In 1988, Basquiat traveled to Cote d’Ivoire, anticipating “very unsophisticated” Africans would see his art. That’s not what happened.
Three Books on Nelson Mandela
The American public radio network, NPR, asked me, in anticipation of Nelson Mandela’s birthday, to recommend 3 books its listeners could read on his life and legacy.