December 20/January 21 Archives

This photo is for Andile Zulu's Black Atlantic Essay

On Being Black and Other Lies Unravelling My Blackness in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Andile ZuluDecember 22, 2021

I had always been anxious about returning to South Africa. Besides awkward puberty, an awakening awaited me in South Africa, sparked by a dizzying confrontation with the reality of race. Read more.

December 20/January 21South AfricaThe Black Atlantic

Upon Mount Zion, There Shall Be Deliverance The Church and My Political Awakening

Eileen GbagboDecember 8, 2021

The church was where I had my political awakening. For nearly five years, weekly sermons, prayer sessions and testimonies, gave me an education, about being African in the UK, that I couldn’t get in school. Read more.

December 20/January 21GhanaThe Black AtlanticUnited Kingdom

Call for Submissions – Vol. 5, No. 2 The New/Old: Stories of Slavery in Africa

The RepublicJanuary 29, 2021

Deadline 05 March, 2021: The Republic is currently accepting submissions for May-July 2021, in which authors will critically discuss Modern Slavery in Africa.

December 20/January 21

‘People Die in Nigeria Because They Lack Political Representation’ Dafe Oputu's First Draft

Dafe OputuJanuary 29, 2021

Author of ‘Zombiescapes’ and ‘For the People Without the People’, Dafe Oputu, believes the importance of political representation is understated. ‘It’s literally a matter of life and death—people die in Nigeria every day because of lack of political representation.’

December 20/January 21First DraftInterviewsNigeria Decided 2023: First DraftNigeria Decides 2023

On the National Red Line Negotiating Nigeria’s ‘Non-Negotiable’ Unity

Chukwudi UkonneJanuary 27, 2021

The Aburi conference held in Ghana in January 1967 was one of the few times that Nigeria’s unity was ever truly ‘negotiated. Read more.

Best of 2021: EssaysDecember 20/January 21Editors Picks: Independence Day

For the Community, By the Community COVID-19, Design and Handwashing Infrastructure in Nigeria

Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Mambidzeni MadzivireJanuary 25, 2021

COVID-19 is the latest instance of a widespread disease outbreak that has exposed the inadequate investment in basic but potentially impactful public health infrastructure, across the world. Read more.

December 20/January 21Special Focus: COVID-19vol5-no1

‘Writers are Guardians of Truth.’ Tunrie Bisi-Afolabi’s First Draft.

Motunrola Bisi-AfolabiJanuary 22, 2021

Lawyer, editor at The Republic and author of ‘Fela’s Republic and the #EndSARS Protests’, Tunrie Bisi-Afolabi, believes we need writers now more than ever. ‘Writers are guardians of truth,’ she says, ‘and in this climate of erasure and obliteration by the powers that be, writers have never had a more important mandate.’

December 20/January 21First DraftInterviews

The Long Walk to Equality Historical Influences on Women in Igbo Society

Chinenye AnikwenzeJanuary 20, 2021

Many Nigerians grow up without a true appreciation of the roles women played in traditional Igbo society. Was British colonialism responsible for women's roles changing and did it cause the Aba Women's War of 1929? Read more.

Best of 2021: EssaysDecember 20/January 21International Women's Day - Historyvol5-no4