CULTURE & SOCIETY

Chadwick Boseman, who played T’Challa in the blockbuster movie Black Panther, died on 28 August of cancer. He was 43. The film’s vision of Afrofuturism and the technologically advanced civilisation of Wakanda resonated with audiences worldwide, who helped propel Black Panther to more than $1.3 billion in global revenue. Since the death of Boseman, the Black world has been talking again …

The Jack Ma Foundation’s search for Africa’s Business Heroes continues, with the top 20 finalists revealed on 19 August – representing over 50% female candidates, 11 key sectors and 14 countries: the twenty finalists have impressed the judges with their vision and entrepreneurial prowess, and are ready to progress to the semi-finale stage of the competition, for a chance to …

Things are different this year for well-known reasons. With the AFRIKA FILM TAGE (AFRICA FILM EVENTS), FilmInitiativ e.V. presents a stripped-down version of the traditional African Film Festival Cologne, a sort of cinematic offer from Africa and its Diaspora in the era of Covid-19. From 17 to 24 September, the organisation presents a programme tailored to corona safety guidelines and …

Garden City is a new children’s book. It tells the story of Ama Tricie, a Black girl determined to change the world one idea at a time. After a series of ups and downs, she realises that all you need to do is to believe in yourself and everything else will fall in place. Have you heard that saying, “Children …

The novel Efuru established Nigerian author Flora Nwapa as the first African woman to publish a book in English. Her work set the stage for the emergence of female writers in Nigeria and other African countries, writes of Sam Olukoya in the German international broadcaster DW’s series “African Roots”* —— When did Flora Nwapa live? Flora Nwapa was born in …

Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, has announced the further expansion of its Def Jam Africa division into three new markets within French-speaking Africa; Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon, effective immediately. Def Jam Africa launched in May 2020, as the first label dedicated to representing the best hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap talent in Africa, and follows …

ONE, MTV Base, Mandela Foundation pair up with 10 African Artists in Song to Fight COVID-19 Ten of Africa’s biggest musical artists are uniting to record “Stand Together”, a rallying call to all Africans to unite against COVID-19. With artists from seven African countries, the song is a powerful reminder that no one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is …

Award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is mourning her father who died after a brief illness recently. Taking to Facebook on Saturday (4 July), she lamented that she couldn’t travel to Nigeria from her US base due to the international travel ban as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to stand by her extended family in the period of mourning. Professor …

Bloggers from the global community of people of African descent will gather via Zoom on 19-20 June for the 2nd Afro-Bloggers Convention. The event, organised by Afrobizgermany.com, an online platform that projects the Black community in Germany to the outside world, is aimed at bringing Afro-bloggers together to discuss issues that are important to Africa and its global diaspora community. …

Now available across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Messenger Kids enables kids to safely video chat and message with family and friends when they can’t be together in person. The app also Giving parents supervision over their children’s online activity JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 10, 2020/ — Today, Facebook (www.facebook.com) is rolling out Messenger Kids, a video chat and messaging app that …

Tens of thousands of people joined Black Lives Matter protests across Germany on Saturday despite coronavirus containment measures that discourage such large gatherings. Even though many wore masks, but social distancing rules were impossible to observe as protesters rally across 26 towns and cities in Germany to protest racial discrimination and police brutality. The passion of participants about racism was …

Nigerian reggae singer Majek Fashek has died aged 71. His manager, Omenka Uzoma Day, confirmed the news on Monday via a short video on Instagram, saying the “the legend has gone to be with the Lord, but this time we should all celebrate him”. https://www.instagram.com/p/CA6vrA9gzOr/?utm_source=ig_embed The reggae singer and guitarist, whose real name is Majekodunmi Fasheke, was born in Benin …

Seven is a special number. It’s said that 7 is the number of completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). It is therefore an important occasion when an organisation clocks that figure. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Organisation for African Unity, eighty representatives of African-German organisations, representing the 54 African countries, came together in Berlin on 24-25 May …

Legendary Nigerian drummer and co-founder of Afrobeat, Tony Oladipo Allen, died suddenly at the age of 79 in Paris on Thursday. The musician had suffered a sudden heart attack and was taken to hospital where he gave up the ghost, his manager, Eric Trosset, announced. Allen was a founding member of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s very first band and he’s credited by …

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen was founded in 1954 and is not only one of the oldest short film festivals in the world but also one of the major international platforms for the short form. Every year in spring the festival takes place in Oberhausen with this year marking the 66th anniversary. The Corona pandemic has however put a …

Fresh, powerful highlife band Santrofi from Ghana first appeared at festivals around Europe in the summer of 2019, from Roskilde to Sines and WOMAD. They also stunned their audience at WOMEX 2019 in Finland. Their long-awaited debut album ‘Alewa‘ is finally out now on Outhere records (available on all formats: LP/CD/digital). The album brings a new wave of fresh highlife …

Can African writers in the Diaspora simply be writers who write as they are inspired without checking if they are stepping beyond boundaries? Should writers have any geographical or ethnic boundaries at all?  These are questions that African writers, who seemingly have to fulfil the conventional expectations of readers on what they’re supposed to write about, are confronted with. Using …

Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie dissects the complexities of race, class and hair in her novel Americanah, writes Michael Nnaji*. Born and bred in the Nigerian university town of Nsukka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie already has two universally acclaimed novels, Purple Hibiscus and Half of A Yellow Sun, and the collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck, as …

Beatrice Onyele’s “Chikwe: es bleibt ein Traum” represents a significant contribution to the growing body of work now known as “Migrant Literature”.

The businessman, who is based in Duesseldorf, talks about his title, what it means, the responsibilities it entails for him, among other issues, in an exclusive interview.