Featured, Suggested
Introducing Bessie Head
Bessie Head is one of my favorite African writers. Her books, though not numerous, have had a huge impact on both how I see Southern Africa and how I see myself in relation to a part of the world that I deeply cherish. In case you don’t know who Bessie Head is, here are some [...]
Current Affairs, Featured
A Kenyan in my Hometown
Reading the regional newspaper I still occasionally write for I discovered that a Kenyan citizen is working in my hometown of only 7000 people. His name is Ayacko Paul Odero. He is 34 years old and works for a local construction company. As the author of the article mentions, he is the first African to be exploited in the otherwise uninteresting city of Tirgu Bujor.
Featured, Movies about Africa, Movies about South Africa
In my Country – tumultuous times in post-apartheid South Africa
In my country is the type of movie one might see no reason in reviewing. The seriousness of the topic combined with the predictability and banality of some of the characters, the sloppy writing and the cheesy nature of some of the scenes makes me just want to get through my review as soon as [...]
Featured, Suggested
Doing “right” ethnography
This is a short paper I wrote for a course on Women in Modern Africa. I think there are some interesting debates on how life histories should be interpreted and analyzed here, so I’m posting it on my website hoping that it might be of interest to young scholars and researchers who are are doing [...]
Featured, My Africa Journey
Safest Cities in Africa
When many Westerners hear of Africa, they think of violence, civil war, famine and rape. However, in many African cities I often felt much safer than in Chicago where I have been living since 2006. Therefore, I decided to make a list of major or at least well-known African cities where I truly felt safer than [...]
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East Africa, Featured
New Music out of Tanzania
Posted on 14 April 2010
Art in Tanzania is an NGO operating in East Africa with projects in Tanzania and Ethiopia. One of their amazing initiatives has been to promote and support local artists and assist them with recording and promoting their music. This project has had some success and the organization is working on new strategies that will give [...] Continue Reading
Current Affairs, Featured
Know more about Women in Modern Africa!
Posted on 02 April 2010
“Women in Modern Africa” is a class I’m taking at U Chicago this quarter. It is, according to Professor Rachel Jean Baptiste, the course instructor, the first time in the history of the university when such a course is taught in Chicago. Out of the 31 people registered in the class, only two are men. [...] Continue Reading
Current Affairs, Featured
Introducing the “The Great Booth Debate on Africa”
Posted on 01 April 2010
The following event will take place at the University of Chicago next week. Those interested are invited to attend it. A participation fee will be charged. If you want to get more information about this event, click here. Introducing the “The Great Booth Debate on Africa” Date: Saturday, April 17 2010 Venue: The University of Chiago Booth School [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Suggested
Care to Read about Africa?
Posted on 01 April 2010
I haven’t been that active on my blogs lately because I’ve been working on a long overdue academic article on my research in Tanzania, on “China in Africa”. Things should go back to normal next week. In the meantime, I managed to make a list of all the Africa-related books that I own. These books [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Suggested
Your truly on BBC Africa Have Your Say
Posted on 23 March 2010
Today I participated in a radio debate on BBC Africa Have Your Say. It was an actual debate in which I argued against the opinions of the editor-in-chief from Zimbabwean Independent. The subject was active citizen participation in radio programs all over Africa. The journalist from Zimbabwe argued that call-ins are generally a waste of [...] Continue Reading
Featured
South Africa in 15 ads
Posted on 19 March 2010
Today I watched an extremely funny ad about South Africa. I wanted to know more about advertisement strategies coming out of South Africa. After doing a little bit of research I came up with the following ads which I personally thought were generally either funny, considerate, or with a very original marketing idea. Some are [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Movies about Africa
Live and Become (2005)
Posted on 08 March 2010
“Don’t chase me away”: The crisis of social belonging in tumultuous times A desperate mother makes a painful sacrifice: she sends her son away to an uncertain future in order to spare him from an almost certain death. The last thing she tells him is “Go, live and become” and these words will resonate heavily throughout [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Suggested
Life is beautiful with Angelique Kidjo
Posted on 05 March 2010
Angelique Kidjo is one of my favorite African singer along with Salif Keita and Cesaria Evora. Of those who are no longer among us, I also love Miriam Makeba, Lucky Dube and Brenda Fassie. Last night, Angelique Kidjo had a concert in Chicago and I obviously went to the performance. The ticket was 30 dollars [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Suggested
Ok, this is just naughty!
Posted on 27 February 2010
New scam email got into my inbox today. And it’s pretty disgusting. However, one can only wonder how people fall for this in the first place. One day I’ll tell you the story about the first scam email I ever received way back when I was a 15 year old student in Galati, Romania. And [...] Continue Reading
Featured, Movies about Africa, Movies about South Africa
Sarafina (1992): making a musical about apartheid or a swing and a miss
Posted on 23 February 2010
The idea that you can make a musical about apartheid gives me chills. To see it on my laptop screen seems even more inappropriate. In recent times, some wise directors tried to give a new perspective on the Holocaust by using movie genres other than dramas, and they succeeded. I cannot say the same about [...] Continue Reading
Notable articles of the day 05.01.2010
- Nollywood becomes the world’s second largest film industry. (via Africa Unchained)
- The textile industry is shaking in East Africa.
- How dissidents and homeless have become the new pariah in Rwanda. (NYTimes)
- Landslide kills 8 in Kenya. Maybe the government will finally debate the detrimental effects of deforestation in the region.
- Over 100 people are killed in Chad clashes.
This Vanguard reportage deserves to be seen.
I don’t normally post things that are not Africa-related but this young man from Taiwan is simply amazing. Lin Yu Chun participated in a Taiwanese version of the American Idol called Super Star Avenue, singing the song I will always love you by Whitney Houston. I’ll keep it short: his version of the song is clearly better than what Mrs. Houston is capable of singing right now. Some dubbed him the “Susan Boyle of Taiwan” and there might just be something of this young man. Check it out yourselves. I’m sure you’ll be surprised as well.
To all of us who have experienced the adventure that is a boda-boda (motorcycle-taxi in East Africa, primarily in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo)
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A Romanian in Africa by Codrin Arsene is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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