It doesn’t often happen that I finish reading a book and then I end up starring at my ceiling thinking to myself: this was a hell of a book. Every time it happens, I feel this strange feeling of exuberating joy and I feel so happy with myself despite the fact that I had no [...]

The reason why this approach pisses me off is that it represents a ghettoization of a discipline. Basically, a publishing house is making an artificial division in the field of literature based on racial terms. What that implies is that the average customer is deprived of the element of surprise that comes with buying a book just for the sake of the book. Now you’re literally told from the beginning that this book is published by a black person dealing with black issues.

From the very first time I got to spend a significant amount of time in East Africa, I realized that  the most hard-working, diligent and persistent actors I had the pleasure of observing were women. I remember emailing an old friend of mine, during my first research trip to a small village in Uganda, saying the following: [...]

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.

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 [...]

“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. [...]

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 [...]

After I reviewed Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, Invictus, an anthropologist I care deeply for sent me an email with her insights on the movie. She had this to say at the time: “I have complex feelings about Eastwood and his libertarian politics: for me, he has never understood social processes, and works with lone, heroic [...]

Given the charade going on in Kenya these days, Prime-Minister talks about the tensions between him and the President. Guess where? In Japan. Click and watch:

Senator Obama goes to Africa is a travelogue / movie propaganda made by Bob Hercules and Keith Walke. The directors follow the then senator Obama through this short African odyssey. In this documentary, Barack Obama visits the city of Kisumu in western Kenya, the capital of the country, Nairobi, as well as South Africa and [...]