The Africanist Podcast

In this episode, Ugandan social activist and scholar, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire (Institute of African Studies, Emory University), discusses the policing of social activism in contemporary Africa. He also shares his personal experience in an environment where violent attacks against activists are recurrent. 
This conversation is part of a series on "Social Activism in Contemporary Africa" produced in the framework of the Ufahamu Africa Non-Resident Fellowship. It was first released on the Ufahamu Africa Podcast.
You can listen to the first episode of the series here. 
"What is the role of the radical intellectual in Uganda?" (by Bwesigye Mwesigire)

In this episode, Associate Professor of History, Tyler Fleming (University of Louisville) discusses his book Opposing Apartheid on Stage: King Kong the Musical  (University of Rochester Press 2020).
"In 1959, King Kong, an interracial jazz opera, swept across South Africa and became a countrywide phenomenon. Its performances sold out, its LP record was widely heard, and its cast became recognized celebrities. Featuring an African composer, cast, and orchestra but predominantly white directors and producers, this interracial production seemed completely distinct from any other theatrical production in the country's history. Despite being staged over a decade after the enacting of apartheid, the interracial collaboration met widespread acclaim that bridged South Africa's racial, political, ethnic, and class fissures."
https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781580469852/opposing-apartheid-on-stage/

In this episode, Dr. Noémie Ndiaye (University of Chicago) discusses her recent monograph, Scripts of Blackness: Early Modern Performance Culture and the Making of Race (University of Pennsylvania Press 2022). The book chronicles the representation of Blackness in early modern Europe (with a focus on England, France, and Spain) through theater and performance culture. In addition to unpacking the concepts of racial matrix and race paradigm, Dr. Ndiaye fleshes out how certain controversial techniques such as "black-up", "kinetic blackness", and "blackspeak (acoustic blackness)" permeated early modern European theater thus contributing to the rise a new racial paradigm.

The recent coup in Burkina Faso continues to raise many questions about the political future of the country as well as the relationships between Burkina Faso and its external partners in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region. In this episode, Dr. Lassane Ouédraogo (Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo de Ouagadougou) discusses the recent military coup in Burkina Faso and the removal of President Sandaogo Damiba who came to power in January 2022 after overthrowing the civilian regime led by President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré. Dr. Ouédraogo talks about the general situation in the streets of the capital city, Ouagadougou, and the grievances of the junta.
This episode was recorded on Sunday, October 2, 2022.
Contacts:
Dr. Ouédraogo: lassaneo@fulbrightmail.org
The Africanist Podcast: theafricanist2020@gmail.com
 

On July 31, 2022, Senegal held its legislative election which resulted in a historical "split" parliament between the presidential coalition Benno Bokk Yakkaar (BBY) and the political opposition led by the inter-coalition Yewwi Askan Wi (YAW) and Wàllu. Out of the 165 members of parliament (MPs) that will constitute the National Assembly, BBY won 82 MPs, YAW-Wàllu won 80 MPs while the political formations Bokk Gis Gis, Les serviteurs and Aar Sénégal got one MP each. In this episode, Prof. Ousmane Sène of the West African Research Centre (WARC) discusses the results of the election as well as the controversies noted during the pre-campaign period and casting of the ballots, including fraud allegations and the need to abide by the instituted rules.

In this episode, the Drs. Oumar Ba (Cornell University) and Marame Gueye (East Carolina University) discuss the recent developments following the 2021 popular uprising in Senegal including the preliminary hearings in the Sonko vs. Adji Sarr case. We also talk about the recent municipal and departmental elections in Senegal and their potential implications in the upcoming legislative (July 2021) and presidential elections (2024). Ba and Gueye were previously invited to The Africanists to discuss the popular uprising in Senegal. Listen to that episode with the link below for more context.
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-67e6w-fd0871

In this episode, Dr. Noah Tamarkin (Anthropology, Cornell University) talks about his recent book, Genetics Afterlives: Black Jewish Indigeneity in South Africa (Duke University Press 2020).
The book chronicles the politics of race, religion and recognition among the Lemba people of South Africa who were the subject of Jewish genetic ancestry studies in the 1980s and 1990s. He delves into the notion of indigeneity as well as the intersection of oral history, genetics and ethnography.  
https://www.dukeupress.edu/genetic-afterlives

In this episode, Prof. Cheikh Anta Babou (University of Pennsylvania) discusses his latest book, Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration and Place-Making (Ohio University Press 2021). He talks about how mobility and memorialization constitute integral parts of the Murid identity. He also delves into the feminization of Senegalese migration to the United States and the impact of gentrification on African communities in New York City.

In this episode, Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez (Associate Prof. at Michigan State University) discusses her recent book entitled Decolonizing Diasporas: Radical Mappings of Afro-Atlantic Literature (Northwestern University Press 2020). She breaks down the notions of intimacy, dispossession, and the "peripheralizing" of Hispanophone Afro-Atlantic aesthetics in the context of coloniality and dictatorship. She also discusses her experiences traveling to Equatorial Guinea, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to conduct research for her book.

In this episode, Professor Mohamed Saliou Camara, Chair of the African Studies Department at Howard University discusses the recent military coup in Guinea Conakry that ousted President Alpha Condé. He analyses the circumstances under which the event happened as well as provides an overview of the different military coups and takeover attempts in Guinea since its independence in 1958. 

"If you were to look closely at his time in power, it is punctuated by rebellions, it is punctuated by coup attempts, it is punctuated by civil unrest, human rights abuses; there is no way to look at the domestic political situation in Chad, under Déby and walk away thinking this is a stable, prosperous regime." Daniel Eizenga
In this conversation, Dr. Daniel Eizenga, Research Fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies examines the current political situation in Chad following the unexpected death of President Idriss Déby Itno who ruled the country for 30 years.

Senegal, one of the model democracies on the African continent has been experiencing an unprecedented popular uprising following the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on disorderly conduct and call for insurrection charges. Prior to that, Ousmane Sonko has been accused of rape followed by death threats by a young masseuse named Adji Sarr. While Sonko continues to claim that the accusations are part of a conspiracy to eliminate him from the upcoming presidential race, the presidential camp maintains that the allegations brought against him has nothing to do with politics. So far, a dozen of protesters lost their lives and the matter is pending in court. In this episode, Drs. Marame Guéye (East Carolina University) and Oumar Ba (Morehouse College) discuss the causes and potential ways out of the civil unrest.

"One thing I push back against a little in the book is the sort of emphasis on resistance in scholarship on hip hop. Not because resistance isn't, or hasn't often been an important facet of hip hop cultures in various places throughout the world but because sometimes a sort of understanding of resistance as so integral to hip hop can elide the other ways in which hip hop is important to people." Dr. Catherine Appert
In this episode, Associate Professor at Cornell University, Dr. Catherine Appert, talks about her book In Hip Hop Time: Music, Memory and Social Change in Urban Senegal. She also talks about her fieldwork experience navigating culturally complex spaces where class, gender, and national origin intersect.
 

 
"The Pandemic started when I was finishing my dissertation. I have done a lot during this pandemic, it kind of forced me to finish."
"I was supposed to start my fieldwork over the summer, I was supposed to be gone by the end of May, I had already made my travel arrangements and then the pandemic hit."
COVID-19 has affected every aspect of life including the possibility to conduct dissertation fieldwork. In this episode, doctoral students (Astou Guèye - University of Wisconsin, Bright Gyamfi - Northwestern University, Margaret Rowley - Boston University) and recent graduate (Dr. Nicholas McLeod, Rider University) share their experiences about doing fieldwork and writing a dissertation amidst a global pandemic.
 

In this episode, Ph.D candidate and #EndSARS protest facilitator, Shamsudeen Abubakar, talks about the origin and manifestations of the #ENDSARS protest that has been taking place in many Nigerian cities/States and abroad. He also delves into his personal involvement with the organization of a peaceful protest against Nigerian police brutality in Louisville, Kentucky back in October 2020. 

In this episode, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Dismas Masolo (University of Louisville) revisits historical attempts to deny the existence of African Philosophy as well as African scholars' response to these attempts. He also discusses Ubuntu philosophy and the concepts of personhood and community as understood by scholars such as Menkiti.

This episode is the outcome of a Zoom panel that The Africanist co-organized in the framework of the annual African Heritage Festival of Louisville, Kentucky. In this panel, Stacy Bailey-Ndiaye, Amos Azerimana, Dr. Babacar Mbaye, Dr. Nicholas McLeod, and Aukram Burton discuss the origin and the relevance of Pan-Africanism in the 21st century. They walk us through some of the cultural, political, and economic challenges that the Black Atlantic has been facing and how responses can/should be coordinated to solve these issues.
 
Music by Ismael Lo:
I do not own the rights to the music.

In this episode, Dr. Tony Van Der Meer from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, talks about his activism and his involvement with the black liberation movement. He also invokes some of the obstacles that have historically impeded the struggle of Black folks in Africa, the United States and other parts of the Black Atlantic. 

Professor Fallou Ngom (Boston University) discusses his award-winning work on Ajami and the diffusion of Islam in West Africa. He also talks about racism in the Arab world and the use of Islamic texts to justify racist and discriminatory actions towards people of Africa descent. 

Aukram Burton, Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, discusses Black activism in the 1960s and 1970s in relation to the recent protest movements following the death of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. He also talks about his own experience as a freedom fighter in the 60s and his encounter with prominent civil rights activists including Robert F. Williams his mentor. 
Contact: theafricanist2020@gmail.com