The air crackled with anticipation as the first Monday of May dawned in New York City, marking the return of the Met Gala, an annual pilgrimage for the titans of fashion, Hollywood royalty, music icons, and the art world’s elite. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a venerable institution steeped in history and culture, transformed into a vibrant stage for sartorial storytelling as the crimson carpet awaited the procession of visionary designs and the luminaries who would bring them to life. This year’s gala held particular significance, serving as the grand opening for the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition, “Superfine: Tailoring Black…
Author: King Jaja
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Bush Camping in Murchison Falls National Park Put quite simply, bush camping in Africa is not for the faint of heart. That said, all you have to do is show up, pay a fee, and be willing to spend the night in a flimsy tent surrounded by some of the most ferocious predators the world has to offer. Yet even though it sounds daunting, in reality it’s one of the most enjoyable and relaxing activities you can do in Uganda’s National Parks. In this instance, we tried bush camping in Murchison Falls National Park. We camped on both the south…
My fellow African: For some time now, I have been meaning to get a few words across to you about the moment we live in. But I did not quite feel the urgency to do so until a few nights ago when, as I reread the great Kenneth Minogue’s didactic essay, “The Positive Side of Freedom,” the following sentence struck me like a bolt of lightning: “How societies develop depends upon what they remember, and as they forget experiences in the past, so they become victims of the folly which was conquered in those forgotten experiences.” I realized there and…
Kenya Bureau of Standards calibrating medical equipment at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital. Read 4 minutesCelebrated on May 20 each year, World Metrology Day provides an opportunity to recognize the vital role of measurement science in ensuring the accuracy, consistency, and traceability of equipment worldwide. More critically, metrology is at the center of the global health sector’s core responsibility of saving lives. In Africa, millions of people seek treatment every day for a wide range of health conditions. Countries across the continent have been intensifying efforts to achieve universal health coverage, and the essential yet often-overlooked science of…
Masculinity And Mental Health Yeah well, it is a huge joy for me to be here. Thanks so much for coming out and for thinking about this really crucial topic. What does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to engage with mental health? And how does the grace of God connect with us in that space? As important as this topic is, I think you’d also agree with me that, in some ways, it can be quite vague. What are we really talking about when we use some of these terms? What does it really mean…
7With grit and grace, Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has kept Africa’s hopes alive at the 2025 ITTF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. On a day when most African players bowed out on Day 3 of the global showpiece, Aruna pressed on with unrelenting determination, securing his spot in the third round of the Men’s Singles event. Cheered on by the President of the African Table Tennis Federation (ITTF Africa), Enitan Oshodi, Aruna faced one of his toughest challenges yet at Qatar University against Norway’s Borgar Haug. Although the Norwegian ranks significantly lower than Aruna, the match proved that table tennis is…
AiW Guest: Ranka Primorac, University of Southampton, UK. “This indicates that the Magistrate would need to step back and step aside, to allow for a seeing besides him. Those would be the steps to learn.” Caroline Rooney, African Literature, Animism and Politics (London: Routledge, 2000), 201; emphasis in the original. The reference is to the unnamed magistrate character in J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (1980). Caroline Rooney is Zimbabwean; this biographical fact matters in the present context. It explains how I (Ranka) met Caroline in the early 2000s, how I eventually came to write this piece, and how I…
The impact of the news that the new Pope Leo XIV has Louisiana Creole roots in the 7th Ward of New Orleans was palpable even here in California. Because for the first time the story of Creoles and their contributions to American history might take center stage in the dialogue we continue to have about race and power in the U.S. The real story of Creole history in America has yet to be told to the uninitiated public. The Pope’s ancestry and the story of his heritage give writers, researchers, genealogists and historians a golden opportunity to unlock a hidden and…
A long-running border dispute between Sierra Leone and Guinea has flared again, after a military incident forced villagers to flee and reignited diplomatic tensions between the two West African neighbours. Issued on: 16/05/2025 – 12:50 2 min Reading time On 28 April, Guinean soldiers fired three shots in the air as they attempted to enter the village of Sokoma, near Yenga – a mineral-rich settlement that has been contested for more than two decades.The gunfire caused panic in nearby communities and sent residents fleeing south towards the town of Koindu.“We heard three gunshots,” local resident Daniel Makundu told RFI. “People…
Keir Starmer said this week that Britain was becoming an “island of strangers”.“The current system is contributing to forces that are slowly pulling our country apart,” said the British prime minister. “I believe we need to reduce immigration, significantly.”Statements such as this are becoming more common across western democracies. Politicians and pundits portray immigration as a threat. It dominates election campaigns, drives public fear and above all distracts from domestic failures.But in all the noise about borders, smashing the gangs and stopping the boats, one truth keeps getting ignored: not all of us want to come.In fact, most of us…