Book Club: A tale that highlights the perseverance of Black identity, Haji Jabir’s Black Foam is a modern odyssey of transit through turbulence. The reader is taken on the journey from Eritrea to Israel, a trip fraught with danger and racism. Originally published on The New Arab From award-winning Eritrean…

In honour of Black History Month in the US, Adama Juldeh Munu reviews the legacy of former NBA player, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf through his new memoir and documentary on Showtime. — Caption: Book cover of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf with Nick Chiles, In the Blink of An Eye: An Autobiography Time is the capsule through which we interact with great sporting moments. But the world saw one in real-time, when NFL San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, began kneeling as the US…

To mark the 24th anniversary of the invasion of Freetown during Sierra Leone’s civil war (6 January 1999), Adama Juldeh Munu reflects upon a recent trip to Eastern Europe that brings to mind the war that ripped her country of heritage apart. My mother would often say ‘Man proposes, God…

Published for The New Arab on 15 December, 2022 For the past 70 years, the United Kingdom has been a pole bearer for global musical creativity and artistic syncretism. Inspired by and derived from the music of the Mandé people of West Africa, the Balimaya Project is forging new jazz-filled…

A new documentary looks at the west African Muslim communities who escaped British colonialism and settled in the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century Hausa have assimilated into modern Saudi Arabia, and their ancestors helped to form its first government (Courtesy: Sada Malumfashi) Published originally for the Middle East Eye …

The poet talks to Middle East Eye about her influences and how her mixed Iraqi and Welsh heritage has impacted her work Issa will serve as the Welsh National Poet until 2025 (Courtesy: Hanan Issa) If there is anything that entices Hanan Issa more than poetry itself, it is the…

First published in The New Arab, 07 September, 2022 Archiving the past helps ensure the knowledge and practices of generations gone by are not forgotten. A Minnesotan museum has contributed to the preservation of East African history by tracking down rare Islamic and Christian manuscripts. Hundreds of rare manuscripts from…

On Sunday 7 August, 40-year-old Francia Elena Márquez made history in Latin America when she was sworn in as Colombia’s first Black woman vice president, which has always been dominated by white male elites. She was elected for the position in June 2022, alongside former guerrilla Gustavo Petro, Márquez who…

Omar ibn Said wrote an Arabic autobiography during his enslavement in the US that is the inspiration for a new production Omar Ibn Said was one of many well-educated West Africans who were taken to the Americas as slaves (Spoleto Festival USA) By Adama J Munu The year is 1807…