"The African leader needs to engage the African people in the search
for a long-term solution. To break out of the paradigm trap requires the
blooming of a million flowers. The starting point is recognition that, in
today’s world, the legitimacy of the leader derives not from divine
authority, nor from tradition, nor from the mere fact of having been elected. Legitimacy
derives from the fulfillment of a social contract, from the delivery of
what citizens want."
-John Ohiorhenuan, "Don't Cry for Me Africa"
TRANSITION 102: Table of Contents
Night Moves · Nine takes on a city
past dusk—garnered by Dominique
Malaquais and Cédrick Nzolo
Molili Mabe
My Other Life, by Cédrick Nzolo
Kin Night—No Lights (images)
Mwindaa, catalogue for the ill-lit, by
Cédrick Nzolo
Kitambo
Why, When, How, by Yves Sambu
Where, When, How, by Éléonore Hellio
Who, by Dicoco Boketshu
Tata
Now (Dusk into Light), by Dominique
Malaquais
Then and Now, by Kakudji, Mega
Mingiedi, Daku Rani
Then (Night into Dawn), by Norman Mailer
Parcours/Journey · Poetry
by Aimé Césaire, translated into English by Ronnie
Scharfman
Babuzimwi
During the late nineteenth century, Bishop Steele
traveled through Tanzania collecting and transcribing
oral myths for Western consumption. More than a
century later, Lowell Brower, microphone in tow,
followed Steele’s trail in an attempt to pick up what
had been missed or dismissed—the myths left behind.
Along the way, he learned a lot about truth and lies.
From Lear’s Button to
Harmond’s Paintbrush
The versatility and talent of actor Harry Lennix
are matched only by the breadth of his searching
intellect, revealed in this wide-ranging conversation
with scholar Peter Erickson.
Command Performance · Fiction
by Matthew Quinn Martin
A Parable of Skillets, Great Adventures,
and Hand Touchy · Poetry
by David S. Mills
The Odyssey of Human Rights
In Transition 101, Souleymane Diagne made bold
claims regarding the essentially individualistic nature
of human rights, appealing to the Oath of Manden to
make his case. Philosopher Ajume Wingo begs to
differ, offering a rather different historical analysis
of the provenance of the concept of human rights in
the Western world and suggesting that context may
be more important than Diagne appreciates.
Don’t Cry for Me Africa
The recent economic history of Africa has been less
than postcolonial thanks to the powerful external
institutions that continue to shape policy and to which
African leaders continue to cater. John F. E.
Ohiorenuan offers some sage advice to the African Princes and Princesses to come.
The Color of Unworthiness
The French visual media, like Western media in
general, have often shied away from people of color. The Class, a 2008 documentary film directed by
Laurent Cantet and based upon François Bégaudau’s
book, relays the experience of a white French teacher in
a multiracial lycée. Abdoulaye Gueye asks what the
fanfare generated by this widely viewed film, winner of
the coveted Palme d’or at Cannes, really reveals.
Nightdreaming about Africa
Nocturnal flights across vast waters to
the Continent may inspire profound
reflections on culture past and present. En route to Dakar, E. Dovi Abbey
ponders the possibility of an African
Renaissance and tries to decide which
city might serve as an African cultural
capital on the order of New York City.
New Visions, New Voices
Where has East African fiction been,
and where is it going? Njeri Githire
takes a look at developments over the
last few decades and prospects for the
future.
Conversations of Fathers
and Daughters
The African family continues to change,
and all the more when children are born
and live abroad. Ivor Agyeman-Duah
reflects on Fathers and Daughters, a
new collection of personal essays by
eminent Africans who reflect upon the
special relationship that they have with
their daughters in the fast-evolving
global world.