“When we first started, this guy hoped that we would be a Western-style rock band. He said, 'You have to wear different trousers. And no shirts.' I said, 'What if it's cold outside? And what about the fat guys?' Even then, some of us were quite plump. 'And the scars?' It's not like France, where all the singers are good-looking.”
—from “Folk the Kasbah”
TRANSITION 94: Table of Contents
REMEMBRANCE____________________
Philippe Wamba, 1971-2002
by Michael C. Vazquez
DISPATCHES____________________
Here Comes the Neighborhood
Whites planned Johannesburg as a European oasis: stately
mansions, shady trees, quaint cafés. That's
precisely why African immigrants are overrunning the
city. Philippe Wamba wonders what's so great
about South Africa.
Blasting and Bombardiering
Travelers in Israel have always feared terrorists,
though until recently, you were more likely to be
killed crossing the street. The second intifada has
changed that, but dodging suicide bombers is just
one of many annoyances: try finding a decent strudel.
Henryk Broder spends Passover in Jerusalem.
Ebony and Ivoirité
On Baltimore Avenue in Philadelphia, casualties of
the civil war include the butcher, the bodega-owner,
and the president of the Association of Patriotic
Ivorian Women. Ivory Coast's ongoing crisis has torn
the country in half and destroyed its reputation as
West Africa's golden child. Siddhartha Mitter
explores pride and prejudice among the partisans of
the Ivorian diaspora.
MEMOIRS____________________
Beefeaters
Indian food might seem fancy now, but for one
brown-skinned boy in the days before multiculturalism,
it was a mark of shame, an invitation to a beat-down.
Becoming American, he fantasized, could be achieved
with one simple yet terrifying step: the steak. Nirej
Sekhon goes among the eaters of beef.
FICTION____________________
A History of the African American People by Strom
Thurmond (Part 2)
Dixiecrats and lies.
As told to Percival Everett and James Kincaid
The Barrel
Drunk with power.
By Uwe Timm
Folk the Kasbah
Omar Sayyed might be Morocco's most gentle
rabid nationalist. With his group Nass el Ghiwane,
he invented an eclectic folk music that combined medieval
Arabic poetry, Berber parables, Sufi rhythms, and
the banjo. Nass el Ghiwane's potently allusive lyrics
earned them gigs playing dinners for the king—and
a reputation for revolution. Elias Muhanna
talks with Sayyed about bands, fans, and Casablanca.
PORTFOLIO____________________
Fine and Dandy
In the 1980s, Jamel Shabazz made models
out of Harlem street kids, creating a low-budget high-fashion
hip-hop aesthetic. In the 1990s, he discovered the
Gay Pride parade—a mysteriously glamorous world
where everyone is already striking a pose.
Introduction by Kelefa Sanneh