Spotlight

Zora Neale Hurston’s famous 1928 essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” brings into sharp focus the many ways geography impacts the experience of Blackness. In this lead feature, writer Lindokuhle Nkosi uses Hurston’s words to reflect on the Season 2 finale of our podcast, Race Beyond Borders, in which our outgoing host Sebabatso Manoeli-Lesame and incoming host Nigel Richard revisit the season’s sonic journey. Read more

Touted as South Africa’s first Black boeremusiek star, Refentse Morake’s meteoric rise from Sebokeng, one of several townships established on the peripheries of Johannesburg by the apartheid state, to national pop-sensation has been heralded as a symbol of South Africa’s triumph over racism. But should his popularity, when considered in a broader historical context and examined more closely, be be considered an example of successful interracialism? Read more

Using a mixture of mylar, ink, pigment, and glitter, M. Florine creates depictions of voluptuous bodies that appear weightless-floating, as if transcending some higher plane. See more here

Using xylograph techniques, Ederson Pereira dos Santos conveys the contemporary aesthetics, humanity, and strength of Black Brazilian men and challenges conventional notions of masculinity. See more here

In the Season 2 finale of Race Beyond Borders, outgoing host Sebabatso Manoeli-Lesame and incoming host Nigel Richard reflect on some of the critical questions raised this season. This lively conversation, which at times feels like a dance, invites listeners to look back on the season’s sonic safari that was launched in Italy, where Black Italians grapple with what to call themselves, and landed in Oceania, where liberation struggles actively engaged with Black internationalism in their battles against European colonial rule. Listen here

Season 2 of our podcast Race Beyond Borders travelled across the world in search of underexplored experiences of Blackness. In charting the global African diaspora—from Italy to Iran, Martinique to Colombia—this season raised new questions about what it means to be Black beyond conventional notions and beyond white supremacy. If you haven't already listened to the season in its entirety, we encourage you to do so. You can start with the three most popular episodes from the season which offer compelling lessons for constructing expansive, decolonised Black identities and home in on the lived experiences of Black people from Iran, Martinique and Italy. Listen here