Patriotism Inc. (A multinational company)

by Joseph Guthrie   “Patriotism ruins history,” Johann Wolfgang van Goethe once famously quipped and whether you agree or not, it is at the very least the penultimate tool that many people utilise in order to extrapolate their sense of superiority over the rest of humanity. It has been used  to “justify” atrocities from the genocide… Read More

Afropunk: The Elephant in the Room

by Joseph Guthrie   Last month on a balmy Friday night I was treated to the launch of Siana Bangura’s debut book of poetry, Elephant. Elephant captures Bangura’s compassion for life – her own and those of the people around her wherever her travels have taken her. However it is her refusal to apologize for her blackness, her… Read More

The Taming of the Shrewd

…or the incessant need for *PWIs to make black icons “safer”   by Joseph Guthrie Throughout my lifetime, there are three things that have continued to remain a permanent mainstay in society: Politicians are the masters of manipulation. It’s always darkest before dawn. When an iconic black activist dies, mainstream media rush in to distort said… Read More

“Tricking Africa”?

by Joseph Guthrie  When the news broke about Akon’s initiative to bring solar power to 600 million Africans, social media was awash with praise and mainstream media felt compelled to spread the word. The Senegalese-American recording artist/entrepreneur officially became the face of the plan that he had dropped hints about for a year. Upon first glance,… Read More

The Macklemore Problem

by Joseph Guthrie When it comes to award shows and how they never fail to cave to the pressure of industry politics, few things actually surprise me. The 56th annual Grammy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles was every bit of the mixed bag I expected it to be, delivering a few brilliant moments amidst… Read More

Django ‘the exceptional n*gger’

by Joseph Guthrie It was the film everyone was talking about for months on end. Django Unchained had taken the world by storm and Quentin Tarantino had once again made a cultural masterpiece it seemed; another ultra-violent instant classic Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christoph Waltz – who won an… Read More