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Leo Africanus
http://theleoafricanus.com
Who was Leo Africanus? A New Yorker writer described him thus: ‘In 1518, al-Hasan al-Wazzan, a diplomat of the Sultan of Fez, was kidnapped in the Mediterranean by pirates, who brought him to Pope Leo X. … Leo Africanus, as he became known, remained in Rome for the next nine years … and compiled his Description of Africa, a collection of learning, hearsay, and personal anecdote that shaped European ideas about Africa for centuries.’
As for me, I am not claiming to be Leo Africanus, but you get the connection. I am an academic and journalist living between Brooklyn, NY, and Ann Arbor, MI. If I can put Cape Town in there it would be perfect. I was born and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and has lived outside Chicago, Cambridge (MA), London, and Brooklyn, NY. I ran a film festival, is a contributing editor of Chimurenga Magazine (based in Cape Town) and edited two books: one on the current South African President, Thabo Mbeki and a second on cultural politics after the end of apartheid. My writing has appeared in The Nation, Africa Confidential, and the UK Guardian’s Comment is Free website, among others. Primarily, this site is interested in news about news about Africa, but its also about my personal obsessions (the films, music, art, politics, things I like or dislike) and about my experiences as an African immigrant living in New York City.
- Added on: Feb 9th, 2008
- Country: United States
- Language: English
- Author: Leo Africanus
- Listed in: Culture Media Activism
- Tags: africa books music football hip hop arts and letters
Recent Posts
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it takes a woman
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frederick chiluba’s shoes
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