What does it mean to be young, black and South African?

by Danielle Bowler and Chantelle Malan

Playing on Nina Simone’s lyrics, the African Music Channel, has adopted “Young, gifted and African” as their slogan, which is now frequently featured on t-shirts of the hip and trendy. The slogan aims to highlight the view that, contra the white world’s systematic denigration of the black world, the black world, and its youth in particular, have much to offer the world.

Thinking and Living Fanon

by Chantelle Malan and Danielle Bowler, Pambazuka & The Daily Dispatch

People are still laying bottles of alcohol outside her house and she’s been a trending topic on twitter and Facebook. Additionally, she has been ushered in as a new member of the “27 club” of artists who have died at the tragically young age of 27 and across the world, her music is being bought and downloaded in remembrance. Few would dispute the importance of Amy Winehouse a week after her death, but what will her legacy be in 50 years time? In a small part of South Africa, young people have been contemplating the legacy of Frantz Fanon and the fiftieth anniversary of his death by choosing this week instead, to buy his books. While most people are largely unaware of the significance of the man from Martinique, as opposed to a singer from North London, the question is perhaps who is more relevant for contemporary South Africa?