The Critical Political Africanist

"From intellectuality, to ice rinks, to interviews, here’s how it turned out for me."

"I unexpectedly found great enthusiasm for my project, but also an equally debilitating sensation of being out of place, once more."

"Jumping off the ferry in Tangier didn’t strike the same chord in me as walking the tarmac in Kilimanjaro"

“When I smoked it, eight people held me down. If they had not, I could have murdered someone. They [the police] need to crush the cartels.”

"Not everything is meant to be shared, but sometimes it really is all about your company."

"Senegal and the DRC share a common ‘relic’ from their colonial pasts: French. Today, it is the official language in both countries"

"Though, in our quest for mass social equity, we sometimes forget the value of a single story."

"The urge to critically consider concepts vanished."

"Alone, we can't solve these riddles and their political baggage, but alone, we can start the fight."

"...as long as we insist on judging it from a Western perspective, we will be the outsiders -- we will be forever baffled by it."

"It takes people like Mary to demonstrate young girls can break out of the cycle by challenging prescribed day-to-day activities."

"They weave through stalled cars like snakes in the grass, hissing and calling to get your attention."

"I've traded my season's pass for another plane ticket."

"...the privilege plagued lottery ticket that let him be where he is instead of where they are. A chasm of immeasurable difference."

"The majority of smallholder farmers live below the poverty line of US$1.90 per day – or, an annual income of less than $300 per year."

"I have no idea what will happen..."

"Sometimes you need to be critical of your own values to fully understand others."