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AfriPOP! Socialite: Tolu Ogunlesi

Tolu Ogunlesi appears on our list of ten Nigerian wordsmiths you should know. The man is a jack of all trades: journalist, poet, fiction writer…and twitter champ perhaps?! An award-winning Nigerian journalist (Arts and Culture Prize in the 2009 CNN Multichoice African Journalism Awards), Ogunlesi’s writing has appeared in The Independent, CNN.com, Economist.com, Publishing Perspectives and guardian.co.uk. His fiction and poetry have been published in The London Magazine, Wasafiri, Farafina, PEN Anthology of New Nigerian [...]

 

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Joburg Event: Throwdown by AfriPOP! + Exclusive Mix by DJ Party Time (Dirty Paraffin)

Music acts who dare to break the mold are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Spoek Mathambo’s Father Creeper album released by Seattle based Sub-Pop Records and Sony Africa was a neon sign that the world is ready to hear what urban South Africa has to offer. It’s so rare to hear the electro-kwaito-can’t-box-it-it-so-awesome beats that are propelling the likes of Mathambo and Dirty Paraffin to global recognition. Well, it [...]

 

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AfriPOP! Socialite: Saratu Abiola

When it comes to discussions of African politics online, Saratu Abiola is usually knee-deep in the social media arena of these conversations. Well-informed and au courant she is a refreshing voice of the “progressive” Africans in the twitterverse. A former journalist, this Nigerian firecracker or “grumpy old woman”, as she describes herself, is the politics editor for Nigerians Talk, an online bloggers community focusing on Nigeria. If you need a [...]

 

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Ten African Descended Beauty Queens You Should Know

Miss Black France was recently crowned and it got me wondering – what was the point? Are we still at a point where we need to beg to be included in pageants that have been including representatives of black beauty for years now? What are side pageants such as Miss Black France offering that the bigger main competitions just aren’t? I’m of two minds about this. One is they might be [...]

 

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AfriPOP! Socialite: Farai Gundan

There are some African media moguls in the making, and Zimbabwean Farai Gundan happens to be one of them. She was on our list of 30 Zimbabweans you outta know so we’ve had our eye on her for a little while now. In her day job, she is a producer & TV personality on Afrotainment Television Channel & Afrotainment Music Channel in the U.S. where she has interviewed countless celebrities and [...]

 

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AfriPOP! Socialite: Kinna Likimani

Heard of the Africa Reading Challenge? Running throughout the whole of 2012, the challenge, headed by Kinna Likimani of the literary blog Kinna Reads,  pushes participants to discover the joys of reading African Literature by reading five books from African authors. It is these types of challenges and all things African literature that have made her blog one of the go-to locations online for dialogue on African literature from the [...]

 

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AfriPOP! Socialite: Karen Attiah

It’s always pleasant to get a mixture of smart and sass on twitter. Karen Attiah gives you a good dose of each if you happen to follow her. This caliente  Ghanaian-American easily transitions between discussing politics and women’s rights to pop culture and sports (with a hint of wit thrown in there). If she looks somewhat familiar, she had the opportunity to interview Alicia Keys for MTV base which aired [...]

 

 
 
 

Johannesburg Event: The Flyover Show featuring Soweto Kinch, Eska, More...

UK Jazz/Hipop artist Soweto Kinch brings The Flyover Show to Johannesburg. The daylong music and arts festival is Kinch’s pet project that has taken place for five years in its unusual setting beneath a flyover in Birmingham. This year the show goes global with an additional stage in the southern hemisphere. The Flyover Show will make its South African debut on the historic Freedom Square – also known as the [...]

 

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AfriPOP! Socialite: Kojo Baffoe

Kojo Baffoe is a jack of all trades. Although most may know him from his role as editor of South African giant publication, Destiny Man he has been able to forge his own identity outside of the magazine. He has played many characters in his life including by his own words, ” father, husband, poet, writer, content producer, media consultant, dreamer”. Primarily working from his blog Evolutionary (kojobaffoe.com) he has made [...]

 

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AfriPOP! Socialite: Semhar Araia

So remember when #whatILoveAboutAfrica became a worldwide trending topic earlier this week? Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you to the source of the phenomenon. Semhar Araia, a critical addition to the criticism of the #Kony2012 viral video, is a well-known voice on social issues on twitter. Meet Semhar, also the founder of  D.A.W.N – (Diaspora African Woman’s Network) a global network for African diaspora professional woman and this week’s AfriPOP! Socialite. Real [...]