My Father, the Madrasah, and Me

In Nigeria, Where Western Education Is King, an Arabic Studies Legacy Lives On

On a phone call the other day with a new friend, Zay, we ended up on the topic of religion. “Did you attend madrasah?” I asked her, referring to the Arabic schools that offer primary and secondary education where subjects like the linguistic characteristics of Arabic and Islamic theology and jurisprudence are taught.

She responded yes, but that she no longer remembers most of the things she was taught there. “I can still write my name in Arabic, I can still write Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, and oh, yeah, I can still …

by Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi | March 20, 2024

Don’t Close the Curtains on Kenya’s Acrobats

They Fly Through the Air and Build Human Pyramids to Tourists’ Delight. But the Performers Struggle for Recognition and Financial Stability

by Nina Berman and Micha Espinosa; photographs by Sabine Skiba | February 1, 2024

It’s showtime at one of Kenya’s five-star resort hotels.

Tourists from around the world move in small groups to the performance area next to the pool to see the evening’s headliner: …

When Asia and Africa Envisioned a New World Order

The 1955 Bandung Conference Created a ‘Unifying Myth of Decolonization’ and a Renewed Ethos of Self-Determination

by Christopher J. Lee | March 7, 2023

“No race holds the monopoly of beauty, of intelligence, of strength / and there is a place for all at the rendezvous of victory,” wrote the Martinican poet Aimé Césaire …

A Letter From Nigeria, Where Coping With COVID Entails Twitterstorms, Bullets, and Corruption | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

A Letter From Nigeria, Where Coping With COVID-19 Entails Twitterstorms, Bullets, and Corruption

Once Again Nigerians Will Adapt to Whatever Their New Normal Becomes

by Otosirieze Obi-Young | June 11, 2020

We wake up on a March morning that feels shaken, the air suddenly colder, drained of one energy and infused with another. The numbers from Lagos have increased again. “We …

The Bedouin People Who Blur the Boundaries of Egyptian Identity

An Indigenous North African Minority Near the Libyan Border Has Often Been Treated Like Foreigners

by Matthew Ellis | July 20, 2018

In November 1940, a group of Bedouins from Egypt’s Western Desert region sent an unusual petition to the Egyptian government. The petition arrived at a time of great turmoil in …

Are International Soccer Moguls Preying on the Dreams of the World’s Poor?

One Prodigy in a Million Could Become the Next Messi, but Many Young Players Sacrifice School and Family to Chase Glory

By Sebastian Abbot | May 11, 2018

Over a decade ago, I was running on a treadmill at a hotel gym in downtown Cairo, where I was working as a journalist for The Associated Press. The place …

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