Just a reminder: you are NOT unusual, weird, or unlovable if you have: - no one to see on Christmas Day, - no presents, or - no contactable relatives. Very few people live the idealised version on TV. Those of us who live differently—whether by choice or trauma—matter as much.

For many of us, sadness and grief are inescapable at this time of year. Knowing that millions of other people feel the same way isn't particularly comforting. But at least we know that there's nothing wrong with us.

What a line-up! An @antipodeonline.bsky.social first: a "longread" of 68 pages! Expect a splendid New Year's gift, when the issue goes to print early Jan! @udadisi.bsky.social @samar42.bsky.social @demonicgrounds.bsky.social #geosky @darajapress.bsky.social

“We are nothing on earth if we are not first of all slaves to a cause — the cause of the people, the cause of justice and freedom.” — Frantz Fanon, who died on this day in 1961. 🚨 🎉 Keep a lookout: ROAPE’s special issue Fanon at 100 drops in the next 10 days 🚨 🔥 #Fanon100

My former colleagues at French in Bristol are hosting the wonderful Prof Soulemayne Bachir Diagne, one of the most interesting contemporary philosophers thinking critically about the limits and potential of universalism.

My novel DEATH OF THE AUTHOR is a Time Magazine “Must-Read Book of the 2025”, 🥰. I’m pleased that they at least said the genre is “hard to pin down” (that’s an understatement because the novel contains multitudes). Full list here: time.com/collections/...

“As the Swahili saying goes: ‘Mdharau maradhi, kifo humuumbua’ – He who ignores an illness is humbled by death. udadisi.com/island-of-pe...

'Tragic #October29: #Tanzania’s Turning Point?' - thechanzo.com/2025/11/08/t... 🇹🇿🩸#MO29

Generations that have experienced double trauma as youth/children in #Tanzania 🇹🇿: #GenX: War in 1978-1979&Economic Crisis in 1982-1983+ #GenZ: Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020+& #M029 Crackdown in 2025. #truthandreconciliation #uhuru #freedom #haki #justice #healing #life #peace

China dominates the narrative on Africa’s urban development — but what about Turkey? In Maputo, Turkish construction firms are quietly reshaping the city, largely unnoticed by researchers. Not all of these companies are here for fun—many of them are run by exiles linked to the Gülen movement.

@nnedi.bsky.social have you spotted one here?

😅

Also, because this conference is part of the Africana Studies Department and the audience was full of African professors, I could discuss what it means to be the child of African immigrants & how it defines my work & my understanding of masquerades without having to spend much time on context.

It’s always a joy to be in an academic space. I can discuss africanfuturism as opposed to defend it. In academic spaces, I can finally move past the basic (you get a lot more time to discuss other things when you don’t spend it all rehashing definitions).

🎶🎵

"This little light of mine" Danae Andrea Howe with POCC Choir www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4wD... #music #freedom

"This little light of mine" Fannie Lou Hamer www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhiV... #music #freedom

"We shall not be moved" Mavis Staples www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQnl... #music #freedom

"I shall not be moved" Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe6G... #music #freedom

"I refuse to accept a world where people are punished for seeking safety or silenced for speaking the truth. I refuse a system that values profit over people and power over love." - Natasha Cloud

📞AAC 📍Seeing Like and Beyond James C. Scott (1936-2024)📍 📅Deadline : 28.11.25 👥Thomas Caubet, Pablo Corroyer, Donatien Costa, Coralie Douat, Léo Grillet, Guillaume Fauvel, Soline Schweisguth @ehess.fr @crh.ehess.fr , Margot Verdier ▶️ crh.ehess.fr/index.php?10...

CALL FOR PAPERS A workshop at LSE next April on 'Uses and Abuses of the Murdock Atlas in Social Science Research'. We're looking for cross-disciplinary engagement to think critically about what this widely used source means, what it can & can't tell us. Submit by Nov 14 www.lse.ac.uk/economic-his...

"Amazing grace" Rebecca Ferguson www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCVc... #music #gospel #spiritual

FYI, the final book in the SHE WHO KNOWS trilogy, "THE DAUGHTER WHO REMAINS" is now on Netgalley: www.netgalley.com/catalog/book...

The Little Black Book Series Belongs in Every Academic Library! These volumes expand the canon, sharpen methodological rigor, and equip faculty and students with indispensable tools for contemporary scholarship. Order Volume 1 and Volume 2 now on UWPBooks.com

It’s out! I’m deeply proud and grateful for this book — especially for the chance to collaborate with such brilliant & bold minds. Here’s to hoping its ideas spark fresh conversations and inspire meaningful change in our field. #economics #eurocentrism #decolonisation

Ok I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a leading economist but you'll find me on this list.

I wonder if a movement to go analog is going to be the next trend. Analog as a form of rebellion. I like the idea.

Aiskrimu A short story about the agony and the ecstasy of eating ice cream — from Esther Karin Mngodo, translated from the Swahili by Jay Boss Rubin

"Aiskrimu"—a short story by Esther Karin Mngodo, translated from the Swahili by me, published today in @kalaharireview.bsky.social

New review: Euphrase Kezilahabi's 1971 novel 𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑘𝑎, now coming out in English translation (in The Margellos World Republic of Letters-series) www.complete-review.com/reviews/swah...

I wrote about translating the opening sentence of Rosa Mistika for the Asymptote Blog www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2025/06...

My English translation of the Swahili novel ROSA MISTIKA, by Euphrase Kezilahabi, comes out tomorrow. Here's a Q+A about the book, its banning, genre + more with the fine folks at @yalepress.bsky.social yalebooks.yale.edu/2025/06/16/r...

It's pub day for Rosa Mistika—and here is a lengthy interview about the novel (and much else!) with @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social chireviewofbooks.com/2025/06/17/t...

Happy pub day to @jaybossrubin.bsky.social, whose translation of Euphrase Kezilahabi’s ROSE MISTIKA is out today from @yalepress.bsky.social! Read a chapter of this “controversial Swahili classic” in The Hopkins Review 16.2 on @projectmuse.bsky.social @hopkinspress.bsky.social, then get the book!

Congratulations Jay 🎉🥳

"Just like how in the novel’s opening there’s this household within a village, village within an island, and island within a lake, there are...different kinds of telescoping points of views." Ian Battaglia's interview with @jaybossrubin.bsky.social is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/06/17/t...

My ex-ex-ex student Jay Boss Rubin @jaybossrubin.bsky.social has just published a translation of Rosa Mistika, a classic in Tanzania by Euphrase Kezilahabi. Get it @yalebooks or yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300.... Such a cover!

A Q&A with @jaybossrubin.bsky.social —translator of Rosa Mistika by Euphrase Kezilahabi—is now live! Read "Realism and Rosa Mistika: A Conversation with Jay Boss Rubin" below: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2025/06/17/realism-and-rosa-mistika-a-conversation-with-jay-boss-rubin/

Happy pub day to "Rosa Mistika!" Stay tuned for a reading we'll host with Jay this September in SF 👀!