Title: Blending Borders
Year: 2012
Issue: 107
Cover image: Crisantemo © 2009 Cecilia Paredes
The African diaspora is defined as much by mutual misunderstanding as by solidarity. Issue 107, Blending Borders, intercepts and interprets these crossed signals: between a young Rwandan-American writer and the African-American artist she admires, between Indian and black South Africans, between gay communities and the culture at large, and, as ever, between “travelers” and “natives.” There’s a lot to consider in this truly global issue, but perhaps the strongest current is a powerful critique of the American gaze—whether compassionate or colonial—as it surveys the black world. We promise that you will never feel quite as comfortable reading The New York Times on the beach at your favorite Jamaican resort.
Featured Article: Mr. Kristof, I Presume?: Saving Africa in the Footsteps of Nicholas Kristof #OpenAccess
by Kathryn Mathers
Against her better judgment, Mathers turns her attention to America’s most popular reporter on Africa, and comes down with a serious case of colonial déjà vu.
Contributors: Hawa Allan, Unoma Azuah, Sarah Jane Cervenak, Lauren Coyle, Jillian Edelstein, Lindsey Green-Simms, Walter Lobyn Hamilton, Theodore A. Harris, M. Neelika Jayawardane, Alice Karekezi, Glenn Ligon, Kathryn Mathers, Charles Molesworth, Zanele Muholi, Cecilia Paredes, Michael Ralph, Heather Russell, Keisha Scarville, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Kylie Thomas.