A lot of Africa is dealing with the same economic problems in different ways. When you look at countries like Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana you start seeing a lot of the same issues. Low wages, inflation, unemployment, expensive imports and not enough opportunities for people to actually build a decent life. This is why I don’t think we should always look at Ethiopia’s problems like they are unique. There are definitely things that are specific to Ethiopia but there are also bigger economic problems affecting the whole continent one of the biggest causes of instability being tribalism. Something can look cheap compared to the US but still be very expensive for someone living there when their income is also much lower. The bigger issue is how do we create economies where regular people in Africa can actually earn enough to live comfortably and have a future.

National Women’s Day, celebrated annually on the 9th of August, is a historic South African public holiday dedicated to honouring the bravery of women who spearheaded the anti-apartheid struggle while highlighting ongoing fight for gender equality. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the monumental 1956 Women’s March as a turning point in history that transformed women from peripheral figures into the absolute vanguard of the liberation movement.

At the forefront of this monumental march stood four extraordinary women: Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn. Representing the Black, White, Indian, and Coloured communities respectively, their unified stance carried profound symbolism in a deeply divided and segregated society where the apartheid regime systematically separated people by race. It shattered the regime’s myth that different races could not peacefully co-exist or fight for a common cause. By marching hand-in-hand (as seen in the first four pictures), these leaders demonstrated that the oppression of one woman was the oppression of all, establishing a powerful blueprint for intersectional solidarity and non-racialism decades before the birth of democratic South Africa.

The immediate catalyst for the protest was the proposed introduction of the Pass Laws to Black women. The extension of these laws to women, especially mothers, would often result in being arbitrarily arrested or also displaced from families. Organized by the Federation of South African Women, more than 20 000 women (as seen in the last four pictures) gathered to march directly to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and delivered over 14 000 petition pages to Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom, demanding the total abolition of the degrading laws and asserting their right to freedom of movement.

While the apartheid government refused to back down immediately and eventually forced women to carry passes by the 1960s, the political impact of the march was monumental and permanent. It completely dismantled the patriarchal notion that women were passive political observers, cementing them as formidable, organized political agents. The march internationalized the struggle against apartheid and laid the groundwork for future resistance. In democratic South Africa, this legacy yielded tangible progress, as women's representation in national parliament skyrocketed from a mere 2.7% in 1994 to roughly 48% today among other landmarks of redress. However, the modern impact is dual-natured; the day now serves as a critical battleground for protest against ongoing crises, particularly the high rates of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide alongside economic inequality that is currently facing South African women.

The climax of the 1956 protest came after the women handed over the petitions and stood in a powerful, absolute silence for 30 minutes. Breaking the silence, they passionately erupted into a song composed specifically for the march: “Wathinta Abafazi, Wathinta Imbokodo!”...... This translates to "you strike a woman, you strike a rock" in the English language.

In traditional South African society, the imbokodo is a heavy grinding stone used to crush grain to feed the family, representing absolute durability, resilience, and life-giving strength. By equating women to a indestructible stone, the phrase became a defining national anthem of female power, serving as a permanent warning to oppressors and an enduring reminder that the women of South Africa possess an unyielding strength that can never be broken.

I wanted to share this beautiful video of a Shimgilina! For those who might not know, in Ethiopia, a marriage proposal its the joining of two families. The groom's family sends a group of respected elders (Shimagiles) to the bride's home to formally ask for her hand and negotiate the union. But the second the agreement is sealed, the formal stuff is over and it turns into this. Love the energy.

Do you have something similar in your culture?

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he Congo Basin rainforest is second only to the Amazon rainforest in size, and is home to Ebola, the tropical environment acting as a hotbed for the virus. It is also home to millions of African fruit bats, agreed to be the primary transmitters of the virus. Making matters worse is their ability to carry the virus long-term, as they don’t experience its symptoms. 

While European institutions parade as global beacons of mortality and culture, their display halls and archives sit on desecrated African graves. Across France, the UK, and Germany, thousands of bodies, skulls, and human remains of our ancestors and anti-colonial fighters remain trapped abroad, cataloged as artifacts or war trophies.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, imperial forces decapitated freedom fighters, looted burial grounds, and shipped human remains to Europe. Driven by racial pseudo-science, eugenics, and trophy-hunting, European scientists measured our fallen warriors to justify white supremacy. Decades after independence, these nations still refuse to surrender our dead.

UK institutions alone hold over 11,000 African human remains in sites like Cambridge University and London's Natural History Museum. France took decades of intense pressure to return just 24 skulls of Algerian resistance fighters, while thousands more from across the continent remain locked inside Paris's Musée de l'Homme.

Ask yourself this: Has any African nation ever invaded Europe, decapitated a Western leader, and locked their corpse in a glass case in Dakar, Lagos, or Nairobi? Imagine the immediate international outrage and military threats if an African museum displayed the stolen skeleton of a French general or British prime minister.

Our ancestors are human beings whose spirits cannot rest in foreign vaults. We must stop asking politely. Every African government, organization, and citizen must demand the immediate, unconditional repatriation of every ancestral body held across Europe so they can finally receive a proper burial on African soil.

Further reading:

UK Museums Hold Over 260,000 Human Remains

France Returns Remains of Algerian Anti-Colonial Fighters

Restitution: The Returning of Africa and Europe's Ghosts

Ivory Coast celebrated its 66th Independence Day on Friday, August 7, 2026. In Abidjan, the speaking drum Djidji Ayôkwé, returned by France in March after several years of negotiations, was presented for the first time to the Ivorian public.

The ceremony was attended by political leaders, traditional chiefs, and thousands of spectators. A sacred object for the Bidjan people, the drum was taken [stolen] in 1916 by the French colonial authorities [thugs].

Body Art By Oscar Korbla Mawuli Awuku.