UHURU: The McGill Journal of African Studies

Liberation Is Earned, Not Given: Decolonial Imagination, Youth Agency, and the Responsibility of Africa’s Educated Generation

Guy Carmel Hakizimana — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"There comes a moment in the life of every generation when history ceases to be merely a memory and instead becomes a teacher, a tool, and a mandate. For African youth, that moment is not located in some distant future, it is now. The destiny of the African continent will not be decided solely in state houses, international summits, or party conferences, but in the daily decisions young Africans make. Those decisions may involve surrendering to feelings of powerlessness, accepting only colonial explanations for current circumstances and avoiding to take accountability for the roles we have played or they may involve mobilizing, educating ourselves, confronting the continent’s painful historical experiences, and honoring the sacrifices of previous generations who fought for freedom." (p.25). [...]

Garden of Women

Doria Havelomana Rafolisisoa — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

This photographic work integrates digital editing and photography to explore Afrofuturism through the symbolic language of the color purple. Drawing on the historical and political significance of purple within feminist movements, the work positions the color as a visual marker of dignity, sovereignty, solidarity, resistance, and intersectional empowerment. Referencing its use during the early twentieth-century suffragette movement as a symbol of inherent worth and “royal blood,” the piece extends this legacy to center Black women, whose experiences embody both profound strength and systemic marginalization.

The work is further grounded in The Color Purple by Alice Walker, which redefines purple as a symbol of Womanism—a framework that articulates Black feminist thought. Walker’s assertion that “womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender” informs the conceptual foundation of the piece, emphasizing depth, resilience, and specificity in Black women’s experiences. Through this visual and theoretical synthesis, the work reimagines Afrofuturism as a space where historical struggle and future possibility converge, foregrounding Black women’s agency and empowerment.

Armen Erzingatzian's photography

Armen Erzingatzian — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

These are scans from a photoshoot directed and shot with model Rahim, a CompSci student at McGill. The photos were taken on medium format film: Portra 800 (Color) and Delta 3200 (B&W).

Beyond the Colonial Hangover: Reimagining Zimbabwe's Political Future

Vanessa Cuiuri — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Existing literature offers a detailed portrait of Zimbabwe’s internal dynamics, but tends to understate how colonial state continuity and international hierarchies structured the field in which authoritarianism unfolded. Political economy and historical accounts emphasize that Zimbabwe’s authoritarian turn was deeply rooted in internal political culture, liberation war legacies, and the breakdown of state institutions under mounting socio-economic pressures. While these explanations provide important insights into regime formation, they frequently overlook the ways colonial legacies and global power structures constrained Zimbabwe’s political transition and narrowed the range of post-independence political possibilities." (p.34)

Interpreting Suffering: Theological Rupture and Democratic Advancement in South Africa and Rwanda

Elise Grymonprez-Delannoy — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"In 1994, Rwanda and South Africa each emerged from prolonged periods of violence and political upheaval: Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide against the Tutsi, and South Africa through its first multiracial general election, which formally ended apartheid (Nelson, 2002-2003, p. 69; Schliesser, 2018, p. 1). Despite these parallel moments of rupture, the role played by Christian churches in advancing democracy by supporting popular movements and opposing authoritarian governments diverged sharply. In South Africa, prominent Christian actors, especially youth movements such as the National Catholic Federation of Students (NCFS), the Catholic Students Association (CASA), and the YCS, increasingly opposed apartheid and became central participants in the democratic transition (Bate, 1999, pp. 7-8). In Rwanda, by contrast, churches largely supported the Hutu elites’ government and became complicit in genocidal violence" (Aguilar, 2009, p. 25).

Massacrer le vide

Bastik Anick Jasmin — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

“My practice centres around Haitian spiralism, a literary, philosophical, and artistic movement which was founded by René Philoctète, Jean-Claude Fignolé, and Frankétienne around the late 1960s. Spiralism defines the relationships between chaos, creativity, and resistance. The title for this painting was borrowed from a line in Frankétienne’s “Fleurs D’insomnies” (1986): “Comment massacrer le vide?” How do we massacre the void? Can we fill a bottomless hole with love? Haitian visual cultures and Vodou spirituality also infuse my works. In Vodou rituals, “jete dlo” is to throw water to invoke the lwas. I embodied this motion as I began painting with watered down paints and oils. Free gestures allowed me to layer texture and pigment intuitively. Just as spiralism teaches us that disorder and unpredictability can give rise to prophecy and endurance, I approach art as a chance to turn and turn and turn between what I know and what could be.

Garden of Women

Doria Rafolisisoa — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

The photograph presents a young Black woman in a contemplative pose, rendered in dominant purple tones. Through digital editing and symbolic styling, it highlights themes of identity, dignity, and transformation.

American Racial Stratification and Online Ecosystems: A Reflection on Systemic Oppression & Digital Dreams

Liam Murphy — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"I had left behind this period of my life until reading Lewis’s (2020) “Alternative Influence” last year, where I recognized several usernames in association with Shoe0nHead’s channel. He explains how YouTube enables the endearment of fringe yet palatable personalities to increasingly radical figures, informing an ecosystem of ‘underdog’ self-perceptions that entrap pliable users and promise belonging"(p.63)

Austin Maidoh's Digital Art

Austin Maidoh — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"From the theme, afro futurism, my main goal was to capture Black culture and intertwine it with the supernatural. This led to me taking direct inspiration from MF Doom, an iconic black voice and reimagining him as the true villain he portrays himself as. The combination of MF Doom with a legion of machines displays his control over technology, referencing his mastery of music production"

Future Codes: Rupture and Pioneering at Brazilian Fashion Week

Nianga Lucau — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"This article presents, from the perspective of the codes of the future, the trajectory of fashion designer and creative director Angela Brito, the first Black woman in the São Paulo Fashion Week line-up in 2019. The article explores how her work in the field of fashion represents practices of rupture and pioneering, challenging historically elitist aesthetic and institutional norms. Angela Brito’s trajectory is positioned as a relevant contribution to the strengthening of African aesthetics in fashion and the contemporary scene."(p.75)

Angelo Brito

Maia Santos Mallard — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

This photography and design editorial explores Angela Brito’s collection as a dialogue between avant-garde expression and tradition, where garments are presented as extensions of identity, craftsmanship, and innovation. The visual composition emphasizes the integration of design with cultural and material histories, positioning the work as both aesthetic expression and a reflection of embodied essence.

100 Years of Canadian Black History

Malcom David — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"In 1995, Canada nationally recognized February as Black History Month, 19 years after the U.S did in 1976. Despite this discrepancy, the origins of the month-long celebration of Black history and excellence stem from the same seeds planted by Dr. Carter G. Woodson." (p.87)

Garden of Women Collection

Doria Havelomana Rafolisisoa — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

This work presents digital editing combined with photography. Combining the theme of Afrofuturism with the significance of the color purple, it symbolizes women empowerment. The color purple has ties to feminism and depicts dignity, sovereignty, solidarity, resistance, and intersectional empowerment. In the early 1900s during the suffragette movement, the significance of the color purple is described as “royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette.”

Referencing Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, a prize-winning novel that solidifies purple as a symbol of womanism, the work draws on a term coined by Walker to describe Black feminism. It foregrounds the reality that Black women are powerful, yet also the most marginalized. As Walker writes, “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.”

Emancipation Served Hot: A Comparative Analysis of Grassroots Feminist Activism in Indian and Kenyan Tea Plantations

Ingara Maidou — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Despite the gradual erosion of its colonial empire following World War II, Britain still sought to maintain its control over foreign land and labour in its South Asian and African colonies (Rappaport 343). Thus, India and Kenya, two of the largest global tea exporters, became a centre for Indian and Kenyan nationalist movements as they attempted to reclaim the agricultural sector that the British East India Company and the Imperial British East Africa Company helped pioneer (Rappaport 336). Still, post-colonial theory has scarcely compared the historical similarities in India’s and Kenya’s post-colonial agricultural economies"(p.97)

Ain't It Boring

Zoë Anum — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

“Ain’t It Boring?” – a two-part piece composed of an oil pastel art piece and a digitally crafted counterpart explores the vibrancy of diversity. Against a backdrop of bright purple hues and ethereal blues, a figure emerges with Bantu knots, symbolizing the beauty in our differences. This title serves as a poignant reminder that homogeneity would render life dull and devoid of purpose. Breaking these barriers is important to embark on a path of celebrating diversity and normalizing these physically beautiful, fundamental differences.

Maagenda

Lea Shime — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

My submission is poem about my great-grandmother, Maagenda, who I was named for, about African family particularly within the diaspora, and about the intergenerational trauma of the neo-colonial blood diamond war. It is essentially about carrying the weight of your ancestors, and of the generations of African mothers who fought for and created us.

Garden of Women

Doria Rafolisisoa — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Two women stand side by side against a warm red and brown background. One faces forward, the other is in profile looking to the side. Both have flowers in their hair and are wearing colorful clothing.

The Ethiopian Revolution of 1974–1975: Student Mobilization and the Political Voice of the Peasantry

Will Sweeney — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Regional discontent regarding state elites in Ethiopia stemmed from the feudal land tenure systems in the Amharic-Tigre northern provinces and the conquest of Southern lands during the late 19th century through the mid-20th century (Chala, 2016, pp. 111-112). Throughout the reigns of Empress Zewditu and Haile Selassie, the land was commodified to expand and sustain a patronage network (Chege, 1979, p.362). This allowed elites to amass vast tracts of land without compensating Indigenous communities in the South, while simultaneously undermining peasant landownership in the north during the reign of Haile Selassie from 1930 to 1974 (Chala, 2016, p.112)" (p.113)

Fragments

Niara van Gaalen — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Collage lends itself well to expressing a hybrid identity, and contemporary Caribbean-descended artists such as the Haitian-American artists Didier William, M.Florine Démosthène, the Jamaican American artist Paul Anthony Smith and the Carribbean-American artist Nyugen E. Smith have all explored collage in their respective practices. My exploration for fragments builds on these precedents."(p.121)

Her Tomorow

Michel Assouka — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Afrofuturism in this body of work becomes a social reordering. The future is not imagined as a distant technological escape, but as a restructuring of who holds narrative, who carries dignity, and who defines progress. In this vision, African women are not peripheral to liberation—they are its architects." (p.124)

“A Speech Of Suffering”: James Baldwin's Literacy Challenge To Black Nationalism

Kanny Diane — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Construction of a collective identity is an intrinsic component of all collective action. Protest groups rely on this principle for communal strength, support, and survival (Taylor & Van Dyke, 2007). But the bounds of a common identity often preclude individuality to the point of destruction. In 20th century America, the singular male identity of the Black nationalist movement suppressed unique, queer perspectives into obscurity; ultimately characterizing the revolutionary Black man as an ideal, rather than a veritable brother"(p.134)

As Far As We Can Dream

Nikechukwu Evuleocha — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"So when I speak of Black excellence, I do not mean some polished show, I mean the sacred right to want, the sacred height to which we grow." (p.142)

Quand libérer la femme implique aussi de libérer l’homme : perspectives africaines sur le patriarcat

Thaïs Lorka-Navaud — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Je me souviens d’une discussion que j’ai eue avec mon cousin concernant les habitudes alimentaires d’un de ses amis, et le fait que je ne comprenais pas pourquoi il était si difficile pour certains de se nourrir de manière régulière et saine (en dehors de toute considération de troubles du comportement alimentaire). Je tiens à préciser au lecteur que mon cousin et son ami ont tous deux grandi en Côte d’Ivoire, puis ont pris leur envol vers le Canada"(p.147)

Mehdi Berrada Photography

Mehdi Berrada — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Photos taken in Senegal

Moorish Malachite

Anderson Peguro II, Mehdi Berrada — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"At the site of my transfer I adopted the song of Lisboa, hummed on the burgundy aura of the breeze, I danced in and out of conjugations, barely remembering to use USTEDES. The result being everyone is already familiar to me. And all of us are familiar with the inability of my faltering Spanish to fully infiltrate a Portuguese ear: a lover never truly knows the heart of the beloved. I can close my eyes and hear love expressed in so many different languages at once: German, Portuguese, and French; somehow I recognize every word of Italian. It is not lost on me that all of these variants were thrust upon my ancestors and I, replacing our stampedout tongues, hammered into our wombal chambers before we even fully filled our vessels. Who were we and how did we sound before being conquered?"(p.153)

Reclaiming Time: Michel Assouka

Michel Assouka — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Final Entry of Michel Assouka's Photography Collection

The Perfect Afrofuturist Manifesto by Evelyn Logan 2026, Version 1 [Abridged]

Evelyn Logan — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Beyond artistic production, we Perfect Afrofuturists are seeking a guide (ever changing and thorough) which we can use to help create our Free State. We propose an idea of perfection that is inherently multiplicitious, non-singular, and anti-static. We choose not to burn the Mundane Afrofuturist manifesto, instead we build upon it to construct this new framework."(p.161)

Global Africa Spotlight Series: Blue Skin

Oona Aiken, Maia Santos Mallard — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

"Blue Skin depicts a youth with skin which is bleeding blue. He wears an abstract geometric pattern and red beads in his dreaded hair. The piece highlights how the color of one's skin can result in an alienating experience. This alienating experience due to societal prejudices against people of colour."

- Oona Aiken

Front Matter

Henry Maidoh, Shanna Coulanges, Michel Assouka Wildlenz, Subira Atieno Okundi — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400