🔅 What Was it Like Being a Political Cartoonist Under Amin?
More Black Joy, Less Trauma Please
Good morning from… can you guess where in Africa this is? (Answer at the bottom!)
Amoako Boafo’s London Debut: More Black Joy, Less Trauma Please
Amoako Boafo, the Ghanaian art star whose rise has been less “flash in the pan” and more “rocket launch into orbit,” has officially landed in London.
His new show I Do Not Come to You by Chance just opened at Gagosian, and true to form, Boafo isn’t here for the tired old narratives. “Why must Blackness always be about pain and suffering?” he asks. Instead, he’s doubling down on what’s made his work so magnetic: celebrating Black joy.
Inspired by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s novel of the same name, the exhibition dives into Boafo’s family history, creative community in Accra, and the courtyard he grew up in, a place he’s literally recreated inside the gallery. (Take that, white cube!)
Known for his lush, finger-painted portraits that radiate strength and ease, Boafo is showing some of his biggest works to date, and giving viewers a textured look (pun intended) into the world that raised him. The show also doubles up as a shoutout to the friends, fellow artists, and neighbors who helped him get there.
“Joy came through sharing, through learning, through being seen,” he says. And now London gets a front-row seat.
Amoako Boafo’s I Do Not Come to You by Chance is on view at Gagosian London until May 24, 2025, but unfortunately, we won’t be able to make it. Send us pictures if you do
!
What Was it Like Being a Political Cartoonist Under Idi Amin?
What was it like being a cartoonist when Idi Amin – aka “the butcher” – was in charge? Not exactly a safe career choice. But that’s what Dutch filmmaker Michiel van Oosterhout uncovers in his documentary, The Tongue Turns to the Aching Tooth. In it, modern-day cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo tracks down the unsung illustrators of the 1970s who dared to doodle for the newspapers under one of Africa’s most feared dictators.
Sure, some got so anonymous they practically invented the concept of a secret drop box: they’d slip their drawings in, vanish, and let the editors pray no one got arrested. One of the doc’s biggest finds is JJSS (John Jones Salongo Serwanga), Uganda’s oldest cartoonist at a spry 102, and his origin story revolves around spotting some reporters who hadn’t kneeled before the kabaka (king), and thinking, “Wow, I want that level of freedom.”
But freedom was tricky. Another cartoonist, James Tumusiime, cracked one sly joke too many – featuring a customer asking for a “pig’s head” in a butcher shop right after the regime murdered the archbishop – and the secret police hunted him down, saying he was really poking fun at Amin. He fled Uganda. “I gave up drawing pigs,” he quips.
While lampooning Amin, these brave cartoonists drew their lines at great personal risk. Their stories may have been hidden for decades, but now the pencils are coming out of the shadows – and making sure the world remembers just how dangerous a simple sketch could be.
The documentary is free to watch, and you can access it here.
Elon Musk vs. South Africa: Starlink's Racially Charged Drama
Elon Musk – world’s richest man, and X’s loudest resident – has kicked up another digital dust storm, this time with South Africa, the country of his birth.
In classic Musk style, he claimed to his 219 million followers on platform X that Starlink, his satellite internet service, can't launch in South Africa simply because he's "not black." Cue internet meltdown.
The reality, though, is slightly less X-ready: South Africa’s telecom regulator, Icasa, clarified that Starlink hasn't even bothered applying for a license. To get one, companies typically need to partner with local businesses, giving historically disadvantaged (mainly black) groups a 30% stake. South Africa introduced this policy post-apartheid to balance economic scales tipped by decades of racial inequality.
But Elon isn't feeling it. Starlink argued these rules exclude foreign satellite operators, though plenty of other international giants, like Microsoft, manage to operate, and profit, just fine.
The Musk saga gets even juicier with geopolitics thrown in. Musk and President Trump have painted a grim picture of South Africa on social media, alleging "white genocide" and property seizures without compensation.
Despite all of this, Musk’s Starlink is thriving elsewhere on the continent, recently snagging licenses in Somalia and Lesotho, with Namibia also on the horizon. Nigeria welcomed Starlink back in 2023, and it’s now a leading provider there.
South Africa, ironically, could greatly benefit from Musk’s high-speed rural connectivity, given its internet access gap. Yet, until Musk and the ANC find middle ground, South Africa remains conspicuously Starlink-free.
President Ramaphosa once joked about his "bromance" with Musk, trying to woo him back to invest in his homeland. Safe to say, the bromance has officially cooled.
Food for Thought
“A big heart is better than a big brain.”
— Ivory Coast Proverb
And the Answer is…
The photo is taken from Mozambique! You can also send in your own photos, alongside the location, and we’ll do our best to feature them.