In our first-ever print and entirely nonfiction issue, we explore what it means to travel as an African. Herein are stories about passport privilege and air and road trips to destinations diverse and peculiar—from Douala, Lagos, Lisbon, through Berlin, Sylt, Maputo to Kousseri. A journey down memory lane with the inglorious history of an airline, and a cab driver’s unheralded analysis of Captain Marvel.
Bakwa 09 includes pieces from Florian Ngimbis, Anne-Marie Befoune, Yovanka Paquete Perdigao, Sada Malumfashi, Nkiacha Atemnkeng, Munukayumbwa ‘Mimi’ Mwiya, Howard M-B Maximus, Kay Ugwuede and Raoul Djimeli. It also features an online-only excerpt of the novel Whites Can Dance Too by Kalaf Epalanga.
Contents
Howard M-B Maximus, Taxi Drivers Who Drive Us Nowhere
Yovanka Paquete Perdigao, A Family history in a Passport
Munukayumbwa ‘Mimi’ Mwiya, Losing my passport to get home
Sada Malumfashi, Prepare for Whiteness
Kay Ugwuede, The Africa we Get
Nkiacha Atemnkeng, Impossible n’est pas Camerounais
Anne-Marie Befoune, Vert le passeport, amers les aéroports
Florian Ngimbis, Partir c’est mourir un peu
Raoul Djimeli, Maroua – Kousséri: No Man’s land!
Kalaf Epalanga, Whites Can Dance Too (excerpt)
Image: Yuliia Studzinska (via Dreamstime)
Design: Dante Besong