Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

“Kwaito” Music Moves South African Youth
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
06 Jul 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · “Kwaito” Music Moves South African Youth

Xavier Livermon, professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, sees “many parallels” between the US-based Hip Hop phenomenon and the Kwaito music beloved by young South Africans. LIvermon is author of the book, “Kwaito Bodies: Remastering Space and Subjectivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Livermon doesn’t see Kwaito as purely commercial and self-commodification. “South African youth play with and engage the system,” he said, “but also push back against it.”

South Africa

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio July 17, 2026
17 July 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the Supreme Court ruling that ends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants.
South Africa
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Anti-Immigration Movement in South Africa
17 July 2026
What is behind this South African movement that drives immigrants out of the country?
Global March to Gaza
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Nkosi Mandela on the Global March to Gaza
13 June 2025
Our guest is Nkosi Mandela. He is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela.

More Stories


  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    15 Apr 2021
    This week the war in Afghanistan was on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Walter Johnson’s “The Broken Heart of America”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Walter Johnson’s “The Broken Heart of America”
    15 Apr 2021
    The Black future is already unfolding under your feet, and the narrow possibility that you might grab ahold of that leading edge of the asphalt and turn it in a different direction.
  •  BAR Book Forum: Tracey L. Walters’ “Not Your Mother’s Mammy”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Tracey L. Walters’ “Not Your Mother’s Mammy”
    15 Apr 2021
    The assumption is these women are uneducated or without skills beyond cleaning or caring for children and adults. 
  • Organizing in the South 
    Joseph B. Atkins 
    Organizing in the South 
    15 Apr 2021
    Strong condemnations from the NAACP and Black Congressional Caucus of Amazon’s treatment of its workers might have made a difference in the strike vote,
  • Reality Police Erase Lesbians, Covid-skeptics and Democracy
    Riva Enteen
    Reality Police Erase Lesbians, Covid-skeptics and Democracy
    15 Apr 2021
    Corporate reality police have stablished themselves as the authorities on what constitutes “information” or “disinformation.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us