Julie Hearn offers a heartfelt tribute to the legendary Gĩkũyũ storyteller and revolutionary Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who passed away on Wednesday, 28 May 2025, at the age of 87.

In a celebration of the work and life of Momar Coumba Diop, friend, neighbour and collaborator, Pascal Bianchini marks the life of a deeply principled Senegalese scholar who paved the way for an independent system of knowledge production in Senegal and beyond, that could include scholars from every continent. Generous, thoughtful, and deeply inquisitive, Momar told the story of Senegalese society, history, and culture subject to internal pressures from social movements and external constraints from structural adjustment and global forces.

ROAPE celebrates the life and work of Alpheus Manghezi, researcher, scholar and activist. Manghezi was a citizen of the world and a fighter for the freedom and liberation of all peoples. He worked in Johannesburg, Glasgow, London, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. We post two celebrations of his life, one by the Centre of African Studies in Maputo, and the other by Gottfried Wellmer. As Gottfried writes, “If the soul of a human is the capacity to communicate with other humans, then Alpheus was a great soul.”

It is with great sadness that ROAPE marks the passing of Eddie Webster last week. Eddie was a giant of both South African labour sociology and global labour studies. Alex Beresford and Mattia Dessi offer some brief reflections on his influence on them as international researchers of labour politics.

In a celebration of the life of John Saul, his friend and comrade Peter Lawrence remembers a tireless revolutionary, activist, and writer. One of the founding editors of ROAPE, Saul worked in Tanzania and Mozambique, where he analysed the struggles and possibilities for real independence and socialism. Later, he was a leading member and founder of Southern African liberation organisations in Canada. Lawrence marks a remarkable life and contribution to socialist politics.