Backpacking doesn’t have to be just a low-cost form of travel, and a hostel isn’t just shared lodging for random strangers seeking commonality in solo experiences in a new country or city. But when the two forms of exploring concepts merge, the perfect concoction for curious travellers is created and the opportunity for community to grow is invited.In South Africa, travel has a new meaning, and for one travelpreneur, this vision has been explored and executed for more than a decade.Bheki Dube, a...

Survival items are densely stocked on the shelves of spaza shops in Soweto. The shelves contain the basic necessities of life – food and water. For black South Africans, spaza shops are places of convenience when compared with larger supermarkets, which are often inaccessible. Yet, the legacy of apartheid creates a struggle for black people who are fighting for both accessible products and economic empowerment.In 2024, in the township of Naledi, Soweto, convenience became an issue of compliance...

Naomi Campbell is a recent graduate of the magazine, news, and digital journalism program at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She is a former educator that is passionate about diversity and inclusion, ensuring that narratives about marginalized are reported accurately, compassionately, and ethically. During her time at Newhouse, she started the first Black graduate student-led publication in collaboration with undergraduate students called FUSION magazine to uplift the narratives of the Black diaspora.

The modern coffee shop that your parents grew up loving serves your basic coffee flavours like black and French vanilla, the simple yet perfect grab-and-go order. But the shop serves more than coffee — it is a comforting, coming of age experience that transformed the traditional coffee shop. From new trends and flavour additives like matcha and embracing coffee origins from countries like Ethiopia, the 21st century coffee shop is a third space.
Ko Cafe in Jersey City is among the new wave of cof...

Jozi is not just home to the historical Apartheid Museum. In the vibrant inner city of Yeoville, African immigrants and refugees create markets and build community. The city also boasts a dining experience that brings locals and tourists together over pan-African cuisine. 
Before becoming a self-proclaimed “gastronomy smuggler”, who sources natural ingredients and recreates dishes from childhood memories of his grandmother’s cooking or the auntie in Yeoville, Sandile was a boy living in Soweto....