The Africa Collective evolved out of a conversation about the limitations of traditional scholarly research on Africa and the constrained ability of scholars to reach a mainstream audience through traditional forms of knowledge production. It has since evolved into a broad collaboration between scholars, bloggers, and activists, who do research, write, and speak about the continent. Our goal is to highlight some of the major trends and innovations–whether social, cultural, or political–which are emerging in Africa and have their roots in the continent itself. It is also to provide a space for stories to be told that challenge dominant narratives about Africa in the mainstream Western media.