Hi! I'm Danai Nesta Kupemba

As a reporter trained in covering immigration, mental health, LGBTQ+ rights, and race in an international context, no subject is too complex for me to unpack. Currently I work as a programming intern at CNN International on the Emmy award-winning show Amanpour. In this role I provide Christiane Amanpour with research, questions, and script the segment.

In this position I have produced a segment with Tyler Mitchell, the first Black photographer to shoot a cover of VOGUE, and a segment with Gina Prince-Blythewood, director of The Woman King.

My approach to journalism is informed by my background as a German-born Zimbabwean, and by my childhood growing up in the U.K., Zimbabwe and South Africa. I have written on sub-Saharan Africa for Al-Jazeera, PinkNews — the largest LGBTQ+ publication in the world — and Rest of World, a startup newsroom focused on international technology. I have also written on health and systemic racism in the U.K. and the U.S. for Refinery29.

Featured Work

How Bianca Barclay On Netflix's 'Wednesday' Embodies African Mermaid Folklore

“Be careful of the water,” my mother would say to me every time we were close to a river, a subtle warning to watch out for the mermaids lurking below. The sentiment “be careful of the water” is a familiar one: In Zimbabwe, where I’m from, water is the veil that separates the living from the spirit world, and water deities, like the mermaids called Njuzu, rule their own kingdom below the surface.

Njuzu are deeply entrenched in our folklore and around Africa, but I never thought I would see thes

'The Last of Us' Is Just the Beginning of Hollywood's Big Video Game Gamble

Back in 1993, Hollywood had the shot of a lifetime. A shot at an opportunity to change the movie industry forever. They had all the ingredients: the rights to the highest-selling Nintendo video game and an untapped market greedy for more content. But they missed. The arrow didn’t even hit the board.

Super Mario Bros. was meant to be the first of many video game movie adaptations but instead has been relegated to the attic of our consciousness, the door only to be flung open when used to uphold

The dangerous rise of BBL surgery... fuelled by TikTok

Paygie wanted revenge. Sitting in her apartment alone, nursing a broken heart after her partner of three years had left her for another woman. Paygie, who was 25 at the time, felt the harsh sting of rejection. She wanted to get even. But she didn't want to slash her ex's tyres or go after his best friend. No, instead, she wanted him to know what he was missing out on. She wanted him to want her back. To regret ever leaving her and to transform herself into a double-tap fantasy he could no longer

Dating Is Hard. It's Even Harder When You Don't Want Kids.

When Alex found out her boyfriend was cheating on her, she was relieved. He had stipulated to her early in their relationship that if she wanted to be with him, children were a must some day. Alex was so in love at the time that she accepted, though she knew deep down that she didn’t want children...ever. “I started feeling awful, oppressed, imprisoned,” Alex tells me. When she found out about the other woman, Alex says she felt free of the obligation to have a family. A year later she had a tub

More Black Women Get Fibroids So Why Don't We Know More About Them?

From the age of 14, Rose suffered from morbid menstrual cramping, heavy cramping, frequent urination, passing blood clots, chronic constipation, anaemia and more. "Although I shared my incapacitating symptoms with doctors for several years, none recommended or ordered an imaging test to confirm sizes, quantity and types of fibroids growing inside my uterus, until I was 39 years old," Rose says. Instead, when Rose sought medical help, mentioning her fibroids, doctors dismissed her, saying things

Black Women Are Failed When It Comes To Eating Disorders

When Jasmine, 35, was in college, she found herself in an abusive relationship . Food became her distraction and eating was a desperate act to ease the pain she was feeling. "When I would binge eat , I would think about nothing but the food, the drive to multiple places to get the food, the taste of the food, the guilt I would feel about eating the food, and all of these thoughts would distract me from the fact that a man was verbally and physically abusing me."

"I never learned about eating di

Dreaming of Zimbabwe: Stories from the diaspora

From fleeing for political reasons to looking for an adventure, Zimbabweans share why they left their home country.

Nearly 24 years ago, Lance Guma came face to face with a gun.

A man had followed him out of the main post office in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, before attempting to provoke him into an argument. Lance was 22 years old.

Lance remembers the gunman threatening to pull the trigger before shrugging and telling him nonchalantly: “You’re making too much noise.”

He was certain it w

The country I saw as home, my parents saw as oppressors

What happens when you reject the identity your parents fought for and embrace that of those they fought against?

“I died for this country,” is a running joke in my family; something my father says whenever Heroes’ Day rolls around, laughing so hard that tears form in his eyes.

But beneath his broad smile is a gentle reminder to me and my three siblings: that he nearly did.

My dad was 12 years old when, in 1975, he joined Zimbabwe’s War of Independence. Also referred to as the Second Chimureng

My Work

Al-Jazeera

Dreaming of Zimbabwe: Stories from the diaspora

From Zimbabwe to England: A story of war, home and identity

Cosmopolitan

Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner twin in matching black suits

Florence Pugh: Who is the actor's rumoured new boyfriend?

Maya Jama looks incredible in unique naked dress during Love Island

A Kate Moss biopic is in the works: Expected release date, cast and more

CNN

'You don't get closure': Director and star on the moral complexity of 'Armageddon Time'

Why Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is optimistic about Nigeria's upcoming election

From Chernobyl to the Paralympics, Oksana Masters shares her story

V: Women 'have to be bolder and more outrageous in our demands'

'The Woman King' and the fight against 'the historical dismissiveness of Black women'

Like 'adult theater camp': Rian Johnson and Edward Norton on cast chemistry of Glass Onion

VICE

International Students Feel Forgotten and Trapped In Lockdown

Newsweek

In Zimbabwe, Toxic Masculinity is Driving Male Suicide Rates | Opinion

Pink News

Black LGBTQ+ history is being erased. These TikTok stars are fighting back

Ugandan government shuts down vital LGBTQ+ rights group amid chilling ‘witch hunt’

Monkeypox: New research finds lesions on genitals and around anus among most common symptoms

iNews

Rachel's Bombshell Entrance Felt Like A Turning Point For Black Women On Love Island - I Was Wrong

Wine Magazine

The Zimbabwean Spirit That Connects Past, Present and Future

How to Make Masau, Zimbabwe’s Traditional Wine

Stylist

Diversity in surfing: meet the women of colour taking up space on the waves

Fitness challenge: “How joining a 4-week plan motivated me to find my community”

This spicy mediterranean cauliflower recipe is packed with nutrients to fight inflammation

This vegan pecan pie breakfast is perfect for lowering blood sugar

How to exercise in a wig: 3 women on how they avoid their wigs slipping at the gym

Improve your gut health with this satisfying baked mixed berry pudding with a coconut and almond crumb topping

Move of the week: stretch out tight hamstrings with a downward dog to plank

Kingston Courier

“I was scared I was going to die”: Sickle cell patient files complaint against Kingston Hospital for negligence

REVIEW: Netflix’s Passing shows we’re all trying to pass for something

Love is Blind review: season 2 presents a bleak and desperate post-pandemic dating scene

Metropolitan police say no evidence of misconduct after viral video shows officers restraining a Black man