That “tribal” word
I cringe whenever I see that word in a news article. And I see it so often in journalese. Stories about developing countries often feature phrases like tribal healer, tribal […]
Category Archives: Society
Black Lady Goddess…coming soon
There’s an upcoming series that’s caught my eye, thanks to Afriquette.com. It’s called Black Lady Goddess by Nigerian-American-Guyanese content creator/director/filmmaker Chelsea Odufu. This young woman has a powerful voice. “I […]
Nigeria’s young people confront police brutality
Young Nigerians around the world are raising their voices to demand an end to police brutality. The campaign is called #EndSARS and some of the campaigners were killed while participating in peaceful protests in Nigeria.
Why The Most Important Person in Africa is the Storyteller
Storyteller. At its basic level, the word conveys the role of someone who preserves the memories, beliefs, aspirations, experiences of a people, a society, a civilization. Storytelling is the convergence of many disciplines, as many disciplines involve storytelling such as history, sociology, anthropology, photography and of course, literature.
I appreciate the storytelling that is done on a micro-level that requires one-one-one interaction with people on-the-ground.
Researchers say that it’s the ability of humans to tell stories that has greatly contributed to our survival as a dominant species.
Stunning new images celebrate Kenyan female icon who stood up to colonialists
Mnyazi wa Menza a.k.a Mekatilili was a strong woman known for her fierceness and resistance of colonial rule in Kenya. This photography project represents her life in the Giriama region of Kenya where she lived from the1840s to 1924, according to local sources. In this reimagination, a fearless Mekatilili is pictured readying for battle, defying the age-long patriarchal norms in Kenyan (and generally, African) societies. Women were not known to be headstrong during that time, but Mekatilili could not be silent about the colonial oppression in her community.
Why young Africans need to know their history
For the past two years, I have been engaged in a personal project to collect firsthand accounts of the Nigerian Civil War (AKA Nigerian Biafran War or the Biafran War). I started this project because I wanted to learn more about this crucial moment of history, which affected my family and millions of others. I also wanted to allow the people who lived through it to speak and to have their words documented. The war began in 1967 and the ones with solid memories of it are at least 57 years old or so.
Black South Africans Are Trying To Heal From the Mental Damage of Apartheid
I became conscious of the black liberation movement in South Africa when I was a child. My dad would play South African music and me and my sisters would dance […]
The History of Hip Hop in Senegal
In the history of music in Senegal, the meteoric rise of rap music is probably one of the most interesting phenomena to witness. For several decades, rap music has become […]
Audiences Across Africa Hail Black Panther for Humanizing Black Characters
So, the world is still on the Black Panther film hype. Jesse Holland @jessejholland author of “The Black Panther: Who Is The Black Panther?” has described the success of this movie as […]
Rwanda is more than a post-genocide nation
Rwanda is shaking off its violent past and young content creators- writers, bloggers, filmmakers, journalists- are trying to tell the world that Rwanda is more than a post-genocide nation. I took a trip to Rwanda a few months ago to meet some of the young people.
Afrocentric Confessions 