Some weeks ago I wrote about masculinity in African film. This post is a companion. I wanted to write about Odenigbo, one of the lead male characters in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, because although Odenigbo belongs to a group of fictional characters, from Don Juan to Heathcliff to Romeo, who have caused women’s hearts…
Archives for November 2015
In which even the university of Cambridge admits that ancient Egypt was Black African
In 2006, the Cambridge University art and antiquities museum, Fitzwilliam, did a commendable thing when they, following a £1.5 million renewal project, launched their new Egypt galleries. The idea was to showcase ancient Egyptian religion, magic, writing, ritual and to redisplay the collections in a contemporary and dynamic way. But that was not all. In a rare condemnation…
Masculinity in African film – the seductive case of Run
As I’ve written about before, there is something about African men that evokes in me a particular appreciation of the masculine. That “something” is not necessarily what popular culture appreciates in African men – athleticism, build, rhythm, creativity, resilience, being well-endowed, confidence, and so on. That’s all good, don’t get me wrong, but they are…