I’m delighted to have a creative nonfiction essay about decolonisation in the spring issue of World Literature Today titled Goldilock Syndrome. The issue commemorates the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre but also emphasizes the current state of black multicultural vitality in the 21st century, anchored in the US but rippling out on a…
Exousiance – a series of essays on love and power
I’m producing a series of essays on love and power for Emerge, a platform highlighting ways of thinking that are sowing the seeds of a new civilisation. The series are centred around Exousiance, a concept I coined in Sensuous Knowledge with the purpose to reimagine power. Exousiance interweaves the nonhuman natural world, feminist theory, mythopoetic…
In order to decolonise democracy, an indigenous economics of language must thrive
I strongly believe that critical thinking can transform society, so I was captivated when I recently came across the National Policy on Education and discovered that it begins with a section titled “The Philosophy and Goals of Education in Nigeria.” I swooned as I continued to read the sub-section titled, “The Overall Philosophy of Nigeria.”…
What will the Sahel look like in 10 years? A research initiative on the Sahel region and call for papers
I’m pleased to share the news that I have joined the Editorial Board of the Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of the Sahel, which is an initiative of The International Consortium for Geopolitical Studies of the Sahel – a collaborative international research team of experts focusing on the security, socio-political and ecological complex of the Sahel, of which I also am…
How Africa underdeveloped Africa
Let’s start with the bad news. A ground-breaking survey led by The Initiative for Equal Rights has found that support for the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA) remains at 90%. Sad to say, this means that only 10% of Nigerian civil society opposes what is a profoundly dehumanising policy. Additionally, the survey has found…
Decolonisation, feminism, blogging, sexuality, poetry…discussion topics with the African Book Review
Sharing a link to an interview of mine posted at the African Book Review earlier this week. We covered a lot: decolonisation, African feminism, blogging, sexuality, poetry and more. I hope you like it, I put a lot into it. Minna Salami: An Interview with the Creator of Ms. Afropolitan Let me know if you have any…
What I liked about Louise Mensch’s reality-based feminism piece
In a much debated OpEd last week by former conservative MP, Louise Mensch, Mensch defiantly declares that intersectionality is bollocks and that she for one, has “no intention of checking her privilege”. Mensch went on to hold this intersectional bollocks culpable for “the modern feminist movement […] wasting most of its time in frenzied internal debate about…
Barack Obama, villain or hero?
When it comes to places, the affection that I have for my hometown, Lagos, is matched only by a sort of nostalgia that I harbour towards Tampere, the Finnish city I’m from, which shapes many of my memories but in which I’ve never lived. Yet, my being Scandinavian feels like a secret. Not from anyone, I…
7 key issues in African feminist thought
Firstly, it is important to say that when it comes to theory, it’s more accurate to speak of African feminisms than of one almighty ‘African feminism’. Not all African feminists agree with each other – luckily – as this would hinder deep reflection of issues such as those listed below, yet respecting differences whilst recognising…
Discovering African feminism
‘Blackfeminism is not white feminism in blackface‘ – Audre Lorde As a young girl I could not get my head round the society I lived in, where Nigerian men seemed to have many more privileges than women just for being men, a reality I later discovered applied in different ways to other societies as…
Huffington Post: Hair-Raising Conversations
Following another week of hair-related scandals in entertainment and sports, my latest HuffPo article argues that there is more to the black hair conversation than shallowness or self loathing and that as long as black hair aesthetics are part of a complex social structure we should engage with the conversations critically rather than silence them or…
Beyonce, skin colour and carrots
Beyonce was crowned most beautiful woman in the world by People Magazine this week and that resurfaced the skin colour topic with many debating whether the light skinned Beyonce is an accurate representation of “Black Beauty”. The skin colour conversation is important, crucial even, for similar reasons that I think we should upkeep the hair conversation….
The real reason African patriarchs have a problem with African feminism
Upon hearing the term African feminist, many African men and women will say, we as Africans don’t need feminism, we just need to return to our roots to see that there was harmony between the genders. The first problem with such a statement is that Africa is not that simple. African pasts are complex and…
Celebrating African Music – The MsAfropolitan Mixtapes vol. 1
I’m pleased to share that the first edition of the MsAfropolitan Mixtapes is here. Courtesy of Broadcite Music, an esteemed independent label committed to creating unique sounds for the musically aware, we are going on an Afropolitan ride from Ghana to South Africa fusing highlife, juju, afrobeat and more with Detroit House and the edgy beats of underground London….
Africa is not a brand
When a region has been subject to genocide, slavery or Maafa (holocaust), colonialism, apartheid and financial exploitation also known as neoliberal multilateral agreements, how do we legitimise its place in a globalized modernity without examining its bruised psyche? Through rebranding it as Bono suggests? MsAfropolitan does not intend to rebrand Africa, but aims to be…
Learning to love white men
I’d hate for my experience on earth to be lived with a heart containing animosity towards fellow human beings. We may act like different races are different species due to the irrational inventions of some power hungry ancestors of the human race, but I don’t want that confusion to make me equally disillusioned about our…