The Black History Walks website has a useful list of ways to help combat negative media portrayal of black people. Some of the suggestions are: Go out of your way to attend events, prove there is demand Buy original dvds with positive images direct from source Check out www.colourfulradio.com and www.voxafrica.com Read Frantz Fanon Wretched of the Earth and…
MsAfropolitan presents – Fashion and Talks at the V&A Friday Late: Afropolitans
MsAfropolitan is taking part in Friday Late: Afropolitans at the V&A, the world’s largest museum of art and design. In “MsAfropolitan presents – The rise of Afropolitan Fashion” myself with the help of creative director Ola Shobowalewill conceptualize the contemporary creativity and beauty of Afropolitan fashion for women. Visitors will be able to experience the fusion of bold African patterns and…
African witchcraft and western psychology
There are those who believe that Oprah is a prophet of Satan, spreading a message against Christianity. Then there are a growing group who similarly to Oprah, or maybe even because of her, are keen to explore alternative ways of connecting with divinity, not by dismissing the teachings of Jesus but by understanding them in…
Fela in Lagos, reflections and ruminations
I don’t know what to make of the Finnish elections last weekend, where the nationalist True Finns party won 39 seats of a 200-seat parliament. The Nigerian elections, which have led to violent clashes in Northern Nigeria where hundreds of people have now died, sadden me even more so. To make sense of things, I…
7 questions to a black male feminist
Today marks the 100th celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s striking that the centenary should fall on the same year in which women world-over find themselves at the forefront of significant political and social events. For example, 2011 has seen the launch of UN Women headed by former Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet. Also, Brazil’s…
Ntozake Shange & Michaela Angela Davis on Feminism & More
I get many emails especially from young women asking about feminism, and who inspired my feminism. In another post I quoted the poet Jessica Horn about her mothers influence on her feminism. And personally, her words resonate. I was raised by a woman that I have come to recognise as a revolutionary mother, who used the…
Is Halle Berry’s daughter black?
The world of science has on several occasions declared that race is biologically meaningless, but yet accepting this idea as general knowledge seems curiously hard to accomplish. The sooner we can understand the fallacious construct of race, the sooner we might begin to speak about multi-racialism with the kind of sensible thinking that it requires. However, the…
Fashion really is not for African women and VOGUE’s Black Allure proves it
I hate to be a spoilsport, but I don’t see anything fabulous about Vogue’s Black Allure shoot. In the unlikely case that you have missed it, as marketing gimmicks like this are hard to miss, here’s the link to the photos and the video. Unlike most of the criticism the editorial has received, my issue…
Dinner with 7 African feminists and why
in·spi·ra·tion Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity. Thursday 03/02/11: Experienced lack of stimulation of the mind resulting in a low level of feeling towards activity = leth·ar·gy I’ve been feeling sluggish this week, and particularly yesterday. I tackled work assignments in the morning, went to an interesting…
Mixed race femme fatale, or blonde bombshell?
Returning to the race topic, not because I love talking about it but because it makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones is good. I also do think we have become too p.c. in how we tackle racial tensions. I agree we should be speaking of them delicately, but…
What being mixed race has taught me
It’s a shame that we black people are the ones that analyse and debate race and racism the most. If society was as post-racial as some try to claim, then I believe that it is white people that should be analysing and debating the effects racism has had on the world, whilst black people should…
This is not a fashion blog
Sometimes people introduce me to others as a fashion blogger. And although I once wrote that fashion is not for African women I like the creative art of fashion. The way we can express our individuality by what we wear. I love the burst of African fashion on the international scene thanks partly to magazines…
7 African male icons that shaped history
One of the challenges, and also opportunities with writing an opinion blog like mine is having to take a stand on the range of topics you write about. Whether it’s feminism, women’s libidoes, pornography or natural hair, when you take a firm stand on something you can appear to be unable to relate with the opposing side….
Fashion is not for African women
Despite the ‘trend’ for black models, racism in the fashion industry is still fashionable. Last week I attended the intelligence squared Fashion Maketh Woman debate. For the motion was the stylish team consisting of Madelaine Levy, Britt Lintner and Paula Reed (style director of Grazia in an Oscar de la Renta frock on the evening)…
Mixed race girls have issues – part 3 of 3
Mixed race girls have issues because when we define ourselves ‘mixed race’, we refer to race. I’m trying to pay attention to how many times I say ‘race’ whilst talking about myself. This past week I’ve used the word at least five times. (Note, I’ve just used the word race 4 times already) Inevitably using…
American Apparel joins the black hair debate
So in short – Zeitgeist brand American Apparel prefers Solange to Beyonce. Following the recent revelation that when it comes to staff the company is more interested in the natural hair look than what they wrongly referred to as the trashy look, there’s been a lot of hoo ha about American Apparel having policies on…