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MsAfropolitan

FEMINISM. PAN-AFRICA. SOCIAL CRITICISM. DIASPORA. CULTURE.

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Woman, don’t conspire against yourself

August 17, 2017 By MsAfropolitan 5 Comments

  I am sitting on his couch surrounded by books. There are books everywhere in his house; under the tables, by the coat rack, all over the stair case, on the window panes not to mention the walls of bookshelves. If there are two things I love, it is men and books and here I…

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Filed Under: feminism Tagged With: gender, happiness, Psychology, Relationships

Is feminism the right choice for you?

May 2, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 11 Comments

Before addressing the title topic, I just want to share that I have a piece about the abduction of girls in Nigeria at The Feminist Wire this week. Also this week The Guardian hosted a debate panel on African feminism based on Doreen’s guest blog here on MsAfropolitan. The panel (myself included) answered the question…

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Filed Under: feminism Tagged With: African feminism, feminism, happiness, identity, Spirituality

Let 2014 be a year of emotional awareness

January 2, 2014 By MsAfropolitan 16 Comments

  Welcome to 2014. It’s going to be a special one coming up to the 4th anniversary of this blog, and especially as we are going to have the fearless African femme fatale energy present. But before settling in to the new year: if you could sum up 2013 in one word only, what would it…

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Filed Under: Social Criticism Tagged With: happiness, identity, Life, Spirituality

What is the purpose of education? What can we learn from Liberia

August 28, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 14 Comments

Out of all the alarming news that we receive on any given day, the story about all 25,000 school-leavers failing a test of admission to the University of Liberia hit me like a can of whoop-ass yesterday! The Liberian newspaper, The News, has since reported that the university has agreed to lower the entry standards slightly to enable some permissions and…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, children, happiness, Liberia, pan-Africanism, politics

What do Oscar Pistorius, men’s liberation and asteroids have in common?

February 20, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 6 Comments

Four things happened on February 14th, 2013, that were strung together in an eerie way. These were the celebration of Valentine’s day, the One Billion Rising protests in over 200 countries around the world, the murder of Reeva Stenkamp by Oscar Pistorius, and, Asteroid 2012 DA14 almost wiping us all out. You probably agree that there…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: African feminism, gender, happiness, masculinity, stereotypes

Can women have it all? On marriage, motherhood and work

January 31, 2013 By MsAfropolitan 11 Comments

  One of the most popular articles in 2012 was “Why women still can’t have it all“, by Anne-Marie Slaughter in The Atlantic. It received the most facebook likes any Atlantic article has ever received and everyone from Michelle Obama to Gloria Steinem weighed in on the matter. Whether or not women can have it…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: African feminism, gender, happiness, identity, Life, women, women's issues

Huffington Post: Meditate Your Way Through Negative Articles About Black Women

August 28, 2012 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

I submitted the below post to the Huffington Post editors before the racist and sexist cover image of Michelle Obama as a nude slave appeared in one of Spain’s biggest newspapers, El Mundo’s, supplement. This morning an interview with Gabby Douglas went live revealing that her teammates called her a slave. Unfortunately, the constant tending…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: African women, Decolonisation, happiness, identity, Life, Spirituality, women's issues

Beyonce, skin colour and carrots

April 27, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 13 Comments

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….

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism Tagged With: african diaspora, African women, beauty ideals, decolonisation, gender, happiness, identity, Life, stereotypes, style icons, women's issues

Bad leadership is NOT the problem in Africa

April 11, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 17 Comments

Last week, Joyce Banda became the second female head of state in Africa. This kind of development is significant for the continent. Not only is Banda female, which accounts for progress in more equally gendered leadership, but she’s also got a solid background which should help get Malawi out of the economic and political mess…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, happiness, identity, Life

7 fucked up things

October 7, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 13 Comments

1. People that moan about the use of expletives. 2. The combination of capitalism and yoga. I can’t claim to know all there is to yoga but I can say for certain that apart from keeping you healthy, yoga philosophy aims to connect with something profound, some call it god, some peace, some essence. There…

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Filed Under: seven, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, Afrocentric, happiness, Life, Spirituality, stereotypes

Dating while feminist

September 14, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 15 Comments

I prefer going out on a date with a guy who’s read my blog than one who hasn’t. When a man hasn’t visited this site, at some point during the date something like this happens: Guy: You mentioned that you’re doing an MA at SOAS. What’s your area of study? Me: (clears throat, prepares): Gender…

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Filed Under: feminism, uncategorized Tagged With: African women, Afrocentric, gender, happiness, Life, stereotypes

The best kept secret for youth

August 3, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 17 Comments

It’s my birthday today. I’ve given myself two birthday presents. One was a day with nature. I started the day with a long and playful walk in the woods. The forests in Finland (where I am right now) make me feel like a little girl; the strawberries you can pick and munch on as you…

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Filed Under: Social Criticism Tagged With: happiness, Life, Spirituality, Young Women

African witchcraft and western psychology

June 3, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 33 Comments

  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…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, Decolonisation, happiness, identity, Life, Religion, Spirituality

How to use isms to be more open-minded

May 26, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 10 Comments

It is by acts and not by ideas that people live. Anatole France ~ Coming from an unapologetic feminist it may seem contradictory to say that I am weary of labels. I think that labels are somewhat like tampons; they exist not because they are necessary but because they are useful. It helps to know…

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Filed Under: feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: happiness, identity, Life, Spirituality, stereotypes

The melodious song of longing, Baaba Maal – In Praise of the female voice

March 20, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 4 Comments

Apart from lyrical gratification, what do you get when you fill the Royal Festival Hall in London Southbank with artists like Senegalese superstar and advocate of women’s rights Baaba Maal, Speech Debelle, VV Brown, Eska, Krystle Warren and Annie Flore? You get a powerful evening of inspirational female voices from across three continents aptly title…

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Filed Under: feminism, Pop Culture Tagged With: african diaspora, celebrities, happiness, Life, Spirituality, women

Listen. Risk. Help. One woman’s thoughts on how to do career.

March 6, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 12 Comments

I eavesdrop a lot, my ears are like antennas picking up conversations that I’m not supposed to hear. It might be indecent but hey, it’s fodder for my craft. So the other day whilst enjoying a coffee at Starbucks, I pretended to read an article on my ipad, but in reality I was occupied by…

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Filed Under: Social Criticism Tagged With: happiness, identity, Life, Spirituality

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Feminism. Africa. Popular Culture. Social Criticism.

Hi! I'm Minna Salami, I'm a Nigerian-Finnish and Swedish writer and social critic, and the founder of the multiple award-winning blog, MsAfropolitan, which connects feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. As a lecturer and keynote speaker, I have spoken at over 300 universities, cultural events and conferences, on five continents. I am the author of "Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone - a collection of thought provoking essays that explore questions central to how we see ourselves, our history, and our world." (Harper Collins US) Read full bio

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Essay: Oyalogy – A poetic approach to African feminism through Yoruba mythology

ESSAY: A brief history of African feminism

ESSAY: A brief history of African feminism

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VIDEO: TEDxTalk – To change the world, change your illusions

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more articles

A Historical Overview of African Feminist Strands

August 24, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 3 Comments

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On Abortion

August 23, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

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