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MsAfropolitan

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

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7 key issues in African feminist thought

August 16, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 45 Comments

  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…

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Filed Under: Africa, Decolonisation, feminism, Genesis featured posts, seven, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, African feminism, decolonisation, gender, identity, politics, Spirituality

Feminism has always existed in Africa

June 1, 2012 By MsAfropolitan 43 Comments

Feminist activism has always been a part of African society and in a radical way. By radical, I don’t mean the strand of the western feminist movement that very necessarily revolutionized western societies in the 1960s and 1970s, but rather, I mean the mobilized commitment to uprooting patriarchy, imperialism and human injustice to women. In much of premodern…

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Filed Under: Africa, feminism Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, gender, Spirituality

Is it unAfrican to be gay? The Nigerian case

December 23, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 15 Comments

Since 1960 Nigeria has had no more than eleven years of unbroken civilian rule. Out of those, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) now led by Goodluck Jonathan has held a tight grip on power whilst barely contributing to any growth. Shell has just admitted that thousands of barrels of oil have spilt in the Bonga oil leak, the worst…

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Filed Under: Africa, feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, Afrocentric, gender, Islam, lesbian, Life, Nigeria, Religion, sex, Spirituality, stereotypes

Celebrating African Music – The MsAfropolitan Mixtapes vol. 1

December 19, 2011 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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….

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Filed Under: Pop Culture Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, Afrocentric, Afropolitan, celebrities, decolonisation, Ghana, identity, Life, Spirituality

Africa is not a brand

December 2, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 24 Comments

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…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, Afrocentric, decolonisation, identity, Life, Religion, Spirituality, stereotypes

Speaking about African feminism at the Global Feminism Symposium, University of Warwick

November 12, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 6 Comments

I am currently in Lagos. I am working on projects with TV and Radio Continental and the STAR company/Seeing through the Arts collective who are using art and creativity to promote important causes in society. There is a similar reasoning behind the  MsAfropolitan Boutique, namely to use fashion and creativity to highlight the importance of the African…

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Filed Under: events, feminism Tagged With: Africa, African feminism, entrepreneurs, fashion, MsAfropolitan Boutique, Spirituality, style icons

Learning to love white men

November 3, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 25 Comments

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…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, feminism, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, decolonisation, gender, identity, Life, Religion, Spirituality, stereotypes

Why history is written in flesh

November 1, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 13 Comments

I believe in the sixth sense, not in a ‘seeing dead people’ way, but the sense of shift, that feels the brewing zeitgeist of future generations. The things that they will understand, that our generation can not. This is what activism and creativity alike ought to explore. Can one set of people understand what the previous…

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Filed Under: Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, African women, identity, Life, Spirituality

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

My channel 4 interview on mixed race identity

September 29, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 12 Comments

How can someone who claims to be a chosen messenger of god advocate such divisive, confused and love-lacking opinion as Pastor Tapiwa Muzvidziwa? “God”, he says, disapproves of mixed marriages as these are “wrong” and detrimental to the children born of such relationships. Doesn’t he understand that the whole idea of banning interracial and interfaith relationships is…

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Filed Under: Decolonisation, events, Mixed Race series Tagged With: Africa, decolonisation, mixed race, Religion, Spirituality, stereotypes

A Diaspora canvas: Exploring the feminine heritage of African art

September 11, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 46 Comments

If creativity isn’t about community in one-way or another it is dull at worst and provoking at best. Artists that manage to emphasize the spiritual, aesthetic and social elements of living are those that bring to us gifts of understanding. Artists that exemplify this idea are musicians like K’Naan, Baaba Maal, Nneka, Blitz the Ambassador, Fela,…

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Filed Under: feminism, Pop Culture, seven Tagged With: Africa, african diaspora, Afrocentric, Afropolitan, beauty ideals, decolonisation, gender, identity, Life, nudity, Spirituality, stereotypes, style icons

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

Fela in Lagos, reflections and ruminations

April 22, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 9 Comments

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…

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Filed Under: feminism, Pop Culture Tagged With: Africa, African women, Afrocentric, Afropolitan, beauty ideals, celebrities, decolonisation, fashion, Life, sex, Spirituality, style icons

No longer at ease

April 9, 2011 By MsAfropolitan 11 Comments

I am writing this on my porch in Nigeria. I am surrounded by beauty. It is midday and the sun is shining. Pink bougainvillea is keeping me cool and wherever I look I see different types of leaves that must have inspired every single pattern that exists in this world. I am drinking a ginger…

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Filed Under: Africa, Social Criticism Tagged With: Africa, politics, Religion, 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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An African Feminist mixtape

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

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

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

VIDEO: ARISE TV TALKING AFRICA INTERVIEW

VIDEO: ARISE TV TALKING AFRICA INTERVIEW

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more articles

Book announcement! I’m writing a book about African feminism

August 16, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

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Enlivenment, Sensuous Knowledge and Postactivism at the World Ethic Forum

August 10, 2022 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

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