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…
Feminism has always existed in Africa
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…
Is it unAfrican to be gay? The Nigerian case
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…
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…
Speaking about African feminism at the Global Feminism Symposium, University of Warwick
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…
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…
Why history is written in flesh
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…
7 fucked up things
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…
My channel 4 interview on mixed race identity
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…
A Diaspora canvas: Exploring the feminine heritage of African art
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,…
The best kept secret for youth
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…
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…
How to use isms to be more open-minded
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…
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…
No longer at ease
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…