03 May 2013 ~ 5 Comments

Winner of the “Outstanding Achievement in Media” Award at the African Diaspora Awards!

MinnaADA

TweetI am happy to announce that I have won the ”Outstanding Achievement in Media” award at the African Diaspora Awards which took place on 2 May 2013. The African Diaspora Awards (ADA) ceremony is an event which pays tribute to African success across all walks of life; emphasising achievement and highlighting inspirational role models in the fields [...]

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18 April 2013 ~ 12 Comments

Why the Ugandan miniskirt ban proposal is good news

South Africa miniskirt protest

TweetIf the government passes a proposal that bans miniskirts, Uganda may soon join the list of countries to restrict women from making independent choices about what they wear. If the bill, which has been proposed by (insert drumroll) the minister of ethics, Simon Lokodo, is passed, women who fail to abide may be sentenced to a [...]

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03 April 2013 ~ 17 Comments

Can Africans have multiple subcultures? A response to “Exorcising Afropolitanism”

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TweetOn 24 June 2011, over 5,000 people showed up for an event at the V&A Museum in London titled “Friday Late: Afropolitans”. Now, packing the world famous museum is usually the function of western art and high fashion, but on this night the crowd came to listen to artists like Spoek Mathambo, taste palm wine [...]

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25 March 2013 ~ 2 Comments

The more oppressive towards women, the more superstitious a society. On witch hunts in Africa

from soil to soul

Tweet It is most often agreed that poverty, exacerbated by a lack of education, tends to lie behind a widespread belief in witchcraft. However, the reasons people seek scapegoats for their misfortunes is more complex than so. First of all, let’s establish that witch accusations are widespread around Africa. And not only accusations but also [...]

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20 March 2013 ~ 3 Comments

Africa is a great country – new photography exhibition in Sweden

Africa is a great country – new photography exhibition in Sweden

Tweet On April 11th, I’m in Stockholm as one of four keynote speakers at the launch of Africa is a Great Country, a photography exhibition by Jens Assur, taking place at Liljevalchs. I’ll be speaking alongside Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Richard Dowden and Hans Rosling and my speech is titled “Images of African women“. Africa is a Great Country is about seeing [...]

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14 March 2013 ~ 5 Comments

The unusual relationship between religion and modernity in Africa

Cross in chinatown

TweetTwo things are growing faster in Africa than anywhere else – religion and the economy. Africa is the most devout continent in the world with 89 percent of participants in a 2012 WIN Gallup survey saying that they were religious, compared to 59 percent in the world at large. In Ghana, the country with the [...]

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08 March 2013 ~ 10 Comments

What does women’s day mean to African bloggers?

What does women’s day mean to African bloggers?

Tweet When I was seventeen, I got a job as a telephone salesperson of ink cartridges. The worst thing about the job was that I was so good at it. I was promoted and was eventually earning a serious lot of money. I don’t know what made me a successful ink cartridge seller but I [...]

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14 February 2013 ~ 4 Comments

Valentine’s Day Give-Away – My free poetry e-book

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Tweet   I don’t consider myself a poet but that’s an odd thing to announce given that I am next going to offer you to download cache, my poetry book. And for free too in the spirit of Valentine’s day and love! Poetry is a form of writing that I’m compelled to engage in when [...]

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26 September 2012 ~ 0 Comments

History meets present-day in Queens of the Undead by Kimathi Donkor

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TweetIn my view, if Kimathi Donkor‘s painting of Queen Nanny of the Maroons was an antique, precious Tarot card, she would be ‘The High Priestess’, standing as a veil between life and death, her arms outstretched; one mercifully forgiving, the other holding a deadly sword, reminding us that when it comes to life, she both [...]

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10 September 2012 ~ 3 Comments

Nigeria does not have democracy

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Tweet“Nigeria does not have democracy” I tweeted last week, resulting in a brief discussion which Diary of a Media Junkie has put into a storify board. This post develops from that tweet. First of all, let’s adopt a simple definition (by Robert Dahl) of democracy as a political system that allows meaningful competition for positions of [...]

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03 September 2012 ~ 2 Comments

Women, leadership and inspiration: Pan-African Powa Panel

AfriFEM panel

TweetThis is a transcript of a speech I delivered at the Southbank Centre in July. I call it a POWA panel because I was in the company of some of the continent’s most powerful voices and inspirations – Angelique Kidjo, Lebo Mashile, Theo Sowa and our moderator Jessica Horn. Below is also a clip of [...]

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16 August 2012 ~ 14 Comments

7 key issues in African feminist thought

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Tweet  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, I’d add, as this would hinder deep reflection of issues such as those listed below–yet respecting differences whilst recognizing a common [...]

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21 June 2012 ~ 3 Comments

Geocolonialism, Africa and Rio+20

Chamarel Waterfalls

TweetAlthough Africa hosts 40% of the world’s biodiversity, 20% of forest reserves and over 50% of the energy potential in the world, what I’ll be referring to as “geocolonialism” is impeding the progress of a flourishing and sustainable environment in Africa and worldwide. This week has seen the much awaited Rio+20 take place, the largest [...]

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01 June 2012 ~ 32 Comments

Feminism has always existed in Africa

A Woman’s Strength

TweetFeminist 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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09 May 2012 ~ 14 Comments

MsAfropolitan EXCLUSIVE Interview with Sandra Izsadore

Sandra

Tweet Even in a society were polygamy is practiced, with twenty-seven wives, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti—one of the greatest men to have lived—had unusually many women in his life. But there are two particular women that the Fela story wouldn’t be complete without. His mother, women’s rights champion Funmilayo Anikulapo-Kuti and Sandra Izsadore, his lady, and the woman [...]

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08 May 2012 ~ 1 Comment

Participating in OpenForum 2012 and OpenForumYouthSummit in Cape Town, South Africa

Participating in OpenForum 2012 and OpenForumYouthSummit in Cape Town, South Africa

TweetFrom May 22 – 24, the OpenForum 2012 in Cape Town will provide an unprecedented opportunity for activists, academics, businesspeople and policy-makers to take a critical look at the factors that will influence the African democracy and governance agenda over the next decade, debate the paradox of unequal growth and turn innovative ideas into action [...]

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15 April 2012 ~ 0 Comments

Some thoughts on Ashley Judd’s definition of patriarchy

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TweetIn the unlikely case that you missed actress Ashley Judd’s smashing op-ed piece on media’s misogynist practices, then start by reading it here. It’s truly a landmark piece in its bringing to the mainstream forefront both the f-word (feminism) and the p-word (patriarchy) and the ways in which the latter impacts relationships not only between [...]

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11 April 2012 ~ 12 Comments

Bad leadership is NOT the problem in Africa

Tired Old Man

Tweet 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 [...]

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02 April 2012 ~ 5 Comments

Lagos Black Heritage Festival 2012 – Exploring Afro-Italian connections

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TweetI’m looking forward to attending the LAGOS BLACK HERITAGE FESTIVAL this week, which this year is mapping out the black African presence in the Mediterranean with a cultural exploration of the Afro-Italian connection. Nigerian connections with Italy appear to go back a long way! Amongst other things the festival will highlight similarities between the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, and the [...]

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29 February 2012 ~ 14 Comments

Sex, Religion and Hair Weaves

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Tweet Sex Havelock Ellis, one of the most successful sexologists of the 20th century believed that sexual intercourse between men and women was based on animal courtship which he defined as “the pursuit and conquest of the male”. The female, he said, plays a game where she pretends to resist in order to be caught. [...]

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09 January 2012 ~ 1 Comment

#OccupyNigeria – 7 essential reads about the protests in Nigeria (with additional updates)

#OccupyNigeria – 7 essential reads about the protests in Nigeria (with additional updates)

TweetWhen it comes to the ongoing protests and the labour strike in Nigeria it isn’t easy to get a clear perspective of the situation without being in the country. There are many articles by journalists and bloggers who unfortunately aren’t bothering to understand the contextual particularities of the bombings and of the #OccupyNigeria protests. As [...]

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23 December 2011 ~ 14 Comments

Is it unAfrican to be gay? The Nigerian case

Is it unAfrican to be gay? The Nigerian case

Tweet 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 [...]

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19 December 2011 ~ 0 Comments

Celebrating African Music – The MsAfropolitan Mixtapes vol. 1

MsAfropolitan Mixtapes 1

Tweet 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 [...]

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02 December 2011 ~ 23 Comments

Africa is not a brand

Africa is not a brand

TweetWhen 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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25 November 2011 ~ 19 Comments

7 Thomas Sankara quotes about women

Thomas Sankara

TweetIt’s the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women today and in recognition of this dedicated day (and the 16 consecutive international activist days), I am sharing quotes from one of the best speeches on women’s liberation and the African freedom struggle by one of the most extraordinary leaders of modern history, former Burkinabe president, Thomas [...]

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18 November 2011 ~ 5 Comments

Why you should visit Lagos

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TweetFirst things first, Lagos is not a bed of roses. You may have Nigerian friends who have told you stories about extravagant nightclubs and cruising on motor boats to privately owned beaches. They aren’t lying, I have often enjoyed such luxuries myself. But that’s the Lagos that makes people forget about the rest of Lagos, [...]

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12 November 2011 ~ 6 Comments

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

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

TweetI 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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03 November 2011 ~ 23 Comments

Learning to love white men

Learning to love white men

TweetI’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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01 November 2011 ~ 13 Comments

Why history is written in flesh

Why history is written in flesh

TweetI 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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21 October 2011 ~ 0 Comments

Speaking on the ‘Inspirational Nigerians panel’ at Africa Rocks Expo

Speaking on the ‘Inspirational Nigerians panel’ at Africa Rocks Expo

TweetI will be taking part in the inspirational Nigerians panel at the Africa Rocks Expo this Sunday, a one-day event celebrating African culture and showing why Africa is a great place to visit, work and do business in. This year’s expo focuses on Nigeria and “aims to dispel the misconceptions and show people that Nigeria is [...]

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