23 August 2012 ~ 21 Comments

On Bitch Bad by Lupe Fiasco

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Tweet Lupe Fiasco has just released the video for the ‘Bitch Bad’ track off the ‘Food & Liquor 2 ‘ album. The video (embedded below) examines the impact of the word ‘bitch’ in hip hop and how it negatively affects children and society at large. The chorus line is “Bitch bad, woman good, lady better, [...]

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01 July 2012 ~ 0 Comments

MsAfropolitan Boutique interview series – Edith Victoria of All Thingz Nice

ATN Just Africa T-shirt (S)

TweetThe MsAfropolitan Boutique aims to provide a platform where design by women of African heritage can be purchased, celebrated and reach a wide audience.  We believe that all creativity is a form of storytelling and when it reaches community the outcome is transformation and empowerment. Customers are invited to a shopping experience that centers around community and empowerment, including distinct [...]

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29 March 2012 ~ 24 Comments

7 essential tips for natural hair

7 essential tips for natural hair

TweetWhen I posted an article somewhat up against hair weaves some weeks ago, one of my close friends was in a salon getting a weave. In fact she was reading the post as the hair was getting sewn. Later on that night when we met up, I was expecting to see a woman feeling fly off [...]

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20 March 2012 ~ 10 Comments

The real reason African patriarchs have a problem with African feminism

The real reason African patriarchs have a problem with African feminism

TweetUpon hearing the term African feminist, many African men and women will say, we as Africans don’t need feminism, we just need to return to our roots to see that there was harmony between the genders. The first problem with such a statement is that Africa is not that simple. African pasts are complex and [...]

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17 February 2012 ~ 2 Comments

Speaking about race, sisterhood and citizenship at BE.BOP 2012 Berlin

Speaking about race, sisterhood and citizenship at BE.BOP 2012 Berlin

Tweet I’m participating in BE.BOP 2012- BLACK EUROPE BODY POLITICS, an international screening program and transdisciplinary roundtable on Black European citizenship in connection to recent moving image and performative practices. My presentation is on race, sisterhood and citizenship. BE.BOP 2012 aims at facilitating a long-term exchange between specialists and time-based art practitioners of different contexts [...]

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05 February 2012 ~ 0 Comments

MsAfropolitan Boutique interview series – Margaret Kadi of Project Sierra Leone

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TweetIt’s been a few months since the last MsAfropolitan Boutique Interview (with Jessica Huie of Colorblind Cards) and I’m delighted to resume the series. In case it’s your first time here, the MsAfropolitan Boutique is an online shop launched as a tribute to the African Women’s Decade 2010 – 2020 and selling design made by [...]

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26 January 2012 ~ 1 Comment

Shop design made by women of African heritage

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Tweet Launched as a tribute to the African Women’s Decade 2010 – 2020, The MsAfropolitan Boutique celebrates the entrepreneurship of Africa and diaspora women as a one-stop shop for fashion, accessories, art and gift collections made by women of African heritage. In 2011, it was featured in the Huffington Post, catchavibe, SOAS World Magazine, Women of [...]

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13 January 2012 ~ 11 Comments

My Afropolitan fashion shoot with Essentials Magazine

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Tweet I was recently featured in Essentials magazine in an article about women whose style reflects who they are. Here are some photos from the shoot. How would you describe your style? Who are your favourite African designers? Anything else fashion related come to mind? Pin It

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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

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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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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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07 October 2011 ~ 13 Comments

7 fucked up things

7 fucked up things

Tweet 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. [...]

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26 September 2011 ~ 6 Comments

Fashioning Africa exotic, colonial and tribal

Fashioning Africa exotic, colonial and tribal

TweetCross-posted from Huffington Post —- African style is very much in vogue. Numerous runways in both New York and London fashion weeks could as well be called African fashion week. There were African influenced textiles such as the Malian Bogolan, also known as tribal in Donna Karan-review-speak. Proenza Schouler also gave a preview of their take [...]

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16 September 2011 ~ 1 Comment

Interview feature on black feminism, Afropolitanism and more

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Tweet Cross-post from my two part interview with Kathryn & Miriam from the much recommended Live Unchained project blog www.liveunchained.com @liveunchained —— For Minna Salami feminism sparked a revolution within, meaning the end of many illusions. Namely, the illusion that anything would be handed to us in terms of respect and empowerment in a world that [...]

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14 September 2011 ~ 15 Comments

Dating while feminist

Dating while feminist

TweetI 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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11 September 2011 ~ 10 Comments

A Diaspora canvas: Exploring the feminine heritage of African art

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TweetIf 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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03 September 2011 ~ 22 Comments

The fashion and politics of natural hair

The fashion and politics of natural hair

TweetIt’s understandable that many of us are tired of talking about hair . There’s so much around this topic. However, I’m not at all exhausted with the hair topic yet. I think we should keep talking about hair because our strands are bearers of shared cultural experiences. I don’t think the hair conversation is about [...]

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18 August 2011 ~ 2 Comments

We need to stop the lack of response to the horn of Africa crisis

We need to stop the lack of response to the horn of Africa crisis

Tweet When I was asked if I could publish the below guest post with regards to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Africa I was faced with a moral dilemma. Let me explain. The original post included images of malnourished African children and as much as I support Sarah Lenssen’s work I won’t post those types [...]

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17 August 2011 ~ 5 Comments

African style in an ethical context

African style in an ethical context

TweetNot for the first time but nevertheless significantly, African fashion (that is to say fashion from the range of African countries and the diaspora!) is again at a historical conjuncture marked by an increased consumption of what the continent has to offer style-wise. This time around the African fashion revolution is coming at an age [...]

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29 July 2011 ~ 37 Comments

Is feminism really un-African?

Is feminism really un-African?

TweetAs my feminist consciousness has developed the more I’ve become aware, both explicitly and implicitly, that there is a popular notion that feminism is un-African. Every time I write a post about feminism in an African context, I get at least one response about how feminism is this flawed, white supremacist ideology. The internet is rife [...]

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08 July 2011 ~ 6 Comments

Engaging the Diaspora, Afropolitans and Africa

Engaging the Diaspora, Afropolitans and Africa

TweetI’m glad that I’m a young African woman now rather than in the 60s. Yet watching the clip of Angela Davis and discussing it on my FB page this week made me miss those rebellious and more importantly, revolutionary, times. By the way, the reason for this preference is of dual nature. I am African [...]

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03 July 2011 ~ 0 Comments

MsAfropolitan Boutique Interview Series – Douriean Fletcher, founder of eKlektik eKhos

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TweetThe mission of the MsAfropolitan Boutique is to showcase and offer a handpicked range of products made by African Diaspora women on a rotating basis. Visit us here. As part of my journey to achieving this goal, I’ve met many inspiring women whose stories I want to share with you in an interview series features which [...]

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29 June 2011 ~ 7 Comments

Breaking it down – V&A Friday Late Afropolitans

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Tweet Last Friday MsAfropolitan and I (some split-personality going on) participated in a wonderful event at the V&A Museum in London. We presented a fashion show and a panel discussion to a visitor count of over 5,000 people. Here are some of our, okay my, thoughts on the event. By the way, if you’re new [...]

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17 June 2011 ~ 9 Comments

Cadbury’s ad row with Naomi Campbell and ASA’s response

Cadbury’s ad row with Naomi Campbell and ASA’s response

TweetThe 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 [...]

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22 April 2011 ~ 9 Comments

Fela in Lagos, reflections and ruminations

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Tweet 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, [...]

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25 August 2010 ~ 21 Comments

Too afrocentric for you?

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TweetI was recently interviewed for a TV programme, and one of the questions I was asked who MsAfropolitan is about. I have a love-hate relationship with this question. Reason being that MsAfropolitan is me, but I also think the ethos of MsAfropolitan suits anyone who relates to Afropolitanism and to Africa in one way or [...]

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