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 and [...]

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Occasionally I worry I’ll hurt my mum with some of the stuff that I write about white people, or that my dad will be offended by my criticism of African men. Then I visit them in Lagos and I’m reminded of how, and why, my concerns are completely unnecessary. They expected, and are pleased, with [...]

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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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Contrary to popular belief many feminists have active, and even pleasant love lives. Before I continue let me clarify, and oversimplify (terribly) for purposes of this commentary, by saying that there are two types of feminists. It’s oversimplifying by the way, because we live in an age of individual feminisms rather than theory-centered doctrine. And [...]

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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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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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As 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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After providing a critical commentary on Rihanna in an article in The Guardian some months ago I didn’t think I would be praising her any time soon. But I am feeling her new song ‘Man Down’ and the accompanying video. The actual song makes me feel like dirty dancing with a pleasant male specimen with the [...]

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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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I attended the UN Women: The Opportunity of a Generation parliamentary event at the House of Commons today. Given the speakers; UN Under Secretary General (UN Women), Michelle Bachelet, Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Harriet Harman, my expectation was to leave with a plethora [...]

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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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Today marks the start of International Women’s Month, and this year is also the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on the 8th of March. The reasoning behind all of these events is to celebrate and acknowledge women’s history and achievements that are overlooked and devalued in history books. Take for example, we all know [...]

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I get many emails especially from young women asking about feminism, and who inspired my feminism. In another post I quoted the poet Jessica Horn about her mothers influence on her feminism. And personally, her words resonate. I was raised by a woman that I have come to recognise as a revolutionary mother, who used the [...]

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I hate to be a spoilsport, but I don’t see anything fabulous about Vogue’s Black Allure shoot. In the unlikely case that you have missed it, as marketing gimmicks like this are hard to miss, here’s the link to the photos and the video. Unlike most of the criticism the editorial has received, my issue [...]

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Rules are meant to be broken, so I’m going to go ahead and break rule no 4. in my previous post and simply post a link today. The link will take you to an interview I did over @ Afrilove, and I’m sharing that one in particular because it’s actually about the topics I’ve had [...]

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Facebook – Okay, we get the picture. Life’s sucks, understandably so if your boss is a dick and your partner’s dumped you and your dog simultaneously pooed on your Manolo’s. Or perhaps you are full of internal sunshine and you see the positive in everything now that you are born again and feel elevated, all [...]

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Returning to the race topic, not because I love talking about it but because it makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones is good. I also do think we have become too p.c. in how we tackle racial tensions. I agree we should be speaking of them delicately, but [...]

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I am in love and I want to document the emotions as they develop so that I forever can read the memories. I want to take note of my affinity for your presence. I want to run on the streets naked (like Erykah Badu). Full of wild emotion. I roll my tongue softly when I [...]

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It’s the launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 today. Yes, a whole decade dedicated to us, recognized by the UN (United Nations) and AU (African Union) and supported by a manifesto called the Maputo protocol. Did you know about it? No? Shame on you. OK, it’s not actually your fault, after all we have [...]

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For many years I’ve kept this secret, but I’m now ready to get out of the closet and reveal that I am straight. Yes, heterosexual. I know, I know, it’s controversial for a woman to be straight nowadays, but I’ll try to cope with the discerning looks from passersby when I walk hand in hand [...]

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Despite the ‘trend’ for black models, racism in the fashion industry is still fashionable. Last week I attended the intelligence squared Fashion Maketh Woman debate. For the motion was the stylish team consisting of Madelaine Levy, Britt Lintner and Paula Reed (style director of Grazia in an Oscar de la Renta frock on the evening) [...]

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