NO BLEACHING ALLOWED: Fashion Week Bans Models Who Bleach Skin
Posted July 24th, 2013 by siyonbola in AFRiCKA, Articles, Blog, Fashion, Womanism
This is the kind of news that gives you hope in the reversal of our collective self-destruction. Adama Ndiaye–aka Adama Paris–has become my new idol. She is the founder of Dakar Fashion Week in Senegal and during the recent opening declared that she had banned skin-bleaching models from the week-long event. This is what I call […]
Egusi, the Organic West African Miracle Food
Posted July 23rd, 2013 by siyonbola in African Foods are Healthy, AFRiCKA, Blog, Food Politics, Health & Vitality, Medical Anthropology
I have always loved egusi more than any other Yoruba soup. If I could eat it with my other Naija favorite, plantain (raw, baked, fried, boiled), every day, I’d be in heaven. But it tastes much better with eba (dried, fermented cassava) or iyan (pounded yam) But what is Egusi, really? Egusi (“Citrullus Lanatus”) […]
How to Protect Black Boys from Cold Blooded Murder, I Mean Self Defense
Posted July 15th, 2013 by siyonbola in AFRiCKA, Articles, Blog, Genocide, Race
I told myself that I wasn’t going to cry about Trayvon, because murder, unpunished acts of genocide are an everyday reality for Black people all over the planet. Because crying does nothing for Trayvon or his family, or the millions of souls victimized by the devil’s imperialism. Marching only tells his family they are not […]
What Makes Fashion African?
Posted July 9th, 2013 by siyonbola in AFRiCKA, Articles, Blog, Business
As designers from Africa ease into permanence in the global fashion industry, and the words “African Fashion” are pandied about like “pure” water on Lagos streets, the meaning behind the words seems to be lost in the faux batik chic flashing lights. In the last three to five years, on every major European designer label, there […]
The Man Who Had No Water
Posted July 2nd, 2013 by siyonbola in Blog, Business, Race, Racist in Brooklyn
So I reluctantly got off my butt last night to walk all the way to Park Slope for some vitamins. It was life or death, otherwise I would have stayed with my vegan ice cream and Bollywood film. I was happy to find what I needed at a steal and left the co-op with my […]
Falling Down in the Subway
Posted July 2nd, 2013 by siyonbola in Blog, Subway Stories
A woman fell in the train today. Actually she fell between the train and the platform so that her right leg went into the space between the platform and train. Scary. I found myself gasping dramatically, watching in anticipation as two brothers helped her up. I was alerted to the fall when one of them […]
Let the Church Say Amen. This is My Initiation into the Church of Lauryn Hill.
Posted July 1st, 2013 by siyonbola in AFRiCKA, Articles, Blog, Musik, Race, Spirituality, Womanism
Every time this woman speaks. My love for her deepens. She is a goddess. Period. The boldness it takes to speak such truth from such a high platform is Divine. Many may disagree with her choice to not pay taxes, but I see her using it as a form of protest. I do wish […]
Racist or Crazy?
Posted June 20th, 2013 by siyonbola in Blog, Race, Subway Stories
A woman spat on the train today. It didn’t interest me as much as the people sitting around me who spoke about it for the rest of my ride. She had spent the last several minutes covering her ears and closing her eyes, actually looking somewhat peaceful. The guy sitting right next to me was […]
“Arranged” Marriage
Posted June 17th, 2013 by siyonbola in Blog, Womanism
I could write an essay…so many points to address from this piece. The first thing that comes to mind though is that it reminds me why I have always loved my Muslim friends, they show so much love and compassion to each other–and in my experience–non-Muslims. In reading this piece though, I felt choked. I […]
The Christian Lil Wayne and Non-Illuminati Hip Hop
Posted June 15th, 2013 by siyonbola in Blog, Celevolution, Musik, Spirituality
After working on my Rihanna re-writes, I stumbled upon a bunch of artists who were already doing what I wanted to do. Rewriting the lyrics of “hard” contemporary hip hop to something more positive…ie Black power and/or Christian. I’m late! Some of this stuff has been on YouTube for years. This is probably the stuff […]