AFRICA

Finding Bàrà: History at an Empire Town

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Bàrà was the burial site of the Aláàfin (King) of Ọ̀yọ́, ruler over the empire and its millions of subjects. “It is a spiritual site. When a new Aláàfin was to be installed, the Aláàfin-elect must come here to worship the past Aláàfins."

From Olongo Africa
On February 28, 2022
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Naked and Not Ashamed

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Nakedness in dreams was a terrible thing. It called for extra caution in your day-to-day life. It could require several days of prayer and fasting, depending on the perceived severity.

From Preachy
On February 14, 2022
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Barter

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Barter Because it’s 1945 And the Allies put a war horse over a west African infantryman, A boy is traded for a horse.

From Olongo Africa
On February 15, 2022
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African Football Under the Western Gaze

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The Western gaze comes from the idea that Eurocentrism influences the way we (Africans) are perceived, the way we think, and how we in turn see ourselves.

From Olongo Africa
On February 10, 2022
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Family Affair

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He belongs to a generation of Nigerian men raised to be strong, silent, and hopelessly incapable of accepting complicity even in the face of clear damage. The patriarchy is alive in him indeed.

From Olongo Africa
On February 3, 2022
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“He Taught Us How To Teach by Learning” – Ọ̀ṣúndáre

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For Ayọ̀ Bámgbóṣé at 90

From Olongo Africa
On January 26, 2022
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Nigeria’s Holy Romance with Ignorance

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Our dealings are dominated by a disregard for scientific reasoning, and a preference for ostentatious, and often venal religiosity.

From Olongo Africa
On January 21, 2022
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Lagos to Lomé: Reflections on Borders

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All our lives, a series of crossings. The parts of our existence we are often not proud to claim still make up the sum total of our lives.

From Olongo Africa
On January 12, 2022
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Introducing the Olongo Talk Series

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Our interest at Olongo Africa is to promote the interest of African creative works, artists, writers, curators, and producers of culture, and to collaborate in ways to enhance their vision as it intersects with issues of the moment across African countries today.

From The Brick House Cooperative
On January 8, 2022
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For Desmond Tutu

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So straight, so Ubuntu, steered a troubled nation

From Olongo Africa
On January 3, 2022
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[New Year’s Eve Poem] Like a Semicolon

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The past year recedes

From Olongo Africa
On December 31, 2021
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Are African Writers Ready For Science Fiction?

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Although science fiction is still a white-dominated genre, Black sci-fi has come far from the days of zombies, aliens and white-washed robots. We have seen how much culture and history can be woven into technology to birth Afrofuturism.

From Olongo Africa
On December 14, 2021
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First Principles

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There were bigger boys. Boys with the height of a pole and the bulk of a boxer. And they knew it, that they were bigger and dangerous and powerful. So, they taunted the smaller kids and took their lunches and asked them to hang upside down.

From Olongo Africa
On December 6, 2021
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