Obama’s Papa Drama
aKoma Hot Mix Week #37
“Peace is costly but it is worth the expense.”
Kenyan Proverb
1. So Prestigious No One Can Win The Damn Prize
(Quartz Africa)
When the Mo Ibrahim prize was announced this year, there was no winner. Which is ridiculous on a whole number of levels. First, only former “democratically” and “transparently” elected African leaders who served and left their terms constitutionally and democratically are eligible. That pool is smaller than the number of Africans who have been Pope. Then there are performance criteria that we are sure set some pretty high standards. We applaud the gangster mindset to not reward bad leadership, but not having a winner six times out of ten? Maybe expand the pool, no? Maybe going after the wrong audience? We’re just saying
2. Black But Not Bad Black Like Them
(New York Times)
In the diaspora, it is commonplace for migrant black Africans, especially the older ones, to detach and distance themselves from the locals in their respective resident Western countries, planting their place firmly above the status of the bad “blacks”. Author Yaa Gyasi captures this perfectly in this sentence, “I wanted to be good because I knew subconsciously that being good is only worthwhile insofar as it separates you from those who are bad. And, in America, African-Americans are bad, both in deed and at heart.” Actually it’s when Africans are trumping anti-immigration and anti civil rights activities, that the delusion gets quite disturbing.
3. Jam Jam, Here Comes The Nairobi Jam, Hot Damn
(African Arguments)
Folks like to talk about the traffic in Lagos or Los Angeles. But, whew! Nairobi is making a serious case for itself these days. As Nanjala Nyabola explains in her article, “Woe unto you if any part of your day involves getting from one side of the city to the other.” And did she say Nairobi was built for a hundred thousand people yet is home to three to four million and counting? We don’t need electric cars, people. We need flying cars the way things are going.
4. Christian Louboutin Has Gone Africaba-nkers
(African Prints in Fashion)
Africa fashion is all the rage now, it is (warning: pun coming) in fashion. Many of the big celebs of all colors are sporting Ankarra and Kente fabrics amongst a whole many others, and it is quite a sight to see. Now the big red sole himself, Christian Louboutin, has jumped on the bandwagon with his Africaba bag, and the results are…high fashion. You will drop at least $1K for each bag, no matter that most of the components were done in Senegal. $1K for a bag? Right.
5. Andela Again — The Meaning of Meaning
(Oonwoye.com, aKoma)
Ok. Two power pieces, and we had to lie down and close our eyes to process the convo going on here. First, OO Nwoye drives home how the reporting of the big Zuck-Chan/Google Ventures/Omidyar et al investment in Andela “disappeared” the fact that the company was first founded in Nigeria b4 “the foreigners” joined and revamped the company. In our Medium publication, Victor Asemota comes at it from a different direction, essentially arguing that it really doesn’t matter where the company’s DNA sprouted, Andela is selling a “luxury product with meaning” and that’s what is key. Yeah. You should read them both. Again, we’re still processing.
6. Shea My Name, Shea My Name
(She Leads Africa)
From She Leads Africa on creating impact that works, a profile of startup founder Naa Sakle Akuete: “Naa-Sakle Akuete is the founder of Eu’Genia Shea, the first line of premium shea moisturizers dedicated to using 100% natural ingredients in partnership with female cooperatives in Ghana. She shares what she’s learned from working with rural communities for her natural products.”
7. Let’s Agree to This Agri
(SciDevNet)
No one wants to be a farmer in Africa. Once a young person has the means, the speed with which the rural and farming culture is tossed to the wayside for a glamorous life in the city is supersonic. And understandable. Why farm when you could make it big in oil? Or tech. Nollywood. Fashion. Become a doctor, lawyer, a preacher with twelve helicopters, one for each month. But the same verve and energy being pumped into tech and ecommerce startups could transform the agribusiness arena and attract the best to hunker down and tranform themselves and Africa at large. Kudos to former Nigerian prezo, Olusegun Obasanjo, for his wisdom.
8. Obama’s Papa Drama
(New York Times)
In 2013 an archivist in NYC stumbles upon a bunch of intense letters from a young Kenyan dreamer to foundations and universities, hell bent on coming to the States to further his education. He comes to the States, has a child and disappears after a few years of his kid’s life. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where the archivist works, sends a note to that child who is now a father with his own two kids inviting him to come check out the letters. No response from him, or his office. Maybe Barack Obama is too busy batting off the crazies as he steers the big ship. Or maybe there are still some daddy issues to be resolved. Fascinating read by the New York Times.
9. The Name is Magufuli. John…Magufuli
(Quartz Africa)
We have called out new Tanzanian President John Magufuli for his no nonsense, fresh breath of air management style ever since he came into office.The man is the man. And you can’t mess with the man on social media, as a number of Tanzanians have discovered as they await hefty fines and jail terms for making jokes about the president. Look, this social media thing…just because it is readily available, doesn’t give you license to speak ill. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch your six. That six will get axed, pronto.
10. Here Comes The Weave Regulator
(Mail & Guardian)
You knew this was coming to a country near you. There is shock, awe and incredulity as Zimbabweans deal with a weave ban that ends the importation of synthetic hair products to the country. Zimbabweans, who are relatively quiet on social media, completely blew the lid off Twitter and Facebook demanding to know how life as they know it could proceed without Brazilian, Moroccan and Indian. In fact, there was a clamor that this could bring down the government. What? Really? Well, now that you think about it, this is actually high red alert status for many. Hide your kids, lock your doors, people!
11. Engendering Women Means They Become Men. Or Something Crazy Like That
(Ventures Africa)
We will let this quote from a Ventures Africa article titled With Women like Olori Wuraola in the Limelight, Gender Equality Will Remain Nothing Short of a Myth In Nigeria speak for itself: “Speaking at the Emerging Women’s Forum in Maryland, USA, the queen stated, ‘I am not a huge fan of gender equality. We can’t be equal. We can’t be men.’ ” That is one long title, for starters. And for those of you who think the genders are finding balance in many an African society, think again.
aKoma #FollowFriday
Twitter: Adebayo Adegbembo is an all-around dreamer, writer, animator and cultural evangelist. When he isn’t sharing posts about his life as an animator, @technobayo focuses his attention on making African culture fun for kids through games, animations and stories through, Genii Basics.
Instagram: Loza Maleombho is a storytelling fashion designer who also creates exquisite graphics. Her project, #AlienEdits, is a continual project she devises to portray her cultural narratives through originally edited portraits.
Renowned journalist Hannah Azieb Pool has published a brand new book that celebrates the stylish Africans across four cities on the continent and challenges the stereotypes of “African fashion”.
