The Kru people are indigenous to Liberia and the Ivory Coast. Kru were most known for seafaring and their strong resistance to capture by European enslavers in the Transatlantic slave trade. The Kru would fight vehemently and even take their own lives before surrendering to enslavement. Because of their tenacity, they were labeled as difficult and less valuable in the slave…
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Malik Ambar was among the tens of thousands of men, women, and children captured in Africa and sold into slavery in the Middle East and India over nearly nine centuries. His story is also an indication of the ability of some in the predominantly Muslim Indian Ocean world to rise far above their initial servile status. Born Chapu in 1548 in Harar Province, Ethiopia, Ambar…
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For decades, if not centuries African fashion has been the root of inspiration for numerous Western brands and fashion trends. I mean it’s pretty evident considering the topic of cultural appropriation vs cultural appreciation on African fashion has been a hot subject for the last couple of years now. When you take a look at African fashion over the years,…
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Living in a society where most second and third generation children of immigrant struggle with finding a place to call home, we find our solitude sharing our truths in communities of ‘home’ that we’ve had to create in spaces where a few decades ago we had no voices in. Lola Oh, is a Brit(ish) poet and writer, born to a…
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Revered by African’s and Rastafarians alike, Haile Selassie I was the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until 1974 when he was overthrown. Often mentioned by the legendary Bob Marley, Selassie I was ahead of his time, seeking to modernize Ethiopia through introducing the Organisation of African Unity, now African Union and steering the country into mainstream African politics after World…
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In a recent conversation with a fellow South African, I came to the realisation that there were a lot of things that we felt we needed to set straight about the way people viewed where we come from. The main complaint was “we have to be extremely patriotic in order to even be a part of the conversation“. It seems…
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“So What’s The Issue With Some International Adoptions?” Since the inception of European imperial forces into Africa, kidnapping and abduction have been a centrepiece in systems of oppression. This does not mean that colonizing whites were originators of these crimes, but that they innovated them in a manner that exploded these criminal occurrences. This legacy still haunts the continent today…
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Benin Sacred Dances, medicine for 21st century’ Souls Ouidah Beach Koffi Koko invites us to meet his country, the former Dahomey. This experience wants to share Dance beside that expose Koffi’s point of view on Africa. Koffi Koko is known as one of the pioneers and most prominent representatives of Modern African Dance. The animistic ritual Nago and Yoruba dances learned…
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Do we fully engage in all aspects of the areas that we invest and apply ourselves in? Process and productivity are two concepts which are interlinked, yet it can often feel as if emphasis is heavily placed on productivity alone. In spaces that have accumulation at the forefront, there is a tendency to seek out a quick and easy approach…
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