The Adventures of Cosmic Yoruba
& Her Flying Machines too
Nwando Achebe writes that “woman-to-woman marriage in Africa has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality” (emphasis hers)…and I actually agree with this…kind of. While I strongly believe in pre-colonial lesbian secret societies littered across the African continent, at the risk of falling into the trap of Eurocentric and Western (mis)understanding of African social institutions, it…
In Nwando Achebe’s recount of Ahebi Ugbabe’s life, she looks into the practice of marrying women to Goddesses as a sort of human sacrifice and slavery system. With the abolition of the international slave trade in 1805, some Igbo people created new deities and mystical forces that were to help them fight the internal slavery…
As can be expected with most things related to African history there is extremely little information on sex work in pre-colonial African societies out there. It is for this reason that I was doubly excited that Nwando Achebe dedicated part of her research to revealing the intricacies of sex work in Igboland (particularly among the…
I was really excited about the release of His Treasure, the first book in Kiru Taye’s historical romance series “Men of Valour, so much that I squeed. Sadly, I did not get to read and enjoy His Treasure because my life was in chaos around the time the book was released in December 2011. As calm…
An excellent post over at Odinani: The Sacred Arts and Sciences of the Igbo People gives advice on “connecting to your ancestry”. I consider connecting with ancestry to be very important, and not just the ancestors that have passed away but the elders who are living and still on this earth. Marcus Garvey said, “a…
Tiwa Savage is a talented popular Nigerian musician. Often referred to as “Nigeria’s Sweetheart”, she is also very gorgeous and can usually be found on most lists of “top 5 good-looking Nigerian female singers”. When her hit song “Kele Kele Love” was released, it was marketed as a fresh “girl power” song. On the radio,…
I’ve had a few illuminating discussions on Shuga and in one, it was suggested that Shuga which takes a glossy, open approach to sex, sexuality and related topics may be a sign that there is a new sexual revolution sweeping the African continent. Shuga is produced by MTV and is set in Kenya, however anyone…
Something happened in November 2011 that I don’t think I’m ever going to forget. I’m also probably going to keep on bringing it up over and over again. Usually when I hear people talking nonsense about the lack of achievement of my African ancestors, I firmly school them. When I start going on about Abyssinia…
Everyone from a country formerly colonized by Britain should go and watch the documentaries available at colonialfilm.org.uk to catch a glimpse of how things were back in the day. I am not entirely sure but the more I discuss with folks, and read comments on forums, the more it seems like there are a lot…
Madam Efunroye Tinubu was among the most prominent and powerful Yoruba women in pre-colonial Nigeria (early to mid 19th century). Other renowned Yoruba women from that period were Iyalode Efunsetan Aniwura and Madam Omosa, both of whom deserve posts of their own. Madam Tinubu was an Egba woman born to a trading family in Abeokuta…