I LOVE MY AFRICAN GIRLS

Mujo by SK is a lively Afrobeats song, which Mic-L recently covered in a more mellow version. His beautiful singing and Yus' lovely verse about African girls make this tune memorable. It's refreshing to hear black boys celebrating black girls and not boying us for once. May this continue, in the mighty name of Melanin. Amen.

btw can we ap(pree)ciate the pengtings dancing pls thanks,

and acknowledge the humanity of black boys pls thanks

My Gambian girl

(from a hijab fashion boutique advert)

My Senegalese ting

(around 1910, unknown photographer)

Congolese girl, I love your waist movement

(Mutuashi dancer, google)

Ghanaian girl, I love your skin tone

(By Ben Bond)

Somali princess, the texture of your hair seems like it's made of gold

(tumblr)

Egyptian queen, grace and elegance is what you master in

(Belly dancer Samia Gamal, tumblr)

My girl from Sierra Leone, I love the way you classy

(Model Asma Kamara)

Yoruba or Igbo, I don't discriminate

(By Exhibit 108, Julie Adenuga because she's both)

I got a thing for them curls, I love my African girls

(from tumblr, Nerissa Irving)

I COME FROM

9.35PM in the Big Brother House. TIANA THA WORDIST Whatsapps her latest poem to the groupchat. Abondance the blogger pleads with her to post it online. It happens.

I come from a mother & a father who didn't really have fathers, from the farmers turned traders of the Ga and the trademarkers of west african excellence, the Akans.

I come from bankruptcy, fraud and bad credit or something like that
all i remember is being a youngin and thinking that was right cause HM Revs said it

I come from the unstable vibrations of police sirens in tottenham that shake outsiders but soothe and stabilise insiders,
from the council flats that dampen that clean & unreachable feeling you get when you look up the street at the houses that unapologetically wear a cringe inducing mortgage tag,
from the claustrophobia inducing aroma of palm oil, spices and meats ilegally smuggled through Heathrow airport

i come from wanting to live in ToysRUs,
from the evolution in obsession with Baby Anabelle's, to Barbies, to Myscene dolls,  to Furby's. Never Bratz dolls doe.

i come from Sainsburys value razors caressing the inner wrist of my left arm but i also come from a now nourished soul.
from bittersweet flirtations with the false belief that yes tatiana, you are straight and no tats, you dont like bums
i come from days of fluidity and lightness and from days of overthinking till im numb.

i come from wherever my soul decides to go.


today, and for some time now, its been acquainting itself with self love.

but poetic digression aside, 

                        I come from the God within me.

NOT EVERYDAY NAMASTE

This playlist is inspired by the amazing @swanzy's instagram post after the Nicki and Miley drama at that awards thing the other day: not everyday namaste, some days let em know you don't play.

GLOBAL BLACK FILM

BESSIE

Enigmatic from the beginning of the biopic, Bessie Smith is a wild character, emotively portrayed by Queen Latifah. As entertaining as the aggressive punches and playful snippets of sex scenes are, the most intriguing parts of the film are the intimate ones.

Bessie was a blues artist, who glittered and teased and could adapt to different audiences, whilst remaining true to her core. Her strong spirit attracted an array of personalities. The audience became attached to them just as Bessie did in the film. But over time, so much individuality can be strenuous on relationships - of which she indulged in many. Poignantly, this realisation dawns on the viewer and Queen Latifah's titular character almost simultaneously. Bessie's mental health deteriorates. Only an old mentor and love, played invigoratingly by Mo'nique as Ma Rainey, helps her restore it. There is a hopeful tone to the end of the film, as Queen Latifah sings it’s a long old road but I’m going to find the end.

The excellence of this Dee Rees film lies in the subtlety of its filmography. Bessie was a symbol of black entertainment, which acted as a form of escapism from the very sadness black people lived that she sang about. The film shows people on plantations recognising Bessie Smith's train, poor southern children singing her songs and a lonely maid to upper class white people loving her attitude. The producers provide all these contextual treasures, for the audience to gauge the era Bessie belonged to and how she impacted it. Bessie artistically transports you to the roaring twenties, and intellectually challenges you to evaluate present social conditions. This is the standard of black art that Dee Rees is bringing back to life.

IMAGES TAKEN FROM TUMBLR

AFRO FUTURES IN MOTION

Meanwhile here in England, the contemporary African Art Gallery 50Goldbourne in Notting Hill is about to host a great film festival. From September 5th-13th a mixture of films by people from Africa and her diaspora will be shown for free. The official programme is here online - from where I also took the poster on the left. Even if you can't make it to the screenings, you may find a film that you are interested in and can watch elsewhere. Short films, discussions and music videos are scheduled to raise people's awareness of what African filmmakers are up to these days. This is positive because I don't think many people are aware of this scene beyond Nollywood.

BLACK QUEER FILM

Next week there is also a film screening of work by the fabulous Campbell X in central London. Her films BD Women and Stud Life are important, as they talk about the stories and histories of Black and British queer people, who are rarely acknowledged let alone celebrated. Check out Campbell's Twitter as well - you'll probably learn something.