Afropolitan Central

Hey guys, we’re so excited to bring you yet another Afropolitan Central episode! In light of Omolayo’s impending nuptials, we thought it only fitting to discuss all things love, relationships and marriage in this last episode of the season (we know, the time has really flown by!) We ponder on the following questions and more--

Is dating with the intention of marriage the way to go?

What deal breakers did we pick up from our parents’ marriage?

Is a 50-50 marriage partnership a myth?

Is our gut really always right when it comes to the matters of love?

What do fboys teach us about ourselves?

As always we’re eager to hear your take and insight on our social media pages, Afropolitan Central on Instagram and Facebook and AfropolitanC on Twitter! Don't be a stranger, come say hello!

Background music: https://www.bensound.com

From alarming headlines about land grabs to debt traps all amidst bold claims of an ongoing bid to neo-colonise Africa, we have all been witness to China’s increasing presence and investment in various African countries. But what are the facts vs overly blown out myths? Should we be more alarmed than we already are?

To help us navigate this subject, we are joined by Bénédicte, a China-Africa scholar, whose in-depth knowledge on China’s political, economic and cultural history provides the much needed context to examine this burgeoning relationship.

We touch on these and more in our conversation:

How has China’s history shaped its current “business only strategy” with the African continent?

Is the devil we know (the West) better than the new, potential devil we’re just getting to know (China)?

How and why do African countries continuously strike bad deals even in areas like tourism where we have a bargaining chip?

Debt traps vs poorly researched deals, which is which?

Are we selectively outraged, after all Indians, Lebanese and others have been getting up to shady activities on the continent for the longest

This time around, how can we play the game to win?

As you’ll hear from this episode, this is a topic we were quite excited to finally get into with Bénédicte so definitely let us know your thoughts! We’re Afropolitan Central on Instagram and AfropolitanC on Twitter.

More about the ever impressive Bénédicte:

Bénédicte is a China-Africa scholar, holding a masters in international development & African studies from Sciences Po Paris and a masters of law from Peking University, where she wrote her thesis on the political economy of Chinese tourism to Africa. Bénédicte is also a Comparative East Asian Studies scholar from Keio University, Japan - Hong Kong University and Yonsei University in South Korea

She has experience consulting with Chinese and African organizations in the field of renewable energy and sustainable development. During her spare time, Bénédicte often shares her thoughts on her blog benedicteking.wordpress.com or contributes to blacklivitychina.com, a platform dedicated to the Black Experience in China.

You can follow her on Twitter and instagram @benedicteking

Hey guys, we’re excited back with you after our little unscheduled break! We start this episode’s chit chat on the topic of #cancel culture. It’s so easy to join social media movements to cancel brands like HM or Gucci when they show their behinds or even celebs that make questionable remarks, we’re looking at you Maya Jama. But how easy is it to actually cancel people in real life and is that even a mature approach?

Of course, with summer fast approaching we delve into all the exciting things that this season brings with it- from the Afrobeats parties such as those organised by Afropolitan DC,NY and Miami, to the heady explorations of new places through travel, festivals like Carnival and summer romances!

What do you have lined up for summer 2019? Our summer playlist is still loading so let us know what tunes you’re currently jamming to! We’re Afropolitan Central on Instagram and AfropolitanC on Twitter. Hop on and let us know your thoughts!

Episode 11: Wait, Was That Sexist or Racist?!

Hey guys, we’re excited to bring you yet another episode of Afropolitan Central! This week, we’re chit chatting about some of the maddening experiences we’ve had in the workplace and in academia that makes us go hmmm, was that because I’m woman, because I’m black or both! Which discrimination is it? Oh the joys of being black and a woman! Most importantly, how should we react in these situations? Is speaking out against such acts always the best course of action? Tune into the episode and hear our take!

As always we’re eager to hear your take and insight on our social media pages, Afropolitan Central on Instagram and Facebook and AfropolitanC on Twitter! Check out the articles linked below for further details on the articles mentioned in the episode:

Cyclone Idai-How to help: https://qz.com/africa/1582798/cyclone-idai-how-to-help/

Fasiha Hassan from Fees Must Fall: https://twitter.com/allthefas?lang=en

Carla Harris' Ted Talk- How to find the person who can help you get ahead at work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpE_W50OTUc&frags=pl%2Cwn

Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another episode of Afropolitan Central. We’re super excited to bring you our conversation with Paakow Essandoh, the founder and CEO of Mizizi, the fashion brand that’s making it cool and exciting for members of the African continent and diaspora to rep our heritage.

Our conversation with the 24 year old Ghanaian American entrepreneur covers the difficult and highly inspiring story behind the launch of Mizizi, the unique role social media plays in the company’s business model, its recent Marvel collaboration and his ambition to eventually manufacture on the continent. We also analyse the dangers of potentially homogenising and tokenizing “African culture” as well as the role fashion can play in African narrative.

You definitely don’t want to miss this episode so go ahead and press play already! As always, we want to hear your thoughts so hit us up on our social media channels- we’re Afropolitan Central on both Facebook and Instagram and AfropolitanC on Twitter

Useful links

Mizizi’s Profile in Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephdeacetis/2019/01/18/meet-mizizi-how-one-twenty-four-year-old-ghanaian-american-is-inspiring-africans-to-stay-rooted/

Mizizi’s social media- Mizizishop on all social media channels

Paakow’s social media- Paakowessandoh on Instagram

Africa Growth and Opportunities Act: https://agoa.info/about-agoa.html

Hello everyone, thanks for joining us for another episode of Afropolitan Central! We’ve heard the arguments made about the term Afropolitan being too elite much like its predecessor of sorts, Pan African. But is that such a bad thing after all?

Why is the portrayal of Africans as rich and economically mobile often hotly contested?

Is there merit in the argument that terms like Afropolitan for instance, focuses more on making us palatable for the Western gaze?

Is our development threatened because it’s too Western identified and elite led?

Is all this dialogue much ado about nothing with little impact on the ground for everyday citizens?

Tune in to the episode to hear our answers to these and many more as we explore this topic.

As always we’re eager to hear your take and insight on our social media pages, Afropolitan Central on Instagram and Facebook and AfropolitanC on Twitter! Check out the articles linked below for further details on the articles mentioned in the episode:

Articles referenced

Debates about the Afropolitan term

https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/afropolitanism-global-citizenship-with-african-routes/

The New Single Story

http://asterixjournal.com/afropolitanism-africas-new-single-story-reading-helon-habilas-review-need-new-names-brian-bwesigye/

Africans can have multiple sub cultures

http://www.msafropolitan.com/2013/04/can-africans-have-multiple-subcultures-a-response-to-exorcising-afropolitanism.html

Why I'm Not Afropolitan- an argument on the term’s shortcomings

http://africasacountry.com/why-im-not-an-afropolitan/

Hey guys, we’re excited to bring you yet another episode of Afropolitan Central! This time, we’re joined by returning guest, Nicole Magabo, who was featured on our Children of Blood and Bone episodes, to discuss the topic of moving back to the African continent to the various places we call home. This topic has received increased attention in recent months particularly with Ghana’s “The Year of Return” theme for 2019 amongst others so it was only right to turn our lens to it. In exploring this topic, we ponder a gamut of questions:

Is there a right time to move back home?

Do we overly romanticise the move?

What happens when we get home and it isn’t sunshine and rainbows?

As returnees, do we enjoy a level of privilege once we’re back? How do we wield this correctly?

Tune in to the episode to hear our answers to these and many more.

**Our question to you is: Have you thought about moving back? If you’ve already returned, how has your experience been so far?**

As always we’re eager to hear your take and insight on our social media pages, Afropolitan Central on Instagram and Facebook and AfropolitanC on Twitter

Follow our guest Nicole Magabo, on Instagram at btsp_moments on for her photography adventures and familytreefilmug for the latest on her debut film.

Hey guys, we’re so excited to be back with another episode and this time we’re talking all about friendships! From pondering the art of maintaining long distance friendships as Afropolitans, “cancelling” toxic friends, figuring out why the “black head nod” doesn’t seem to be a thing in these London streets to highlighting how the definition of home plays an anchoring role in defining our friendships, we dig deep in this convo! So get comfortable and dive right in. As always, we’re curious to hear your thoughts so weigh with your thoughts on our instagram, Afropolitan Central and on Twitter at AfropolitanC!

If you haven’t already, please don’t forget to subscribe to us on Soundcloud or iTunes podcasts and leave a review as well!

Link to Sarz’s latest project- SINYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE-q--TLhjM&frags=pl%2Cwn

Episode 6: Should we all be Feminists?

Happy New year folks! This episode, we’re exploring feminism in the African context. We’ve had so many offline conversations on this topic so it’s only right that we finally brought it to the Afropolitan Central table for discussion. Along with our special guest Rafe, a writer and documentary maker based in Abuja, we share our own feminist awakenings and hangups on the term and discuss the patriarchy and the role some women play in upholding it, the Superwoman trope, feminism 419s (cons) some guys play for dating cool points among others.

Here’s our question to you- as a modern African, what does it mean to be a feminist? We’re particularly eager to hear your thoughts on it so chime in on our social media channels! We’re Afropolitan C on Twitter and Afropolitan Central on Facebook and Instagram.

To find out more about Rafe and her work, check out her website: rafeeataliyu.com. She’s also on Twitter @rafeeeeta

References

THE GUILD SYSTEM AND ITS ROLE IN THE ECONOMY OF PRECOLONIAL YORUBALAND by Dr AOY Raji & Dr TS Abejide

In the Shadow of the Bush by P. Amaury Talbot

Mother Is Gold, Father Is Glass Gender and Colonialism in a Yoruba Town by Lorelle D. Semley

Y'all, we say this every time but it really feels like this year flew by! Guided by a list of questions, we take a look back at 2018. From friendship wahalas to a fainting spell at the Nigerian border among others, we reflect on the highs, lows and funny (you decide for yourself) moments that 2018 brought us and share some gems (again you decide for yourself) as we prepare to take 2019 by storm!

As always, we’d love to continue to the conversation on our social media channels! What are you looking forward to the most in the new year? What are your tips for a successful 2019? Also, what was your favorite Afropolitan Central episode or moments?! We’re finally on Twitter at AfropolitanC-https://twitter.com/AfropolitanC so tweet us yo! As always, we’re also on instagram and Facebook as Afropolitan Central. Thank you all for making our year such an amazing one, we appreciate your endless support so much. Cheers to an enriching and fulfilling 2019!