Afropolitan Central

On this episode of Afropolitan Central, we dive into several facets of the Afropolitan experience: from gathering as a community at events like TedxEuston, to holding on to our traditions and histories through the stories of our elders, to building our collective and individual futures.

To start off, we reflect on our experience volunteering at TedXEuston earlier this December. Then, Omolayo takes us on a deep dive session with Kirstie Kwarteng, a PhD candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, on her unique take on what the Afropolitan community needs to move forward. By the end of the episode, you'll be ready to call up your grandmother and add her wisdom to the list you'll take from the Tedx speakers we highlight!

Additional information

For Kirstie’s PhD, she’s working on the transnational ties maintained by 2nd generation Ghanaians in the London and New York City.

The Nana Project created by Kirstie is an archival project preserving first hand accounts of Ghana's history - she highlights the importance of listening to our elders and learning our true histories, in order to shape a better future.

Nana project: https://instagram.com/the_nana_project?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=xad0lejb2d9e

TedxEuston: https://www.tedxeuston.com/

Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “African heritage can’t just be in European private collections and museums” and commissioned for a report that would inform the temporary or permanent repatriation of looted African art currently held in French museums. On this episode of Afropolitan Central, we give our 2 cents on this topic starting from the absurd stance of giving African art back on “loaned” terms, whether the continent is equipped with the infrastructure to maintain these artefacts when returned or if museums are too Western a construct when it comes to African art appreciation among others!

As always, chime in on our social media channels and let us know your thoughts on this topic- are we as a continent ready to receive these artefacts back?

Resources mentioned:

Omolayo’s blog post on the Congolese art exhibition: http://findingnkem.com/beaute-congo/

Initial announcement from Macron: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/macron-repatriate-african-heritage-1238219

Report findings: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/21/france-urged-to-return-looted-african-art-treasures-macron

On this episode of Afropolitan Central, we're joined by our lovely friend and licensed therapist, Kobe Campbell from the Healing Circle, to have an insightful, vulnerable and honest conversation about our mental health as Afropolitans. We start by sharing the perceptions and misconceptions we held growing up in African households, the shifts that have occurred as adults, the nuanced factors and burdens that impair our mental well-being as Afropolitans living in Western societies among others. Finally, we share some simple tips that can help us to continually take better care of our mental and emotional well-being. You absolutely don’t want to miss this episode so listen in two takes if you have to!

We want to hear from you on what it would look like for us to build a mentally Afropolitan community as well as your general thoughts and musings from this episode! Join us at our instagram or Facebook page to chime in.

Make sure to check out Kobe using the following links:

Kobe's Website: https://www.kchealingcircle.com/

Kobe's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehealingcircle_kc/

Kobe's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAv-PN2jz414V5EorlLN6WQ

Resources mentioned:

Article on Black Mothers Experience in the US Health Care System & Black babies birth weight: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/magazine/black-mothers-babies-death-maternal-mortality.html

Ujojesse, Nigerian comic who draws on lots of different topics, but often hits on mental health: https://www.instagram.com/ugojesse/

Dami, British-Nigerian photographer highlighting multinational women in sports: https://www.instagram.com/damikhadijah/

And just like that, we’re back again and so excited to bring you the 2nd season of Afropolitan Central! This first episode is a laid back conversation where we re-introduce ourselves and catch you up on all our latest updates including Omolayo’s recent move to London, Nana’s travels to Thailand among others. Then, we explore the word “Afropolitan” and delve into the meaning and vision behind this podcast.

We want to hear from you as well on what the word Afropolitan means to you! Join us at Afropolitan Central on instagram and Facebook to share your insights!

Articles mentioned

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/17/world/africa/who-are-afropolitans/

http://thelip.robertsharp.co.uk/?p=76

http://africasacountry.com/2013/11/the-afropolitan-must-go/

http://africasacountry.com/2014/01/why-im-not-an-afropolitan/

On our latest Afropolitan Central episode, we're discussing the highly buzzed about debut novel, "Children of Blood and Bone" by 24 year old Nigerian American author, Tomi Adeyemi. Described by Tomi as "Black Panther with magic" this epic fantasy takes us on a wild ride in a fantasy Nigerian/ African world as we follow our heroine, Zelie, along with her brother and a princess on a quest to bring magic back to Orisha.

With our special guest, Nicole Magabo a writer herself, we delve into the hype surrounding this book, our thoughts on the main characters the key themes explored in the book among others. You absolutely don't want to miss this episode which is actually double the fun and split into 2 parts!

As always, share your thoughts with us on Afropolitan Central on both Instagram and Facebook.

On our latest Afropolitan Central episode, we're discussing the highly buzzed about debut novel, "Children of Blood and Bone" by 24 year old Nigerian American author, Tomi Adeyemi. Described by Tomi as "Black Panther with magic" this epic fantasy takes us on a wild ride in a fantasy Nigerian/ African world as we follow our heroine, Zelie, along with her brother and a princess on a quest to bring magic back to Orisha.

With our special guest, Nicole Magabo who's a writer herself, we delve into the hype surrounding this book, our thoughts on the main characters the key themes explored in the book among others. You absolutely don't want to miss this episode which is actually double the fun and split into 2 parts!

As always, share your thoughts with us on Afropolitan Central on both Instagram and Facebook.

In this 2 part episode, we're putting a spotlight on music emanating from various African countries and the larger African diaspora with our special guest, Chineme. In this second episode, we discuss the rise of the Afrobeats on the global stage, the effects of technology on our local music industries in regards to monetisation and copyright infringement as well as summer bops to check out! As always, don't forget to follow us on our social media channels i.e. Afropolitan Central on Instagram & Facebook to share your thoughts on this episode!

In this 2 part episode, we're putting a spotlight on music emanating from various African countries and the larger African diaspora with our special guest, Chineme. In this first episode, we start by examining the evolution of Ghanaian music over the decades, revisiting our own love affairs with music from the continent and then spotlight some of our favourite artists and songs.

In this 2 part episode, we're putting a spotlight on music emanating from various African countries and the larger African diaspora with our special guest, Chineme. In this second episode, we discuss the rise of the Afrobeats on the global stage, the effects of technology on our local music industries in regards to monetisation and copyright infringement as well as summer bops to check out!

As always, don't forget to follow us on our social media channels i.e. Afropolitan Central on Instagram & Facebook to share your thoughts on this episode!

In this 2 part episode, we're putting a spotlight on music emanating from various African countries and the larger African diaspora with our special guest, Chineme. In this first episode, we start by examining the evolution of Ghanaian music over the decades, revisiting our own love affairs with music from the continent and then spotlight some of our favourite artists and songs.