Not Your African Cliché

Although late to the to the #Lemonade dissection game, the Ladies of NYAC discuss a less explored running theme in Beyonce’s last two albums – her collaborations with brilliant African writers; Chimamanda Adichie on self-titled Beyonce and Warsan Shire on Lemonade. Joined by book blogger extraordinaire and longtime listener/supporter Darkowaa (@AwoDeee), we talk about our favorite tracks off the Lemonade album, the pros and cons of being featured in such high profile work, the limited visibility and reach African works of art have in Africa, and what it takes for African artistry to gain a wide following.

Resources:

Articles about Warsan Shire

• http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-writing-life-of-a-young-prolific-poet-warsan-shire

• http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/arts/music/warsan-shire-who-gave-poetry-to-beyonces-lemonade.html?_r=1

African books for Western eyes

• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/opinion/sunday/african-books-for-western-eyes.html?_r=0

Chimamanda’s Sister

• http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-sisterhood

How not to talk about African Fiction

• http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/06/how-not-to-talk-about-african-fiction

Mentioned:

Eat Drink Lagos Brunch Club

• http://eatdrinklagos.com/the-lunch-club/

Brittle Paper – Resource for finding Literature by African writers

• http://brittlepaper.com/

What we are reading/listening to/watching:

Drake’s Views

Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory

Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo

Diana Gabaldon’s Lord John and the Private Matter

Starz’ Outlander

Netflix’s Grace and Frankie

Angela Flournoy’s The Turner House

Show was mixed by Ifeoluwa Olokode, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye.

On this episode, the Ladies of NYAC laugh over ridiculous pickup lines they've heard, talk about the idiosyncrasies of dating culture in Nigeria & US, as well as societal pressures on women to get married & shoulder the weight of pleasing their spouses.

Resources:

• http://www.sadeslist.com/men-in-lagos-are-like-avocados/

• http://zikoko.com/list/the-complete-guide-to-being-a-yoruba-demon/

What we are watching: Outlander, House of Cards, Jennifer Diaries

Show was mixed by Ifeyinwa Arinze, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye.

On this episode, the Ladies of NYAC Podcast and special guest Sinafik (@sinafikb) from Ethiopia talk Feminism, traditional gender roles, feminist heroes, misogynistic cultural practices and surprisingly feminist ones. Sinafik also shares with us some rad things you may not have known about Ethiopia.

Resources:

• Nigeria’s Rejected Gender Equality Bill - http://qz.com/639763/nigerian-lawmakers-voted-down-a-women-equality-bill-citing-the-bible-and-sharia-law/

• Ozzy Etomi’s Commentary on bill rejection - https://medium.com/human-development-project/nigeria-fails-it-s-women-over-and-over-again-4149cc04793d#.cmah49sri

• Chimamanda Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc

• Why We Smile at Men Who Sexually Harass us - https://medium.com/mshannabrooks/why-women-smile-at-men-who-sexually-harass-us-cf4eeb90ed30#.s320nk3en

• Audre Lorde’s Master’s Tools - http://collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Lorde_The_Masters_Tools.pdf

• Her Story Ethiopian Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2lkl2W-aAg

• Instagram Account ByeFilipe - https://www.instagram.com/byefelipe/

• Ill-informed article that we gave the side eye - http://thenakedconvos.com/i-love-femininity-not-gender-equality/

• Twitter Hashtags #MasculinitySoFragile and #YouOKSis

Show was mixed by Ifeoluwa Olokode, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye.

On this episode, the Ladies of NYAC and special guests Maame and Maama from Ghana talk about their cultures- from how their cultures shaped them to what they wrestled with and what the future looks like for their ethnic languages.

Resources:

• http://shebaisthemuse.com/2016/02/in-lagos-everyone-is-trying-to-hammer-and-the-nail-is-fcking-bent/

• http://www.bellanaija.com/2016/03/william-ifeanyi-moore-language-as-an-intrinsic-part-of-our-cultural-identity-or-maybe-not/

What we are reading/watching/listening to:

• Girl at War by Sara Novic

• Soldier by Falz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKgZ9b4SBI8)

• War Room

• Ride Along 2

• Diplomacy by Kissinger

NGO Shoutout: Grow With Nigeria http://www.growwithnigeria.org/

Show was mixed by Ifeyinwa Arinze, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye.

On this episode, the Ladies of NYAC and special guest Lebo from Lesotho discuss our educational backgrounds and examine the good (boarding school adventures), the bad (crowded classrooms and impatient teachers) and the ugly (corporal punishment).

Resources:

• http://www.brookings.edu/research/interactives/africa-learning-barometer

• https://efareport.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/no-girl-left-behind-education-in-africa/

• http://www.aaionline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AAI-SOE-report-2015-final.pdf

What we are reading/watching/listening to:

• Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things

• Courtney Milan’s Brother Sinister Series

• Generations (South African Soap)

• Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird

OkayAfrica shoutout written by Ifeanyi Awachie: http://www.okayafrica.com/news/african-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to/

Show was mixed by Ifeoluwa Olokode, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye

Hey listeners! In this episode, we talk about our favorite African actors, our collective weariness at the portrayal of African characters in the media and the benefits of the increasing presence of African actors in Hollywood.

Our Favorites:

Danai Gurira, Eclipsed and The Walking Dead http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/when-danai-gurira-couldnt-find-complex-stories-about-african-women-she-wrote-her-own-2/

David Oyelowo, Selma, Middle of Nowhere and The Butler

Chiwetelu Ejiofor, Half of a Yellow Sun and The Martian

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle, Beyond The Lights, Concussion and Undercovers

References:

The Book of Negroes, Djimon Hounsou, NYAC S1 Episode 1, Family Guy (http://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2016/01/according-to-family-guy-rhinoceros-is.html), Blackish (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4831834/?ref_=ttep_ep12), Modern Family (http://www.hulu.com/watch/700524), Sense 8, Concussion, Beasts of No Nation, Luther, Ayanda, 12 Years A Slave, Shuga (https://vimeo.com/7775923), 24, Waiting to Exhale, Love Jones, Brown Sugar, The Best Man, Love & Basketball.

What we are currently watching/reading/listening to:

Banky W ft Chidinma, All I Want Is You

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma

Show was mixed by Ifeyinwa Arinze, and theme music is “Ayo” by Femi Leye.

Happy Black History Month (Black Fist Emoji)! In this episode we explore how Black History is celebrated in different parts of the world; discuss differences between BHM celebrations in the US vs UK; share the things we learnt thanks to BHM; shoutout some of our black heroes: Lewis Howard Latimer, Madam C.J. Walker, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Toussaint Louverture; and demand our fucking reparations from white people.

Resources:

• Excerpt from Edward Baptist’s The Half Has Never Been Told - http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/11/19/slavery-economy-baptist

• BBC’s Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063db18

• PBS’s Black in Latin America - http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/about/

What we are currently watching/reading/listening to:

• Rihanna’s ANTI Album

• Mat Johnson’s Loving Day

• HBO’s Game of Thrones

• Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You

Show was mixed by Ifeoluwa Olokode, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye

Hear your favorite hosts talk about entrepreneurship, specifically in Nigeria, and shout out up and coming entrepreneurs!

Happy New Year! Inspired by Chimamanda Adichie’s Danger of a Single Story TED Talk, we examine Afropolitanism and discuss whether or not it’s the new Single Story about Africa. We discuss the relatively new concept as it relates to Afro-Pessimism and Pan-Africanism. Is Afropolitanism a social movement? A political one? Does it matter?

Related articles:

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

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

- http://blog.qeh.ox.ac.uk/?p=910

- http://africainwords.com/2013/02/08/exorcizing-afropolitanism-binyavanga-wainaina-explains-why-i-am-a-pan-africanist-not-an-afropolitan-at-asauk-2012/

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What we are currently watching/reading/listening to:

- Minority Report (The Movie)

- Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See

- Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance

- Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone

- Kristin Kimball’s The Dirty Life

- The web series An African City, Gidi Up and Shuga

- Falz’s Stories That Touch album

Show was mixed by Ifeoluwa Olokode, and theme music is "Ayo" by the über talented Femi Leye

We talk about and compare our experiences celebrating Christmas in Nigeria and the U.S. Then we discuss Nigerian crossover church services.