Reliving my Spoken Word Days Through Chimamanda Adichie's Work//We Should All Be Feminists
May 24, 2024 |
| Earlier this week, watching the swans as I read Chimamanda Adichie's We Should All Be Feminists - May 2024 |
Good morning beautiful people,
I read We Should All Be Feminists earlier in the week and have been feeling a little nostalgic ever since. I finally have time to blog about it, and want to talk about Aunty Chimamanda, and my spoken word days as well.
Depending on which side of the globe you are from, you might have learnt about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie through her books and her famous 'Danger of a Single Story' TED Talk, or after the 'Beyonce made Aunty Chimamanda famous' claims that followed Beyonce's inclusion?, sampling? of Chimamanda's 'We Should All Be Feminists' TED Talk on one of her songs.
Allow me to digress - in Mama G (Patience Ozokwor)'s words, Auntie Chimamanda is the G, G for General...she was world famous before any songs were made...check your history, and read her books when you are at it...mschew. Before I get lost on this 'who made who' famous thing, let me talk about her TED Talks a little more.
TED Talks, in general, were first posted online mid 2006. By the time they were gaining ground on our side of the globe, I was hosting poetry/spoken word nights and workshops in Nairobi (I have talked about this on my life and work before moving to US post). I was also consuming Def Jam Poetry and Neo-soul music like my life depended on them - can I hear those fingers snap snap...those were the good old days...grateful for my journey and all the amazing experiences I have had along the way.
A shameless brag/plug, I ended up meeting two of my Def Jam favs - StaceyAnn Chin when she came to Kenya (think I mentioned this in my post about Dogstar Books when I saw a copy of her book in that bookstore), and Bassey Ikpi when she came here - to Lancaster - to promote her book (we had connected online years before through her mental health work - but finally met in person in 2020).
I cannot remember the first TED talk I ever watched, but I remember that the one that got my attention was by an African lady. Her name was/is Chimamanda Adichie, and her talk was about The Danger of a Single Story. I liked everything about her and her talk (spoiler alert - Chimamanda is not her real name).
Later, when my now archived blog was thriving, I did a post on mental health related TED talks, including one by Elyn Saks. Because God is in the connection business, not only did I met her/was in conversation with at the University of Southern California - in 2016 during my first US speaking tour (have a picture on speaking page), but I also got to do my own TED talk in 2017 during TED's global search - and my talk was an Editors Pick on the TED Website, was cited on a journal, and is a learning resource on a couple of University websites (see my citations and mentions page).
Back to the star of this post, Chimamanda - she has been part of my reading list for a while and I would like to mention four of her books.
1. Americanah
To some extent, this book and the Danger of A Single Story TED talk mirror each other. It was the first book I read from her catalogue. Bought myself a new copy (y'all know I am all about the thrifted book life) of the brown covered one when it was still a hot cake. The book was kinda hilarious to read at the time, as an African who had not yet visited the US and never thought that I would not only visit a couple of times for speaking engagements, but would end up living here for 5 years (going to my 6th year) as a I pursued my academic curiosities.
Years later, I was that girl in the book, who immigrates to the US for school, discovers what is means to be Black, and learns her to navigate life as she explores her 'identity'. The book ends with the girl going back home and reigniting a relationship she had or finding love or something along those lines. Well, I am still in the 'being in the US part of life', we will see how the next chapters of my life unfold.
2. Half of the Yellow Sun
If you want to learn a little about the Biafran War in Nigeria, this is the book to start with. It is about a family navigating life during that time, they take in a boy called Ugwu who helps them around the house. Ugwu is later recruited to fight in the war...and ends up raping someone. You all know by now that I befriend all the book characters I interact with, and give them the silent treatment when they rub me the wrong way.
Well Ugwu and I stopped being friends at that point. It has been more than 6 years since I stopped reading the book, I never finished it, I never found it in my heart to forgive him...maybe it is about time I got back to it...maybe I will start with the movie that stars Genevieve Nnaji - one of the best Nigerian actresses of my youth (this post is turning into my love for Nigeria and all things Nigerian post).
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| Give me a book and a body of water, and I am half way home - May 2024 |
3. We Should All Be Feminists
It is a simple one sit down read based on Chimamanda's second TED talk with the same title. As a matter of fact, this book is a transcript of that TED Talk with additional insights here and there.
As I read it, I thought about my So Am I a Feminist? blog post which I wrote to summarize my Feminist Theory class. I thought about it particularly from the angle of my current research interest in maternal substance use disorder (SUD). I still maintain my conclusion, if the definition of feminism brings all these things together and points out the inequalities I mentioned in that post with regards to women and the mental health cycle, (and the disparities in care for women/mothers with SUD),then I am down with that definition - especially if it captures the African context, and the placement of that context on the global arena.
4. Notes of Grief
Grief is one of those topics I am not sure how to discuss. I have alot of grief related stories and experiences, experiences that go beyond losing people through death...but I do not have words to let them out, at least not yet.
I have a copy of this book. I want to read it. But I cannot get myself to do so. Guess I also do not have ways to let in words about grief. Once I am ready to talk about it, and read about it, you all know I will blog about it...for now, it is a day at a time.
Before I spiral down a 'grief hole', I will pen off here and go look for Half of the Yellow Sun or do some academic reading - I am currently digging into literature on hangovers and the IV drips - the ones that are being marketed in the wellness communities, claiming to 'offer instant relief' (not the quotes). I am trying to see effectiveness, and if this trend poses a risk for alcohol dependency especially now that luxury apartments offer this service among their many perks.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
If you can, catch some literature or talks from Aunty Chimamanda or go down memory lane by watching Def Jam Poetry - be sure to watch StaceyAnn Chin, Erykah Badu, Mtabaruka, Lauryn Hill.
Until the next post,
snap snap 🫰🏽🫰🏽
Sitawa
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