True Ease in Writing comes from Art, not Chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. - Alexander Pope

Africa

Olympics 2012: A Failed Olympic

 

With every Olympic Games new heroes and role models are born. Last year’s Olympics was no different, whether it was the story of Mo Farah of Britain, who came to the UK as a refugee when he was ten years old and ended up winning 2 goal medals for his host nation, or the story of Read more »

Mar 13, 2013

Complicated Melody (Response)

Posted by lat | Tags: Lat's Thoughts , Poetry, Africa, Contact Details, Mixture, Shelby GT500 | 0 Comments

If she were a colour
she’d be a deep shade of ruby red
a passion bed of roses spread around pillows of forest green
sinking through a light screen of crystal light
if she were a number she’d be a ten
a mother hen tending to the young...the not so strong...
if she were a car...she’d be the Shelby GT500
cruising on tarred highways of pure delight
she’d bend around tight corners
and still carry that proud traditional beauty
with only one passenger’s seat to cruise with her...
covered to shield from the sharp pain of sunlight...
with an engine that roars as it soars on the wind

if she were a song she’d be the soulful sounds of jazz
deep from Africa’s bowels
mixing and blending the beautiful sounds of thought with the joyful sound of the sax
driving anyone who cares to listen...

Travelogue

 

Recently I had the chance to do a transit in both Dubai and Senegal on my way home, and spend time in places of waiting in both countries. In Dubai I couldn't leave the airport, a place built for just such an eventuality, a sealed-off World filled with everything a transit passenger might need: numerous bathrooms, prayer rooms, food courts, a smoking room, lots of chairs everywhere (though, sadly, no beds), movement maps and info displays, stores selling everything from perfume to electronics. In Senegal I did not spend much time at the airport; yet getting off the plane, something subtly changed my mood - was it the weather? the people? the language I could now fully understand? perhaps a combination of the above, making me feel once more like an African in Africa...

Homecoming: The Brain Gain

Disclaimer: Some of the thoughts expressed in this article are not analysis by an expert but rather my personal opinions. As an African living in the Diaspora having completed (at least) high school I believe I am qualified to express my personal thoughts about issues regarding Africa. As an African, if you feel that I misrepresented you in any kind or form please excuse my impetus and you are more than welcome to express your disdain.

 

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May 18, 2012

MILEAD 2012: We Need Your Support

 

Baati Linguere is taking a back-seat today to allow us get a very important message through. Linguere is excited to share this great news with her faithful readers. I got selected together with a colleague and friend, Aisha Keita to represent The Gambia and Morocco at the MILEAD Institute 2012! The main (but definitely not the only) reason for sharing this is to ask for support to get through with our dreams of getting equipped with enough skills to change lives around the world.

The Black..The Bad..The Beautiful

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What is Black? Was I African or was I Black

Was I brown? Or was I black
History had it, that, if it was burnt then it was black
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Apr 19, 2012

Red Black Nonsense - The Power of Public Media

There was a time before this one when our entertainment was a yoke on the shoulders of our closest neighbors. Do you remember when we had to depend on RTS for our broadcasts of African Cup of Nations? I remember it like it was yesterday for we would sit around the television set in my parent’s living room crowded, as we hoped RTS would make its signal available to us. I cannot truly remember the year but it must have been 1994 when Zambia played Sierra Leone and dealt them a 4-0 blow. Every now and then, the signal would be lost and no amount of twisting and turning the over-house antenna could allow us to feel the comfort of watching a game my family and its guests had spent the whole day looking forward to.

A few years later, we were greeted with signals from our very own GamTV and there was such excitement in the air as can only be defined by the “euphoria of a child on Christmas eve”.

Apr 04, 2012

Red Earth (On Going Home)

Posted by Omonse Esangbedo | Tags: Yours Chimerically, Poetry, Africa, CDATA, Fathom, XML | 0 Comments

I'm not sure what I expected.

I just didn't know that earth could be so red.

I wanted to taste the air again and again. Stepping onto the soil I felt its texture against my feet -deep red gravel, as if the earth had been sun-burnt. And I couldn't fathom how earth could be so red. The sky was lined with tall grey offices contrasting with the dirty brown beggars that sat at their feet. I stared in sad disbelief at a little girl who ran up to me with cupped hands and a bag of jingling coins of more value in music than in trade swinging from her waist. My instincts told me that the only thing that stopped our blood from flowing together was our skin. My stride was in step with this place. I walked in city stores, street corners, village alleys and treacherous man-made bridges, and when no one was looking, I stooped down to sink my hands into the red earth. To get a feel for my motherland. I reached down deep to find the heartbeat of the place.

New Eyes

 

I left Africa when I was six and a half years old, destination London. To say London was unlike anything I had ever seen before is a vast understatement; it was a completely different world, one in which I was alien. I did not look like anyone, I did not walk like anyone, and I certainly did not talk like anyone. Gloom permeated London; it was in every pavement, crack, and cranny. It invaded the lives of people like an unwanted visitor, dressing them head to toe in black. It dragged their heads and made them walk with unsmiling eyes cast downwards, heading hurriedly to a destination I did not know. It filled the air, making it heavy and painted the houses and streets gray. The gloom that permeated London also found its way into my heart and infected me with a condition called SADD or Severe African Delusional Disorder.