Elohor Finds More

Exploring this wide, beautiful, and complicated world…

[elohor]

On Being a White Oyibo

Newest post on my blog: a reflection on race and identity in Nigeria...and how radically different a single person can be viewed across space, and over time. On Being a White Oyibo

21 December 2006 (late night, my flat in Ugbowo)

More than once in the past few weeks, people have referred to me as “white”…unequivocally, categorically “white.” Now, I’m used to being hyper-visible when I’m here, and I grew up being called Oyibo whenever we were out in public as a child here. The term Oyibo carries sufficient ambiguity, because the term is applied to a whole range of folk.…

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[elohor]

For Nigeria, a Strange Paradox

For Nigeria, a Strange Paradox

Credit: @ThisIsBuhari

It’s an eerie paradox: an ex-military general, for the second time, has won the general election in the short eighteen years since Nigeria returned to democratic rule. Even writers and journalists who have been adamantly opposed to military rule, and had suffered under them seem to have thrown their lot in with Buhari. So, what is going on here?

In a recent introduction to a…

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[thepenguinpress]

We’ve got big plans for the afternoon.

[elohor]

This is exactly what I felt like doing this morning...

[femmefluff]

The Black Power Movement: Self-Determination, Transformation and Sabotage 

Kathleen Cleaver, former National Press Secretary for the Black Panther Political Party, discusses her experiences in one of the most recognized and revered groups of the Black Power Movement. She also provides insight on the anti-colonial thesis of the Black Power Movement.

[dynamicafrica]

Kids in Toubab Dialaw, in #Dakar, #Senegal, made floating devices out of various items. Childhood fun meets innovation. Photos by @apostrophekola. #dynamicafrica #youtakeover #westafrica #swimming #water #beach #ocean #everydayafrica

[likethebrimofahat-deactivated20]

And I cried. For myself. For this woman talkin’ about love. For all the women who have ever stretched their bodies out anticipating civilization and finding ruins.

Sonia Sanchez (Homegirls and Handgrenades)

[dynamicafrica]

Styled by Mobolaji Dawodu - A Visual Catalog.

There’s a cinematic quality to almost every Mobolaji Dawodu styled and or photographed photo. So many of the images he has styled, photographed - or both - look more like something out of a film still than 2-D fashion magazine pages. This signature of his, that is both visually classic and communicative, is part of what makes Dawodu’s work so intensely captivating. Making use of subjects that always have an air of effortless cool and mystique, Dawodu is able to draw you to his images, through the use of aesthetic qualities, leaving the viewer highly intrigued as to the narrative that inspired it. It’s no surprise that Dawodu’s foray into the world of costume design, with films such as ‘Restless City’ and ‘Mother of George’ under his belt, has been beautifully successful.

Hailed by Complex as one of the most stylish men in media, Dawodu is the style editor-at-large at the Fader but has had his work appear in such publications as Vanity Fair, i-D and Paper, and worked on projects for PUMA, Nike, Kenzo, Converse and Apple. Born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and American mother, much of his work has been influenced and informed by his bi-coastal background. 

[childofzami]

If you know yourself, you’ll not be harmed by what is said about you.”

Arab proverb  (via blue-eyed-muslimah)

[the-daily-dose-of-art]

Ibrahim El-Salahi

[elohor]

love this artist.

[elohor]

On Citizenship

14 May 2007

Location: My home, Benin City

Efe and I have had to travel to our state capital, Asaba, to get our Nigerian passports renewed. It has cost us far more than it should at over a hundred dollars each. Efe thought it best we use a middleman in the immigration office to cut through the bureaucracy and expedite the process. It can take several full days spent at that office before one can…

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[elohor]

Lazy Rainy Day

29 April 2007

Location: My home, Benin City

The rainy season has begun. I love the smell of oncoming rain, especially when the water meets the air and the thirsty, dry earth. It is a charged smell, almost electric. I ache for the fresh coolness…relief. The rains have come a bit late this year. I look forward to the lushness of green foliage, and the sweetness of fat mangos, my favorite fruit of…

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[elohor]

Democracy, Naija Style

15 April 2007

Location: Home, Benin City

Democracy Naija Style…or the “N” Factor

Today is tax day in the U.S. How smoothly that system seems to work, at least from this vantage point. I know that I have to pay taxes every year, and I have a general idea of how those taxes are used. Of course, there are certain things that I wish more of my tax dollars could be applied to: for instance, education…

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[numbla]

I can’t believe that an oil spill of BP was cleaned up in less than 5 months and all the people were compensated, while the worst oil spill in the world, is neglected. Simply because this is “Africa” ; it is not in our backyard so it is not our problem. This oil spill is 2 times bigger than BP. It has been there for 50 years and is still going. It is so big (half the size of Florida) that it will cost 30 years to clean up this mess.  The Royal Dutch Shell, the second largest company in the world, only has to pay 1 billion per year to clean up the mess. They have a profit of 40 billion per year. So what is 1 billion for them?

And if you think this has no impact on your life, think again: the gas flare that has been going on for ages, is burning up a big natural gas source which can be used as a natural energy source. This gas flare is adding, the same amount of Co2 as the whole of Russia or the United states, in your air, our air. 

I am ashamed to be Dutch.  

Watch more of these stories on worsethanbad.org  Please share, reblog and like, these people finally got a voice!

Submitted by : daliciously

[elohor]

Chimamanda Adichie's brilliance...

[elohor]

Zadie Smith: on the complexities of living and writing now...

Smith’s insights are always precise, yet softly human. I admire her ability to capture the nuanced complexity of the conundrums of existence we all deal with, in this 21st century world.

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[elohor]

Zadi Smith: on the complexities of living & writing now...

Smith’s insights are always precise, yet softly human. I admire her ability to capture the nuanced complexity of the conundrums of existence we all deal with, in this 21st century world.

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[elohor]

Newest post on my blog (sorry for the lag): Keeping Wake in Obubu

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