Latest Essays

Imagine someone in your family committed a horrible crime. Perhaps your uncle committed adultery or your father murdered a man and buried his body in a shallow grave. Such crimes cannot go disregarded or unpunished. Society would descend into anarchy and chaos would govern. The right course of action would be to make sure that […]

Plettenberg Bay is a coastal town in the Western Cape of South Africa. Though there is no commercial activity driving its economy – beyond tourism and retail – it is home to some of the most fabulously wealthy people in the country. Plett is renown for its laidback vibe, its friendly citizens and pizza. The […]

Raising a teenager is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and that’s saying a lot – because I’ve had a pretty difficult life. From homelessness (my family had to live with relatives for a stint before ‘upgrading’ to a hotel – the same hotel where my uncle molested me at age 8); to hunger; to […]

A few weeks ago, a little-known company called Mantality Health found itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Mantality is a healthcare provider that treats men with low testosterone. As all companies that experience growth (or excessive turnover) are wont to do, Mantality places open positions on job boards with the aim of […]

Spoiler Alert: This post contains discussions about characters in the fantasy novel Children of Blood and Bone. Feel free to return to add your contribution in the comments if you’re one of those people who is angered by spoilers.   Any time I am asked about Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel, ‘Children of Blood and Bone’, […]

Sixteen years ago I used to run a satirical blog called Maizebreak.com. It is now defunct. I would write parodies of the real news, conjure crazy and unlikely stories and photoshop images for humorous effect. It was my African answer to The Onion, which I discovered around early 2002. MaizeBreak did enjoy the longevity that […]

The 28th of May is Menstrual Hygiene Day! And you thought it was just another Monday. Surprise! Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) is a global platform that brings together non-profits, government agencies, the private sector, the media and individuals to promote Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM). MH Day raises awareness of the challenges women and girls […]

This might be shaking the table a bit, but we’re in the era of Black American bishops quoting MLK at royal English weddings; so what the hey. Marriage is a tricky thing. No matter what your views are about its sanctity and/or who should have access to it, the basic premise behind it is this: […]

When I pressed play on Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’, I was completely unprepared for what was to transpire within the first 45 seconds of the visual masterpiece. There was Glover, shirtless, hair grown longer than usual, clad in nothing more than a pair of button-fly calico trousers and two chains adorning his neck contorting […]

When I tell you this story, you’re going to swear I’m lying. But I ain’t lying. This really happened.   An acquaintance of mine has been having financial difficulty ever since her freelance contract came to an end last year. As a fellow freelancer, my heart went out to her, so I told her I […]

Last year, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour began production of her series Sex and Love Around the World, where she traverses the globe in order to investigate ‘unconventional’ expressions of intimacy and the unspoken rules that govern unorthodox relationships in different societies. I had the opportunity to speak with one of the show’s producers last year, and […]

What’s in a name? Naming in African communities is an act steeped in tradition and, some say, one that comes with spiritual consequences for the bearer. Children are named to honor an ancestor, to reflect a significant event in a space in time, even to ward of evil or mischievous spirits. In a discussion over […]

I often talk about the teachers who shaped both the writer and woman I am today. Not infrequently, I mention one teacher’s name with more regularity than any other. (Go to Door Number 5 to receive your prize if you smiled wryly and said, “Mr. Quist.”) When done right, teaching is a difficult job. There […]

“There is no man more single than a married man in Joburg.”   Joy FM host Naa Ashorkor Mensa-Doku wanted to know why modern women are choosing to have children outside of the confines of traditional marriage and there was no shortage of men waiting to give her an answer. In fact, there was such […]

This morning, I woke up in a panic. My heart was racing so furiously I thought it would tear through my rib cage and bounce its way out of my bedroom window. I had just dreamt of Ghana, and I was terrified by the vision that rendered me motionless for an unknown length of time. […]

My two oldest children are 13 and 11 years old, which means that they are just about done losing teeth. This is a good thing, because there are few things creepier than tiptoeing into a pre-teens room in the dead of night, swathed only in a bed sheet or boxer shorts (depending on who’s playing […]

Sympathy noun Understanding between people; common feeling It doesn’t matter if your child is a few days old or well into their fifties; a parent is most likely to assess an unfamiliar scenario with one uppermost question: “Am I responding to this situation the right way?” Whether confronted with a choice between letting your infant […]

Over the past two decades or more, the portrayal of Africa as a continent scabbed over by war, famine, hopelessness and ignorance has given way to depictions of a continent brimming with new and untapped promise. The ‘Africa Rising’ anecdote is now as ubiquitous as the ancient story of the phoenix rising from the ashes, […]

It’s another thought piece centering on Black Panther, y’all! Just ride with me for a sec. I think it will be worth your while.   Since the release of Black Panther last week, there have been many conversations (and on certain Sci-Fi fan pages, outright diatribes) about who deserves the title ‘hero’ and ‘liberator’ in […]

My husband does the lion’s share of the cooking in our house. I can cook, but he’s the better culinary artist. He grows and uses his own herbs in his dishes. Our family has developed a palette that demands more than salt and pepper to satiate our food lusts as a result. I consider this […]

Black Panther has been in theaters for three days. I have held my tongue and waited for you all to get apprised for long enough. It’s time to discuss the film as a family.   Black Panther boasts a lineup of some of the most celebrated and talented stars in Hollywood, including Angela Bassett (aka the […]