When I was about 14, my sister and I got this poster that we hung on our bedroom closet that listed the ‘Great Queens of Africa’. It featured your usual suspects: Nzinga, Nefertiti, Queen Nandi and Yaa Asantewaa. With their faces staring back in the moonlight, I used to wonder what their majestic lives must […]
It’s been almost a week since I could bring myself to write anything. I have been sick with heart ache since Ghana “lost” to Uruguay last week in the World Cup. Inspiration, joy and the desire to write a single sentence left me momentarily. But Ise back now! It still hurts, but the pain has […]
This Father’s Day, I am feeling uncharacteristically sentimental. Call it hormones if you will, but I appreciate real men and real fathers today. Instead of spending time blasting the sorry dad’s that “don’t…”, I want to thank the dads that “do…”. In a world where fathers routinely eschew their responsibilities, I am proud to be a […]
Man I love the World Cup!!!! It truly does bring out the best in human kind. There are so many emotions that come along with watching the games. Fury, Fear, Fervor, Friendship and any other f-ing adjective you can think of. Princes and paupers, pontiffs and pagans, scullery maids and cabinet ministers – everyone loves […]
I know it’s barely 8 o’clock in morning and by all accounts, I should be blogging about the most tremendous sporting event on the planet (which will kick off at 9:30 am – Go SA!!), but I woke up with bile in my mouth and venom boiling in my veins. The cause: Douche Bag. Yes, […]
*Sigh* I love talking to my dad. It always makes for a good start/end to my day. This morning I called him just to say ‘hey’, and like most Africans tend to do, we began to discuss the economy and politics. “NDC has f*cked up everything!” he proclaimed. As expected, he launched into a missive […]
When it comes to certain “unpleasant” topics, Black people willingly choose denial. As a people, we tend to categorize problems by race. “Only White people have Downs Syndrome” or “Only White fathers rape their daughters”. 20 years ago “only White guys were gay”. Sadly, we have no choice but to own robbery and gang violence […]
*OK, so this isn’t really an “ode”. Who has time to formulate rhyme, stanzas and onomatopoeia in 2010? Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is my BFFFL. My Best Friend for Freakin’ LIFE…ya heard? It’s funny, but when you first meet someone, you never know what kind of impact they’ll have on your life. When I first met […]
They say you can tell a lot about a woman by judging her underthings. Her bras and panties will tell you if she’s sexy, confident or a timid recluse. My bra piped up last night and told me I was still an impoverished Ghanaian girl preparing for a major financial tragedy. One of my best […]
I should probably go ahead and apologize to my American friends for what I’m about to say. I should; but I won’t. I mean every bleeding word. Americans, without a doubt, are some of the most obnoxious people on the planet. They are also some of the most gracious, which allows one to forgive their […]
I’ve been in a funk for the last 3 months. The weather has been awful, it’s been ridiculously cold by Atlanta standards, the heat went out in our house, and I haven’t felt like leaving my tiny two-bedroom house – a two-bedroom house inhabited by five (count ’em, five) people. To boot, I’ve had to […]
I understand that by simply being born and making certain day-to-day decisions my life is a complete offence to many extremist groups. And yeah, I said it: Y’all are EXTREMISTS. How have I harmed thee? Let me list the ways: 1. I love meat and I wear leather – Suck on that PETA (oh, and […]
As far as I’m concerned, the 90’s were awesome. There was global prosperity, playboy Bill Clinton was president, and everyone was generally in a good mood. Well, except for the Middle Easterners, but then they’re always pissed off. Tyra Banks had shown us Black women could be sensational super models, and the Fresh Prince made us […]
I grew up in an age when teenagers memorized addresses and telephone numbers, and could rattle off the 7 digits (6 if you lived in Ghana) assigned to a particular individual. We walked our neighborhoods and could give you 4 different ways to reach a destination point. In 1995, none of my friends had cell […]
Every time a movie comes out concerning “Black subject matter” and featuring Black actors, there is a segment of the population that almost immediately comes crawling out of the wood work with harsh critique and absurd disapproval. I call this populace “The Tiresome Talented Tenth”. These are the ones who have most likely never produced […]
Weed, weed, weed. My feelings about Mary Jane are a little mixed. After all, one of my first boyfriends told me that if I “didn’t like him smoking weed, I could break up with him!” I was shocked. He had chosen the ‘other woman’ over me; and the ‘other woman’ was a PLANT. How was […]
At first I was just going to make a witty status update about what relentless bulldog byiatches Nancy Grace and that Velez-Mitchell chick were (and how you have to be a heartless whore to have your own show on HLN these days), but the media coverage on MJ compels me to say much more. I […]
If I had to choose a date and time to be born, I would most certainly pick January 24, 1978…That’s my birthday for all you who don’t know. By that date, 400 years of slavery had just ended 112 or so years ago, reconstruction had been completed, Jim Crow had been defeated, the civil rights […]
In my entire “Christian walk” I have only experienced two crises of faith. Like any other believer, I’ve had my set backs and disappointments, sure; but I’m talking about serious doubts about God’s power, or His existence at all. The first was when my good friend Farida died about 7 years ago. She had a […]
On days like today, when I’m up at 4 am with the heaviness of disappointment on my mind, I wish I was back home in Labone. There were trees everywhere, each with their own memory; each with their own purpose. They always brought comfort, food and shade; and in someways love. America’s trees provide none […]
I read somewhere that among issues that are key to today’s voters, God, guns and gays took a back seat to the economy. Healthcare, whether the Democrats want to admit it or not, is barely a blip on the radar. Who wants to live a long, healthy, HOMELESS life? I’ve got no job and no […]