Rites of Passage
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: Rites of Passage
Medium: silicon on paper
Date: 2020
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YORUBA DISINFORMATION IS MUNGO PARK
YORUBA DISINFORMATION IS MUNGO PARK
This morning, a friend of mine who is a professor at a university here in Texas woke me up with, “Hey Moyo, what is the meaning of Yoruba?”
This professor called me on WhatsApp video.
Disinformation is as old as the human tongue.
Let me take that back.
Disinformation predates the human tongue.
Disinformation started with the body language of making signs.
When you smile, when you really are plotting to hit a fellow, that is disinformation.
THE GYRATOR: ÒBÍRÍPO
THE GYRATOR: ÒBÍRÍPO Orunmila has a beautiful daughter to give away in marriage. There are three…
The Birth
The Birth
Of a New Year? New opportunities? New visions? New directions? New hopes? New tools? New thoughts? New leaf? New step? New energy? New start? New move? New song? New voice? New motive? New motif? New dance? New question? New answer? New mission? New me?
TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER ON GRANDPAS DAY
TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER ON GRANDPAS DAY
I landed a fish last summer.
It begged me to catch and release.
I said I was hungry
It said better to hunger than kill
“We are all fishes”, it reminded me,
“angling in a lake of love.”
I saw the same fish this summer
LOOKING BACK
LOOKING BACK
I
Exile, however sweet,
for home makes the heart yearn.
Àjò kìí dùn
kónílé gbàgbé ilé.
I colored the Yoruba proverb above for emphasis.
Why?
Because everybody living in Nigeria is a hero.
It is often akin to being a kamikaze pilot in WWII.
They just survived the #EndSars uprising.
ÌKÚNLẸ̀ ABIYAMỌ
How does one translate ÌKÚNLẸ̀ ABIYAMỌ into English, yet retain the picture that that term conveys in the original Yoruba context?
The word “childbirth,” which is the direct translation of ÌKÚNLẸ̀ ABIYAMỌ does not give the picture of the kneeling woman, giving birth to a child.