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LAGOS BORN
LAGOS BORN
You have been to London?
And Toronto?
And Washington DC?
And, New York, Paris and San Francisco?
And you have traveled to all the capitals of African countries?
ÌLÚ LE: When Country Hard
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: ÌLÚ LE: When Country Hard
Medium: acrylic on canvas
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.
one of the paintings I just discovered in my garage.
This is one of the paintings I just discovered in my garage.
The painting celebrates Robert Hayden’s poem, “Middle Passage.”
It is a really long poem.
The painting focuses on this excerpt:
“That Crew and Captain lusted with the comeliest
of the savage girls kept naked in the cabins;
that there was one they called The Guinea Rose
and they cast lots and fought to lie with her: ”
The character across the floor of the ship being whipped to consent is the lady called Guinea Rose in the poem.
Those who love you
Those who love you
often don’t let you know;
you may discover their love
in their whispers, looks or gestures.
But it is those who hate you
that shout hostility at you loud and clear.
Dear Kicking Fetus
Dear Kicking Fetus
For Saidiya Hartman***
Why kick your mother
so hard, so relentless
right in the center
of her tender navel?
Is there something
you know about life,
about the impious ways