ÌLÚ LE: When Country Hard
Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: ÌLÚ LE: When Country Hard
Medium: acrylic on canvas
date: 2021…
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Artist: Moyo Okediji
Title: ÌLÚ LE: When Country Hard
Medium: acrylic on canvas
date: 2021…
See more
Captive No More
1
What you are reading is not poetry. It is not fiction. It is my true family history.
I am an ascendant from slavery. Yes.
It means I am a descendant of enslaved bodies. Yes.
Inside me, they locked iron collars,
leg fetters, and hand lockers. Yes.
Yes. Does it sound weird? Yes.
Slavery was real in Africa. Yes
Africa was the Ground Zero of slavery. Yes.
Egungun Festival Day in Austin TX, this afternoon.
I’m dressed for it.
We are celebrating the rituals of our ancestors.
Àwa ó ṣorò ilé wa ò
Àwa ó ṣorò ilé wa ò
Ìgbàgbọ́ ò pé, mo róye
Ìmọ̀le ò pé káwa má sorò
Àwa ó ṣorò ilé wa ò.
Afolabi Damilare’s portrait of Moyo Okediji.
Thanks for this wonderful gift, Afolabi
NAME YOUR TEACHER
Who taught you
that you must breathe?
Who taught you
that you must eat?
that you must crawl?
that you must walk?
that you must talk?
that you must listen?
Who taught you
that your culture is inferior?
The Massacre of General Okoro
Is it funny
or merely coincidental
That, as they killed her son,
the mother was dreaming
She was breastfeeding him?
Yours truly at the Ohio State University to give a lecture on Friday.