Wisconsin, Madison, 1994. Naming ceremony.

Wisconsin, Madison, 1994. Naming ceremony.

Wisconsin, Madison, 1994. Naming ceremony.

I was a college student.

One of my Nigerian colleagues had just finished his Ph.D., and he returned to Nigeria.

He had no idea that his girlfriend in Madison was pregnant.

When he was contacted, he decided that he was not returning to the US.

The pregnant girlfriend decided she was not going to Nigeria to join him.

A PICTURE OF ONE OF THE SCULPTURES FROM THE AKODI ORISA

Oluorogbo–the first scholar.

Oluorogbo–the first scholar.

In Ile Ife is a fellow to whom the invention of writing is ascribed.

His name is Oluorogbo.

(But this fellow is different from Olurorogbo, the son of Moremi).

Over the centuries, Oluorogbo’s scripts have disappeared because his books were buried during a conflict–a failed attempt to preserve the scripts and prevent them from getting into the hands of the enemies.

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART.

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART.

I am pleased to announce the publication of an essay that I wrote in 2004–sixteen years later.

The journal is the INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART.

The essay, on the work of Bing Davis, is titled “Flying Back Home.” I describe Mr. Davis as an “Afronaut.”

I did not use the term “Afrofuturism,” because that term was not even in theoretical usage at that time.

Africans living in voluntary and compelled exile

Africans living in voluntary and compelled exile

Africans living in voluntary and compelled exile:

Do we deserve the “comfort” of exile, if we are only concerned about the comfort of our immediate families?

We all realize that a country like Nigeria has become a lion’s den, and many of the citizens feel trapped inside it.

We realize that many of us escaped with nothing in our pockets. I left with only $98 in my pocket in 1992.