We Never Die
“Òkú is not dead,” said Iya Oyo. “In our [Yoruba] culture, we do not die.”
“How is that possible?” I asked her, astonished.
“We already defeated Ikú (Death),” Iya Oyo announced. “The defeat of Ikú is what the Odù Ifá called Ọ̀yẹ̀kú focuses on. Olójòǹgbòdú, the wife of Ikú is the great woman who accomplished the defeat of Ikú, and since then we no longer die.”
Michael Harris
My brother, Michael Olonade Harris, has transitioned.
This loss is enormous.
He was my inspiration, critic, supporter, strength, teacher, collector, promoter, everything.
I knew.
The Rain and Olodumare
I just returned to Austin, Texas, from Ghana where it has been raining all summer.
The landscape in Ghana is lush and green.
The farm products are in abundance. It rained on my last day in Accra and I enjoyed the sweet scents of the soil stimulated by the falling drizzles.
YORUBA ALPHABETS: Vowels and Consonants
The Yoruba language is unique in one aspect: it doesn’t have consonantal clusters.
This means that in Yoruba language, you don’t have two consonants together: every consonants MUST be followed by a vowel.
Almost all other languages in the world have consonantal clusters.
The visual character of the alphabetical design that I did for the Yoruba people is actually universal.Even those who are visually challenged can experience it in a tactile form as braille characters.
Yoruba Numbers: Ení, Èjì Ẹ̀ta
Yoruba culture, using the Ifa dimension, is quite visual.
I therefore designed a Yoruba writing system that is essentially visual.
OSUMARE: RAINBOW GALLERY
At the Akodi Orisa Sanctuary, Ile Ife, we have just completed the Rainbow (Osumare) Gallery.
The Rainbow is the mixture of fire and water blazing with luminous intensity across the middle belt of the sky, affirming the unity of all colors, all peoples, all races, all tongues, all hands and heads, committed to the principle of creativity.
TRADE BY BARTER
Our ancestors did not have money, but they traded across the vast continent of Africa, through Europe and as far away as China.
Goods from Africa traveled across thousands of miles throughout the world, even at a time when we did not use money in Africa.
Disappointments can be a blessing.
If Nigeria had not disappointed me, I would not be in Ghana now.
But because the political situation in Nigeria has dampened my spirit with the killing of thousands of people, the daily abduction of ordinary citizens, the lawlessness and lack of judicial repercussion for those who plunder the coffer of the country, I have started shifting my gaze away from Nigeria, and started looking at other African countries for a place to vacation, invest and create.
Ọwọ́ as Hand and Eye
I showed Iya Oyo the drawing of her portrait I made one day. She said, “Ọ̣wọ́ rẹ gún,” (Your hands are straight), as she admired the portrait.
Baba Oyo responded with, “Ojú rẹ̀ gún” (His eyes are straight).
I was baffled. “What is straight, my eye or my hand?” I asked them.
I can beat Usain Bolt, the sprint legend, in a one hundred meter dash.
How is that possible?
Simple: if he ties up one of his legs and sprints me by hopping down the track on just one leg.
OSETURA PRIMARY ELECTIONS
How must men and women interact to produce harmony and efficiency in a community?
The extract below is taken from the Odu Osetura.