Archive for the ‘Africa’ Category

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Remember Maya Angelou before Celebrity?

December 27, 2009

I came across this interview with Maya Angelou from the 1980s, and it occurred to me that this is the woman whose voice and words I fell in love with. I read her autobiographies and world literally opened up to me. I don’t hear this person speak when I see her interviewed these days. Granted, she’s much older now and probably feels very secure in her contributions that she doesn’t need to posture as anything. It just bothers me that so many of my friends don’t know her beyond reading her poem at President Clinton’s inauguration. What a Renaissance Woman she is! Acting, directing, dancing, traveling, writing, etc.

How strange is celebrity: it’s a double-edged sword because most artists want to be able to live off of their art and often celebrity affords that. It’s a Catch-22.

Here’s the interview.

Posted in Africa, Culture, interview, poets and writers, politics | 1 Comment »

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Writer as Anthropologist

October 25, 2009

keziahjones

The other day I found a gold mine in the Nigerian-born singer/songwriter Keziah Jones. I was listening to Pandora and I heard this beautiful music pouring out. Immediately, I looked him up and ordered one of his discs. After ordering one of his discs it occurred to me, how many other musicians/artists/writers are out there that I haven’t heard of who are doing excellent work?

After listening to his music for the past week it occurred to me that in terms of culture as an American I’ve been grossly deprived. I went to a historically black college and didn’t read not one African text. I couldn’t name any poets who are living on the continent or at least were born on the continent with the exception of Chris Abani who’s mostly noted for his fiction.

As writers, I believe culture work is one of the implied clauses of being a writer/artist. It troubles me that when I meet writers from other places, I can’t have a conversation with them about their literature or music or film. This all must change.

So, I’m enlisting all of my readers to send me small vignettes that detail how they’ve encountered African authors, poets, filmmakers, maybe you’ve traveled to the Continent. I’m hoping this can be a collaborative discovery.

Won’t you join me in this cultural tour, finding out the writers, musicians, artists of the African Diaspora? And next we can move to other continents.

Posted in Africa, Culture, World Art | 1 Comment »