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Funmi Iyanda
Lagos, Nigeria
Funmi Iyanda is a multi award-winning producer and broadcast journalist. She is the CEO of Ignite Media and Executive Director of Creation Television
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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Thinking out loud (not a very good idea)

As you know I am often engaged in deep internal battles which I occasionally spew forth as sometimes clear but more often jumbled narratives with which l bore you to death on this page. As l prepare to fly to Johannesburg tomorrow for some meetings l was once again engaged in a never ending conversation with my prospective host Dele on the African question i.e. why are we so fucked up? It may also be rephrased as why are they so fucked up that they cannot see that we are not fucked up. As l descend into internal disunity, l invite you to download this talk by Chris Abani at the last TED conference in Aruba if you have not heard it before. Funny and incisive, actually I don’t invite you, l beg you to download it, sit back to listen to it with the speakers turned up high. Afterwards, tell me what you think, not only about the talk, but the issues raised and finally answer this question, did you know about Abani prior to this and how much do we know of ourselves and about ourselves?

Thanks Natasha for the link.

4 comments:

Jumi said...

Sweetie, sorry I've been MIA. Just went through your last few posts and I have to say it's a slippery slope indeed. There is yet hope; we just need to keep it alive and trust God for a change. It starts with you and me. Oh, well, don't want to be preachy. Have a beautiful weekend and enjoy Joburg. Tons of kisses for you!

Anonymous said...

Chris Abani's speech was a poignant delight. I, for one, have been guilty of perpetuating the ignorance of Americans in regards to other cultures, only to discover how little I knew about the biafran war and Africa as a whole. I definitely have been educating myself of recent.
I knew about Chris because I read his book-Graceland 4 months ago and he was featured in Essence magazine a while ago. I read he was imprisoned in Nigeria several times but just discovered that the first time was when he was 18. That must have been hell.

uknaija said...

Enjoy SA

Sherri said...

i just love his mind! what a mind!
i read kalakuta republic a while ago, i was too young or probably preoccupied with being a teenager.
have fun in sa