Skin

Skin is a British-South African 2008 biographical film directed by Anthony Fabian, about Sandra Laing, a South African woman born to white parents who was classified as "Coloured" during the apartheid era, due to a genetic case of Atavism.

History of Apartheid in South Africa:
Racial segregation in South Africa began in colonial times under Dutch and British rule. However, apartheid as an official policy was introduced following the general election of 1948. New legislation classified inhabitants into four racial groups :"native", "white", "colored", and "Asian", Residential areas were segregated, sometimes by means of forced removals. Non-white political representation was completely abolished in 1970, and starting in that year black people were deprived of their citizenship, legally becoming citizens of one of ten tribally based self-governing homelands called bantustans, four of which became nominally independent states. The government segregated education, medical care, beaches, and other public services, and provided black people with services inferior to those of white people.

Summary of the movie:
The year is 1965, and 10 year-old Sandra and her parents, Abraham and Sannie, are white Afrikaaners. They are shopkeepers in a remote area of the Eastern Transvaal and, despite Sandra's mixed-race appearance, have lovingly brought her up as their white little girl. Sandra is sent to a boarding school in the neighbouring town of Piet Retief, where her (white) brother Leon is also studying, but parents and teachers complain that she does not belong. She is examined by State officials, reclassified as coloured, and expelled from the school. Sandra's parents are shocked, but Abraham fights through the courts to have the classification reversed. The story becomes an international scandal and media pressure forces the law to change, so that Sandra becomes officially white again.
By the time she is 17, Sandra realises she is never going to be accepted by the white community. She falls in love with Petrus, a black man and the local vegetable seller, and begins an illicit love affair. Abraham threatens to shoot Petrus and disown Sandra. Sannie is torn between her husband's rage and her daughter's predicament. Sandra elopes with Petrus to Swaziland. Abraham alerts the police, and has them arrested and put in prison for the illegal border crossing. Sandra is released by the local magistrate to return home with her parents, but she instead decides to return to Petrus, prompting her father to disown her.
Now Sandra must live her life as a black woman in South Africa for the first time, with no running water, no sanitation and little income. Although she feels more at home in this community, she desperately misses her parents and yearns for a reunion. She and her mother make attempts to communicate, but are consistently thwarted by Sandra's father. Late in his life, when he is too sick to act on his own, he reconsiders and asks his wife to take him to visit Sandra. Sandra's mother, angry that his newfound guilt had surfaced only after he had for 10 years stubbornly ignored her own emotional torment and longing for a reunion, refuses his request and says that neither of them deserves Sandra's forgiveness.
Eventually, Sandra's marriage to Petrus deteriorates and she leaves him, taking their two children with her, when he becomes physically abusive. She looks for her parents at that time, but finds they had since moved from her childhood home. Not knowing where they are, she continues on with her life, raising her children by herself. When the county's apartheid government comes to an end, there is renewed media interest in her story. Sandra's mother sees Sandra interviewed on television and writes to her to inform her of her father's death two years earlier. The letter provides no return address nor any other clue as to Sannie's whereabouts, but receiving it prompts Sandra to renew her search. Eventually, she finds her mother residing in a nursing home and the two are happily reunited.
An epilogue informs the viewer that Sandra's mother died in 2001, while her two brothers continue to refuse to see her.

This movie is a great way to learn more about what happened in South Africa during the Apartheid era. Hope that you will take the time to watch it and share with others.

Perception of Men by Oprah Winfrey

Hi all
At the beginning of the class, I decided to make this blog about African culture. However, while I was on Facebook yesterday, I came to read these ideas of Oprah on my friend's wall. At that moment, I knew that I had to share it with the world. By doing this, I hope that relationships would be saved, and more importantly, women would know that they are all beautiful in different ways, smart, strong and capable of taking care of themselves.

So, be yourself ladies because anyone who wants you,will love you for who you are with the good and bad not for who he or she wants you to be.

Be ambitious: whatever you want to do, Do It. You want to be a President, create a party, study politics. You want to be an engineer, be it. You want to be a housewife, stay home then. Just be whatever you want to be because there is nothing painful more then regret.

Love yourself more than you love him: It is good to be selfish sometimes.

Learn to forgive but Know your limit: enough is enough.

Have some self esteem: You are better than he thinks.

More importantly, let be women: what is the purpose of being equal to men when we know that we are stronger. Just because they have physically more strength than women or that most of them do not cry does not mean that they are stronger. Being strong is not only physically but also emotionally and mentally. We are for all 3. We are their rock. So, do not let them break you.


Here are some advices to women from Oprah :

If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away.
If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.
Stop making excuses for a man and his behaviour.
Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.
Stop trying to change yourself for a relationship that's not meant to be.

Slower is better.

Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy.

If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then heck no, you can't 'be friends'. A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend.
Don't settle.

If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is
Don't stay because you think 'it will get better'
You'll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better.
The only person you can control in a relationship is you.

Avoid men who've got a bunch of children by a bunch of different women.

He didn't marry them when he got them pregnant, why would he treat you any differently?

Always have your own set of friends separate from his.
Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up.

Never let a man know everything.* He will use it against you later.

You cannot change a man's behaviour.* Change comes from within.

Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are...
Even if he has more education or in a better job.

Do not make him into a quasi-god.
He is a man, nothing more nothing less.
Never let a man define who you are.
Never borrow someone else's man.
A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.

All men are NOT dogs.

You should not be the one doing all the bending...
Compromise is two way street.

You need time to heal between relationships...
There is nothing cute about baggage...
Deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship

You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...
A relationship consists of two WHOLE individuals...
Look for someone complimentary...not supplementary.

Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right.

Make him miss you sometimes...when a man always know where you are, and you're always readily available to him - he takes it for granted

Never move into his mother's house. Never co-sign for a man.

Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need.*
Keep him in your radar but get to know others.

Scared of being alone is what makes a lot of women stay in relationships that are abusive or hurtful.

You should know that:
You're the best thing that could ever happen to anyone and if a man mistreats you, he'll miss out on a good thing. If he was attracted to you in the 1st place, just know that he's not the only one.

They're all watching you, so you have a lot of choices.
Make the right one.

Ladies take care of your own hearts....

Hotel Rwanda

Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda--and in an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees, by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages. Hotel Rwanda is a movie that shows the differences between the ethnics groups in Africa and how Africans feel about these differences.

Amadou Hampathe Bah

Amadou Hampâté Bah was a Malian writer and ethnologist. He was born to an aristocratic Fula family in Bandiagara, the largest city in Dogon territory and the capital of the precolonial Masina Empire. After his father's death, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, Tidjani Amadou Ali Thiam of the Toucouleur ethnic group. He first attended the Qur'an school run by Tierno Bokar, a dignitary of the Tijaniyyah brotherhood, then transferred to a French school at Bandiagara, then to one at Djenné. In 1915, he ran away from school and rejoined his mother at Kati, where he resumed his studies.

In 1921, he turned down entry into the école normale in Gorée. As a punishment, the governor appointed him to Ouagadougou with the role he later described as that of "an essentially precarious and revocable temporary writer". From 1922 to 1932, he filled several posts in the colonial administration in Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso and from 1932 to 1942 in Bamako. In 1933, he took a six month leave to visit Tierno Bokar, his spiritual leader.(see also:Sufi studies)

In 1942, he was appointed to the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (IFAN, French Institute of Black Africa) in Dakar thanks to the benevolence of Théodore Monod, its director. At IFAN, he made ethnological surveys and collected traditions. 

For 15 years he devoted himself to research, which would later lead to the publication of his work L'Empire peul de Macina (The Fula Empire of Macina). In 1951, he obtained a UNESCO grant, allowing him to travel to Paris and meet with intellectuals from Africanist circles, notably Marcel Griaule. With Mali's independence in 1960, Bâ founded the Institute of Human Sciences in Bamako, and represented his country at the UNESCO general conferences. In 1962, he was elected to UNESCO's executive council, and in 1966 he helped establish a unified system for the

 transcription of African languages.

www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Amadou-Hampate-Ba.aspx

African Poem

Sweet mom

It began with a kiss of love
graduated to nine months of
mixed feelings which ended
in hours of horrible pains and
regrets.
In the sight of your babe came a
sincere smile of success.
You didn't know how strong you
were Mom.
No shock absorber could have been better.
You stayed strong like a giant Iroko tree
in the midst of turbulent winds of life
You are my hero mama.
You patiently carried on the tedious
job of nursing regardless of burdens
and pains,
Denied yourself comfort to make me happy.
Your baby I will always be.
Mummy you are sweet, tender
and loving.
You are indeed a blissful bridge to the paradise
I know.
Sweet mom.
© 1997, Chidi A. Okoye

African Proverbs

One thing I respect deeply about Africa is the treasure of wisdom our ancestors have handed down to us. While some of our leaders may have forgotten them, the rest of us don’t need to. From prudent sayings on wisdom itself, to judicious encouragements, warnings and even quirky advice on learning, patience, unity, wealth, poverty, community, family, love and marriage, these quotes will inspire you to be the best you can possibly be.

Wisdom is wealth. ~ Swahili
Wisdom is like a baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it. ~ Akan proverb
The fool speaks, the wise man listens. ~ Ethiopian proverb
Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand. ~ Guinean proverb
If you are filled with pride, then you will have no room for wisdom. ~ African proverb
Nobody is born wise. ~ African proverb
A leader who does not take advice is not a leader. ~ Kenyan proverb

Unity is strength, division is weakness. ~ Swahili proverb
It takes a village to raise a child. ~ African proverb
Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb
Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. ~ Swahili proverb
If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb

It’s much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. ~ African proverb
If you are ugly you must either learn to dance or make love. ~ Zimbabwean Proverb
A happy man marries the girl he loves, but a happier man loves the girl he marries. ~ African proverb
If you marry a monkey for his wealth, the money goes and the monkey remains as is. ~ Egyptian proverb
Love never gets lost it’s only kept. ~ African proverb
Love has to be shown by deeds not words. ~ Swahili proverb

One who plants grapes by the road side, and one who marries a pretty woman, share the same problem. ~Ethiopian Proverb
Ugliness with a good character is better than beauty. ~Nigerian proverb
If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness. ~Nigerian Proverb
You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. ~Congolese Proverb
The one who loves an unsightly person is the one who makes him beautiful. ~Ganda Proverb
Having beauty doesn’t mean understanding the perseverance of marriage. ~African Proverb
A beautiful thing is never perfect. ~Egyptian Proverb
Judge not your beauty by the number of people who look at you, but rather by the number of people who smile at you. ~African Proverb

Poem for the all the Women in the World.

As you all konw, Friday, March 8th was the international Day of Women. For that I dedicate this poem to all women. May God bless you all.


From Leoppold senghor.

Nude woman, black woman,

Clothed in your color which is life, your form which is beauty!

I grew in your shadow, the sweetness of your hands bandaged my eyes

And here in the heart of summer and of noon, I discover you, promised land from the height of a burnt mountain,

And your beauty strikes my heart, like the lightning of an eagle.

Nude woman, dark woman,

Ripe fruit of the dark flesh, somber ecstasies of black wine, mouth that causes my mouth to sing;

Savanna of pure horizons, savanna trembling under the fervent caresses of the East wind,

Carved tom-tom, tense tom-tom, grumbling under the fingers of the conqueror,

Your low contralto voice is the song of the lover.

Nude woman, dark woman,

Oil unwrinkled by winds, oil smooth on athletes' thighs, on the thighs of the princes of Mali,

Delightful play of the spirit, image of red gold on your flaming skin.

In the shadow of your hair, my anguish is relieved by the nearby suns of your eyes.

Nude woman, black woman,

I sing your passing beauty, fixing your form in eternity,

Before a jealous fate turns you to ashes to feed the roots of life.

Enjoy All!!!!!!!

Salif Keita

Salif Keïta (born August 25, 1949) is an afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the "Golden Voice of Africa" but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, sundiata Keita. This royal heritage meant that under the Malian caste system, he should never have become a singer, which was deemed to be a griot’s role. Keita was born in the village of Djoliba. He was cast out by his family and ostracized by the community because of his albinism, a sign of bad luck in Mandinka culture.  He left Djoliba for bamako in 1967, where he joined the government sponsored super Rail band de Bamako. In 1973 Keita joined the group, Les Ambassadeurs. Keita and Les Ambassadeurs fled political unrest in Mali during the mid-1970s for Abidjan, Cote d'ivoire and subsequently changed the group's name to "Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux". The reputation of Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux rose to the international level in the 1970s, and in 1977 Keita received a National Order award from the president of Guinea, sekou Toure.

Keita moved to Paris in 1984 to reach a larger audience. His music combines traditional West African music styles with influences from both Europe and America. Musical instruments that are commonly featured in Keita's work include balafons, djembe, guitars, kora, organs, saxophones, and synthesizers. Keita found success in Europe as one of the African stars of world music, but his work was sometimes criticised for the gloss of its production and for the occasional haphazard quality. However, shortly after the turn of the Millennium he returned to Bamako in Mali to live and record. His first work after going home, 2002's Moffou was hailed as his best album in many years and Keita was inspired to build a recording studio in Bamako, which he used for his album M'Bemba, released in October 2005.

www.salifkeita.net/en/

Clothing!!!

Africa is a vast continent in which thousands of different tribes live. Each of these tribes has its own unique language, culture, faith, tradition, and way of life. Similarly, the way the people of these numerous tribes dress up varies a great deal too. So when we talk of traditional African clothing, it can mean anything, right from dresses made of grass to loincloths to intricately designed kaftans.
Here are some examples that I hope you guys might like.
These clothes are from Ghana, Guinea, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Cost, Zambia, Namibia, Djibouti, Algeria, Libya, Congo, Morocco and Mauritania.

Traditional African Weddings

Traditional African Weddings

Hey guys,
Today, I am all about African Weddings. Hope you all love them because I do. As you all know, the African society is a mixture of culturally diverse traditions and rituals. After doing some research, I learned that there are certain similarities that can be drawn between some weddings but also that each country, region, or tribe that exist in Africa has its own way of celebrating weddings. As a whole, African weddings are known to be family affairs, and are often not only dependent on the relationship between the man and woman, but on family input and approval as well. Marriages in Africa are strongly dictated by religious influences. Many Northern African marriages are decided by their Muslim faith, while other regions follow the traditions set by their ancestors. Another similar tradition in many parts of Africa, is the paying of a dowry prior to marriage. In South Africa, for instance, this is referred to as lobola and is a gift of cattle or money given to the father of the bride. Wedding celebrations can last for as little as a few hours up to several weeks. The types of foods served during these occasions differ from region to region, depending mainly on local food trends. Another main feature of marriage celebrations in Africa is the enjoyment of music and dance. There is so much to tell about African Weddings that I could write a whole book on the subject.
But I am going to stick to some examples:

Ghanaian Wedding:
In Ghana, the influence of family and religion is apparent in the wedding ceremonies performed. There are three distinct steps involved in the wedding ceremony which can last from one day up to one month. In the first step, a prospective groom and elder male members of his family must first go the bride's home and perform what is called the “knocking”. During this visit they bring alcohol, that is used for the libation, and money is presented to the brides' family along with the intentions of the groom. If the family approves of the proposal, they will then accept the gift and request another visit to interview the groom. This next step is often referred to as the interview. If the groom is unknown to the family, they will use the interview as an opportunity to learn more about the groom and his family. They will also prepare a list of gifts that the groom and his family are required to complete prior to the wedding, or engagement. The final stage of the wedding ceremony is the engagement which is the actual wedding ceremony. Before invited guests, the two families will go through introduction and prayer and the requested gifts are submitted for approval. During this process, the groom does not speak and the bride is hidden from view. If the list has been met, the bride will be revealed and she must consent to marry the groom when asked three times by her father. With her approval the groom may give her his ring, there are prayers and the pair is presented with a Bible as a symbol of the importance of religion in marriage. Although this is the ending of the traditional ceremony, in today's society, often times this ceremony is followed by a westernized church wedding. During the engagement ceremony, the wedding party will wear traditional outfits of kente cloth with the bride wearing a headwrap or crown, boubou, or a fitted skirt with a buba top and the groom in a Grand boubou or dashiki. The wedding attire, just like the ceremonies, differ from region to region and can include garments made of aso-oke and Adinkra cloth.

Senegal:
Traditional Wolof wedding ceremonies, the parents of the groom-to-be sends elders to the girl’s
parents with kola nuts and money to ask for her hand in marriage. The girl’s parents consult their
daughter and either consent to or reject the proposal. If accepted, the parents of the bride to be distribute the kola nuts among the family and neighbors. This distribution is an informal way of announcing the impending wedding. In more traditional practices, the groom to be’s family paid the girl’s bride price in the form of money. This tradition, has been modernized and dowry is paid in money, cars or even houses. After the completion of the groom’s obligations, the two families set a wedding day. Before the wedding day, the groom’s family gives a party to welcome their daughter-in-law and to prepare her to live with her new family. The imam and elders advise the groom with the presence of the some representatives of the bride’s parents. Weddings traditionally take place at the groom's home. Parents receive guests with food and drink (but not alcohol), while guests bring gifts of money, rice, drinks, ships, sugar, or spices. After the ceremony people feast and dance with guests hiring a griot (praise-singer) and giving further gifts to the groom’s parents. The girl moves to the husband's (or his parent's) home or compound, bringing utensils for cooking which she buys with the money from the bride price.

Here are some link if you wants to learn more about the subject:
http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/africanmarriageritual.html
https://www.facebook.com/AfricanWeddingPlus
http://www.weddingdetails.com/lore-tradition/africa/

Here are some pictures;