Iduma finally on his way
I first met Emmanuel Iduma in October of 2009 at an art criticism workshop in Lagos. We had different experiences – I as facilitator and he as participant. Not a reflection on others in the group but Iduma was eager…
Haiti: Occasional Musings – 4
n Haiti-Haitii? Jean-Bertrand Aristide writes of religion first in general terms but then he goes on to state “there is religion and there is religion” in which he criticizes the Catholic church – an important weapon in colonization.
Haiti: Occasional Musings – 3
Tuesday – Sitting waiting for someone in Cafe Rebo on Place Boye. Enjoying my coffee when an armed guard passes me – we stare at each other. Why is he here I ask myself, what does cafe Rebo fear at…
Invisible Borders: Emeka Okereke in conversation with Emmanuel Iduma
From Invisible Borders A conversation between Emeka Okereke, founder and Artistic Director of Invisible Borders Trans-African Photographers’ Organization, and Emmanuel Iduma, Nigerian author and writer. The conversation took place in Libreville, Gabon where Okereke and Iduma are participating in a road trip….
Cancer Survivors – “in the middle of our fighting for freedom……”
A podcast by Alexis Pauline Gumbs remembering those ancestors who lived and died breast cancer – and there are many and those of us who survived – it was never easy and the wounds remain! Cancer Podcasts
I WILL EAT WHAT I WANT
Driving from Phikwe, the mining town where we lived, to our home village of Mahalapye in Eastern Botswana, my face was always pressed against the back window. I was fond of watching greener-than-green mophane trees dotted with women’s brightly colored…
28 Years Old
28 years old, that’s how old I am turning today. Gees I am really getting old and I must admit, this time I feel old-really old. This is the time when I should be spending my nights cuddled up to…
A city of loneliness disguised – if YOU disappeared would anyone miss you?
How do you lie dead for three years in a London flat? In 2006, a 38 year old black woman, Joyce Carol Vincent was found dead or rather her skeleton sitting in front of a stlll blaring TV, wrapping Christmas…
Thierry Henry and nostalgic memories
I brought myself to tears this morning [I cry a lot these days, more than before] seeing the statue of Thierry Henry at the Emirates alongside Tony Adams. Henry was brought to tears by the honour and the memories of…
Journey to Afikpo (Ebonyi State, Nigeria) : Day 3.
Day 3 — 21.08.2011 Yesterday I took a walk, straight up Eke Market Road, to Eke Market itself, but stopped when I reached the end of the road. My walk did not last beyond 30 minutes, because I walk quite…
Journey to Afikpo (Ebonyi State, Nigeria) : Day 2.
Day 2 — 20.08.2011 There is a smell that I have only perceived in Afikpo – in Amuro (where Uncle Otu’s house is) and in Mgbom (where my Dad’s house is). It emanates from smoke, I believe, and elsewhere it…
Journey to Afikpo (Ebonyi State, Nigeria) : Day 1.
Preface Between 19 and 29 August 2011, I travelled to Afikpo (Ebonyi State, Nigeria) as the first of a series of travels and questionings I will be undertaking over a period of one year. I had just finished my studies…
The Skull
Today, I had an interesting encounter with one of my colleagues here in Cairo. He wore rings on every one of his 10 fingers and the rings had the symbol of the skull. When I first saw them my heart…
For insomniacs everywhere – freeing yourself from the tyranny of sleep.
I wonder whether there was ever a time when I slept. When my children were young I used to dream of when they were old enough to wake, go to the loo and get their own cereal and plonk themselves…
A page out of a book – somewhere in Bangalore
On Sabbatical, hiatus, recess, time out, break, something else
Haiti: It is only out of our hands if we donate and want to pick it up*
It’s been just over three weeks and I am finally getting a sense of the destruction to the people and the city of Port-au-Prince. My original plan to meet with women organising in the community has fallen short of what…
Rebirthing: Grandma we are poets
grandma, we are poets: lucille clifton rebirth broadcast #10 from Alexis Gumbs on Vimeo. Take home message: ableism denies and perpetuates trauma. In this poem Lucille Clifton breaks down traditional definitions of autism and reminds us that every way we…
Mami – Chicana – Woman of Color
Drawing by Adam Dwight he’s my friend, he is sweet and beautiful and what an artist too – and I am so proud. Sometimes – if I am honest it is getting to be more often than just “sometimes” –…
Soweto Blues –
Sometimes you miss home and your stomach gets twisted in nostalgia so much so it hurts but its never the same in reality – thats how home is in the heart in the stomach but in the head there is…
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