Voice, we all have it

"Writing and giving voice to what I am feeling makes me happy. And supporting people in finding their voice, passion, outrage and resistance. There is nothing better than that." Eve Ensler

Greetings

Seven things I thought I would share.

Photo by Giu Vicente on Unsplash

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1. Africa Podfest recently had their African Podcast Day Festival and also released a research report "IS THIS MIC ON?" Exploring how podcasting is taking root across Africa. Last year, I started writing a blog post on the challenges I have had in starting a podcast, the things that I am learning, etc. I am still to finish the post and a two-to-three week break I decided to take towards the end of last year became a six-month hiatus.

2. I did finally publish a new episode of the Listen To Your Footsteps podcast in which I chat to Mensa ‘M3nsa’ Ansah, a Ghanaian artist, musician, filmmaker, etc. who I am lucky enough to call friend.

3. I love finding new music. The latest is the Indian folk metal band, Bloodywood. They are properly in your face.

4. I confess to having used the term ‘sub-Saharan Africa’ without interrogating it. And then I came across this tweet:

   Bethlehem Tekola @BethTekola

   Academics routinely use the term “sub-Saharan Africa”. Until recently, I also used it without really thinking much about it or questioning its use. But it’s problematic and should be avoided. Here are two excellent pieces explaining why:

   The two pieces referenced in the tweet and shared in the thread are Rethinking the Term “Sub Saharan Africa” and Why do we still use the term “sub-Saharan Africa”?

5. We live in a data-driven world and yet, as Tefo Mohapi writes in the article Solving the Afrikan football data problem, “There isn't much data on Afrikan football. Data hasn't been placed at the centre of the Afrikan football discussion hence the reason for the African Football Data Centre, says its initiator, Cameroon's Kingsley Pungong.”

6. Over the years, I have tried to become a lot more deliberate about how I use social media. The dark and toxic elements of the different platforms can potentially alter my mood for the worse. I can’t imagine what being a content moderator for a social media platform like Facebook is like, being constantly exposed to the worst in human beings. Inside Facebook’s African Sweatshop.

7. I recently came across Song Exploder on Netflix which is a series on the story behind songs. And then discovered that there is a podcast with 230 episodes. The episode on Alicia Keys’ 3 Hour Drive featuring Sampha had me in my feelings. It is about life and death in a way that I could totally relate. I also loved the episode on R.E.M’s Losing My Religion.

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Easy

Kojo