<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Orijin Culture &#187; africa</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.orijinculture.com/community/tag/africa/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community</link>
	<description>A unique &#34;Brand&#34; connecting all African descendants together through culture; Fashion, Music &#38; Lifestyle. Keep the culture Alive.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:35:28 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Happy Independence Day to the Republic of Kenya!</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/happy-independence-day-republic-kenya/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=happy-independence-day-republic-kenya</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/happy-independence-day-republic-kenya/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:08:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nekita</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[independence day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jomo Kenyatta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Masai tribe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Republic of Kenya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[safaris]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5397</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


As one of the most diverse and most developed and economically robust nations in Africa, Kenya has come a long way since gaining independence from the British on December 2nd, 1963. Led by Named after Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kenya, the Republic of Kenya has played and continues to play an important role in African, particularly Eastern African development.
Although numerous media reports have characterized Kenya as being plagued by “ethnic violence” and recent droughts have resulted widespread famine, is makes claims to some of the worlds most spectacular and diverse wild-life reserves and safaris.  Kenya is also home to one of Africa’s most interesting and well known tribes, the Masia.

Like most African and post-colonial nations, Kenya continues to encounter various political, economic and social ills. However, there is always hope for the future. As noted by Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first Prime Minister &#8220;You and I must work together to develop our country, to get education for our children, to have doctors, to build roads, to improve or provide all day-to-day essentials.&#8221; As long as Kenyans continue to develop ways to work together then they will be able to overcome many of the issues they continue to face.
Orijin will to wish the Republic of Kenya and it’s people a happy independence day!



]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/happy-independence-day-republic-kenya/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>acirfA rethoM</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/acifa-rethom/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=acifa-rethom</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/acifa-rethom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:09:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Free Your Mind (Poetry, Spoken words)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acirfA rethoM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[genocide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[image]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mother africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rwanda]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5268</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Acirfa Rethom, the earliest memory I have of her has been glossed over by the passage of time and yet the sensations of our first meeting still come to mind. The warmth of her embrace was like the sun coming through a gap in the curtains on a lazy Sunday morning. Her laugh was infectious, and sparkled like the early evening sun reflecting back off the rippling waves of Lake Victoria. Her eyes deep and seemingly fathomless, held promise of understanding that endeared trust. Her smell was like the damp earth just after a rainstorm.
Like a child I loved her completely. Like a child, understanding was not a prerequisite for love.

&#160;
Time passed and I grew up. I was exposed to others who though beautiful in their own right could never quite measure up to the adore with which I held her. With time and appreciation, her smile had taken on a more mischievous glint. Her hair fell over her eye, like the reeds on a riverbank, hiding the mystery that lurked therein. The mere mention of her name sent shivers down my spine and had me puffing out my chest, strutting around like a young buck on the Savannah.
I had begun to hear whispers though. She was broken. She was twisted. She was not who she claimed to be. She was a plaything for the highest bidder. She was a bad apple that simply knew how to dress up nice.  

I paid them no mind. What did they know? How could they doubt the realness of what we had between us? Could they not see that ours was a love that little could break? With a flippant attitude, I rattled off the list of whisper to her, confident that like myself she would pay them no mind. That we would laugh at the haters and carry on where we had left off.
She didn’t laugh though. She simply smiled as I came to the end of the list.  It was a different smile. This one tinged with sadness, robbed of the warmth that I had come to know and expect. 
 
A tear worked its way down from her left eye as she raised her hand to pull away the hair from the right side of her face. That is when I saw the first bruise. Like a blemish on a Sunday dress, prominently unmistakable. I sat there in horrified silence as she continued to strip away the rest of her clothing, revealing with each layer scars both new and old. Some scabbed over while others festered. Purple bruises, old burn wounds replete with purulent discharge. The sickeningly sweet smell of liniment washed over me where once there were only sweet fragrances.
How could I have not noticed? How could I have been so blinded? My mind spinning, my heart filled with thoughts of betrayal, I ran as fast and as far as my legs could carry me. The last sound I heard as my frantic feet cleared her doorstep was the anguished sobbing [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/acifa-rethom/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Male RAPE by Women: Myth or Fact?</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/male-rape-women-myth-fact/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=male-rape-women-myth-fact</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/male-rape-women-myth-fact/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:21:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>cadmin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kelvin Hazangwi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[man raped by woman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[men]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Padare Menâ's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sexual violence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taboo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zimbabwe]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#160;


I just read this in the news :
Three women in Zimbabwe are accused of raping at least four men to get their sperm for traditional rituals. The women, who have been charged with 17 counts of aggravated indecent assault, go on trial today in a case that has shocked the country. Police officials in Zimbabwe believe the alleged perpetrators are part of a nationwide syndicate that may be using the sperm for a traditional ritual claiming to make people lucky and wealthy. They were apprehended in a town about 170 miles outside of the capital city of Harare after police found 31 used condoms in their car. At least nine men have come forward with similar stories of being attacked. One of the alleged victims told his story on a popular national talk show called Maichiamba. He said he was raped after accepting a car ride from the women.
&#8220;One of the women threw water in my face and they injected me with something that gave me a strong sexual desire. They stopped the car and made me have sex with each of them several times, using condoms,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When they had finished they left me in the bush totally naked.&#8221; The man said he went to the hospital to be treated for the drug&#8217;s effects and called the police. After facing ridicule and scorn over the attack, he said he came forward publicly because he wanted to help other victims.
Female Rapists Go On Trial Today
&#8220;I&#8217;ve noticed that the men who have come forward are really traumatized after seeking medical assistance of these rapes and need counselling,&#8221; Kelvin Hazangwi, National Director of the Padare Menâ&#8217;s Forum on Gender, tells ABC News. &#8220;Some of them, their partners left them and they could not go back to their families. Their social networks have broken down.&#8221;
Hazangwi says that male rape is still a taboo subject in a society that has very clear definitions of masculinity. For example the women have been charged with aggravated indecent assault rather than rape because a man being sexually assaulted by a woman is not recognized under Zimbabwean rape laws.
&#8220;This case is shocking not only for the men but also for the society as a whole,&#8221; says Hazangwi. &#8220;Many people drove to the police station just to get a glimpse or a view of the women that would rape men.&#8221;
The women have denied the charges, claiming they are prostitutes and did not have time to dispose of the condoms. Cousins Rosemary Chakwizira, 24, and Sophie Nhokwara, 26 told local media that since being out on $300 bail, they&#8217;ve been in hiding after having their lives threatened.
&#8220;Are we not suspects until proven guilty? It&#8217;s as if people have already made their judgments and found us guilty,&#8221; Nhokwara said in an interview with New Zimbabwe.com.
Regardless of the outcome, the case has started a dialogue in the country about attitudes and treatment of sexual violence against men
&#8220;We are realizing that rape whether it happens to grandmother, a child, or a man is wrong,&#8221; [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/male-rape-women-myth-fact/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Benefits of Being Backward</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/benefits/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=benefits</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/benefits/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:19:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Damola</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheap labour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Discovery channel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lifestyle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[playstaion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Benefits of Being Backward]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5151</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I remember telling a friend of mine that I was looking forward to going back home for a break and how by the time I had finished regaling him with tales of power outages, shoddy Internet, and potholed roads, he wondered what the heck there was to look forward to!
I couldn&#8217;t articulate how electricity is that much more appreciated because we don&#8217;t have it all the time, how reaching your destination is that much more meaningful after spending three hours in traffic, how no Internet probably means I&#8217;ll be able to finish those books I&#8217;ve been meaning to read, or even how I would rather sweat my balls off in Nigeria than freeze to death in Philadelphia.
So all the talking I failed to do then, I intend to do right now.

Now first off, backwards is relative. I say that for those of you who think Africa is full of huts and lions and God knows what. That&#8217;s not the kind of backwards I&#8217;m talking about. I am talking about concrete houses with lights, electricity, WC&#8217;s, air conditioners&#8230; and everything else your houses are probably equipped with as well. Except, electricity supply is spastic, water is supplied by a water pump in a bore hole in the back yard, and the Internet is accessed via a wired dialup 56K modem. So we&#8217;re not talking pre-historic versus modern, we&#8217;re talking perhaps a 10 year lag at most.
Anyway, when you realize this, you think &#8216;Well that&#8217;s not half bad, is it? But why would I even want to go a decade into the past regardless?&#8217; That&#8217;s where the benefits I want to talk about come into play. Because parents in the more advanced west have started complaining about children who never go out to play. College students are getting addicted to Facebook and World of Warcraft. Adults are finding it hard to pay their electric bills, and the aged? Well the aged always have something to complain about&#8230;
So how are these problems solved in Nigeria? Many of them are solved by the lack of constant electricity which makes it impossible to be on any electric device 24/7. That is unless you have tons of money to buy yourself a constant supply of diesel for the generator or two that you also have to buy and constantly maintain. This means no TV, no PC, no DS, no PS3, no AB, no CD, and certainly no EFG 24/7, if it is powered by electricity. Hence, your children will go out to play and to visit friends, you won&#8217;t be pointlessly wasting time on Facebook, and your parents will complain about the phone bill instead. There&#8217;s always some bill to worry about innit?
Besides these advantages of prevention by lack, there are other things that &#8220;not having&#8221; does for you&#8230; like boredom. And when you&#8217;re bored you&#8217;re either going to sleep or you&#8217;re going to find something to do. Something which does not require electricity and is thus likely to be something physical. So you&#8217;ll get exercise, or you&#8217;ll get rest &#8211; and both are good for [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/benefits/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Charity or &#8220;Spare me Some Change&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/charity-spare-change/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=charity-spare-change</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/charity-spare-change/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:58:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zack</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA["Spare me some Change"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alicia keys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[begger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bono]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[branding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cause]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Fry]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5138</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Where do you go shopping when guilt comes knocking ?
I was sitting outside the library the other day trying to indulge myself a little bit in the fleeting sunlight as another frantic day as Drexel drew to a close. All around me people rushed to and fro in an endless wave of colors and styles that reflected the diverse nature of our urban campus. Soon, a friend joined me on my island of tranquility and we sat there for a while engaged in the age old pass time of people watching. Time passed and soon we became engaged in a heated debate on the nature of shoes and the brand names that dominate college campuses. My stance being that a shoe was just a shoe and that anyone who went shopping for a brand had bought into consumerism. Her stance was that style mattered and that my assertion that a shoe was just a shoe was a manifestation of my wash and wear mentality. As I scratched my head for an appropriate comeback, I looked across the street and noticed a girl holding a clipboard and stopping people to ask them to sign a petition.
Dressed in a dark blue hoodie, a knit hat, faded jeans, dark rimmed glasses, she petitioned people for signatures. Curiously, people kept finding creative ways to look busy so that they would not have to make eye contact with her and thus be forced/enticed into signing her petition and/or give her money. On the corner a little bit further away there was a black man sitting on the pavement. His face hagerred, his clothes tattered and his body language that of a man who has been on the receiving end of the worst that life has to offer. Armed with an alms bowl, he too sough the charity of strangers. Intrigued, I sat there and watched for an hour or so. Taking note of the number of people that stopped to sign the young lady’s petition versus give the old man some of their change. What I noticed pretty soon was that despite the fact that people dodged the young lady in increasingly creative ways (One guy “received” call that lasted only until he was just past her), more people stopped for her than saw the homeless man let alone stopped to give him change.
Curious to know what the young lady was doing differently, I walked over and asked her what she was petitioning for. She said she was advocating for a nonprofit that collected food and clothing to be shipped to refugees in Darfur. I commended her for her effort and walked over to the homeless man at the corner and asked him how he had come to be on the streets. He told me that he was a Vietnam veteran who had struggled to find work after coming back into the country following his tour of duty and had gone job to job before his luck had ran out leaving him destitute in the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/charity-spare-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Isaiah washington: Tracing roots is not enough</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/isaiah-washington-man-land/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=isaiah-washington-man-land</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/isaiah-washington-man-land/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:55:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>cadmin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[activist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Actor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[African American]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[isaiah washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sierra Leone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tracing roots]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5010</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In this new era, we are now able to discover our past. Through DNA testing, one can trace their blood line and learn about their roots.
A tree without its roots is dead.
 

Grey&#8217;s Anatomy, Isaiah Washington, did just this. One might imagine that for an individual so accomplished such as Washington (actor, human rights activist, Winner of NAACP Image Award and Screen Actors Guild winning American actor), would be looking forward to his future. Instead, he was looking for his past (Sankofar). Through DNA testing, Washington was traced to the Mende people currently living in Sierra Leone. This discovery was just the beginning of a new journey for Isaiah. After visiting Sierra Leone and educating himself on his people, Isaiah was inspired.
As humans, many of us have the natural instinct to take care of our family. Well, it must have been Isaiah&#8217;s instinct that sparked the need to help and give back to his people. After building a relation with the Mende people, Isaiah Washington was inducted as Chief Gondobay Manga in May 2006. He went on to establish The Gondobay Manga Foundation to address the needs of the Mende people. Through these good deeds, Isaiah was honored as the first person to be granted Citizenship of Sierra Leone in 2008. They say what goes around, comes around and Isaiah is a true example of this.
This is such an opportunity for African Americans to reach far back into their past if they choose. This can be the bridge we&#8217;ve been looking for to connect the new world to the old one. 
]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/isaiah-washington-man-land/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Letter to Mama Afrika in Heaven: &#8220;Ninakupenda Malaika&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/letter-mama-afrika-heaven-ninakupenda-malaika/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=letter-mama-afrika-heaven-ninakupenda-malaika</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/letter-mama-afrika-heaven-ninakupenda-malaika/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>cadmin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apartheid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fela kuti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kwame nkrumah]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mama Afrika]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[miriam makeba]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ninakupenda Malaika]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pata Lucky Dube]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[South Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soweto]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=5048</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Dear mama Afrika
It has been two years since you left us and my tears have not dried up yet, still flowing like the river Nile through the Kenyan forest , up on the mountain Kilimanjaro and back down to the dusty roads of Soweto. The tears of  November 10th,  16 days before thanksgiving still lingers. Flashbacks of that early morning cockcrow that woke me up trembling, the unplugged radio that suddenly played &#8220;pata pata&#8221;.

Just like yesterday I still remember that cold wind that blew through the closed wooden window,  sending chills down my spine. I still hear the cars honking sadly like a funeral matching band and the newspaper boy who said &#8220;Mama don go&#8221; as I bought November 10th newspaper  from him. I still see in the black and white print on the first page
&#8220;She was enjoying herself,&#8221; Zamo Mbutho, a backing singer and composer with the band, told the Sowetan newspaper.
The audience had loved her performance, although she played fewer songs than originally planned. She finished off with &#8220;Pata Pata&#8221;, one of her best known hits, he added.
&#8220;After the song she thanked the audience, blew kisses at them with a radiant smile and left the stage. As she went past me, she put the mic on the drum. As she went down the stairs, she fell.&#8221;
&#8220;It was the first time she left alone,&#8221; guitarist Mandla Zikalala told the Star.
Just like that Mama , gone and I never got to say good bye. Gone but not forgotten.  We still speak about your strength to fight against apartheid, even though it put bruises on you, even though it put you behind bars, even though it took you away from us for 31years, missing my youthful days. I am thankful because today  I sit in a classroom with black and white people, we read the same books,  sing the same songs and share history together.  They are my friends. I have meet people from various cultural backgrounds, especially after the worldcup in South Africa. We made Africa proud. I am  learning some few languages, such as Swahili. I think Swahili should be taught all over Africa and become Africa&#8217;s main language? Maybe I am crazy to think that way. It just reminds me of when you sang Malaika:

Anyway Mama, There are some few things that bother me about the future of Africa with the invasion of the West and East, which I call &#8220;Africa&#8217;s Development with out sunglasses&#8221;. I fear that if we do not take ownership of our land we will be selling Africa blindly to &#8220;development&#8221;. Not to say development is bad but we ought to make sure we protect our land in the process. I will rather save this topic for another time Mama. I miss you alot, say hi to Lucky Dube, Fela Kuti, Kwame Nkrumah and all our loved ones. It is always good talking to you and  it amazes me how you used music to bring us close to each other no matter how far we [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/letter-mama-afrika-heaven-ninakupenda-malaika/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is British designer Vivienne Westwood, Kenya&#8217;s friend or foe?</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/british-designer-vivienne-westwood-kenyas-friend-foe/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=british-designer-vivienne-westwood-kenyas-friend-foe</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/british-designer-vivienne-westwood-kenyas-friend-foe/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:41:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>NoelleBonner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fashion & Style]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA["I am not a terrorist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA["THIS IS NOT CHARITY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[british designer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gianni Versace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[habeas corpus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[International Trade Center's Ethical fashion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenyan women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oscar de la Renta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[please don't arrest me"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[punk-fashion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ralph Lauren]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[THIS IS WORK"]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valentino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vivienne Westwood]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=4979</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
When famous designers pair with charity organizations with the hopes of using their brand power to bring more attention to an issue or cause; often the feedback is mixed. People either choose to support and accept the designer for their interest, or they attack them for being disingenuous and having ulterior motives. So when Vivienne Westwood chose to pair with the International Trade Center&#8217;s Ethical fashion program to create a handbag line made by poor &#8220;marginalized&#8221; Kenyan women, the debate began. Was the iconic British designer participating in the continued disenfranchisement of Kenyan women? Or was she truly lending her brand power to make real change? I think its important to consider who Vivienne Westwood is, and has been to the fashion industry to begin to answer this question.


&#160;
Starting her iconic fashion brand in 1981, Vivienne Westwood has proudly been the face of the outsiders, &#8220;others&#8221; and outcasts in society since the foundation of her brand. The mother of punk fashion-bringing its unique and quirky elements to the forefront at a time when people like Gianni Versace were sending mega bombshells down the runway and other designers like Oscar de la Renta, Valentino and Ralph Lauren had settled into their iconic styles-she was one of the first designers to draw 100% of their inspiration from the street. Plugging into a sub-cultural phenomenon to &#8220;feed&#8221; her art. Finding beauty and value in the style of rockers, bikers, provocateurs, and even prostitutes, her persistence in bringing punk fashion to the mainstream paid off in droves. Giving a voice to a culture previously ignored by society, and making her an incredible force within the industry.



Also known for her political activism, Vivienne Westwood is notorious for taking a strong and vocal position on many issues. Campaigning in freezing temperatures for Nuclear Disarmament at the Atomic Weapons Establishment in 2008 (http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2008/03/25/westwoods-easter-march). Using her platform as a designer to pair with the British civil rights group Liberty to launch exclusive t-shirts and baby clothing stating &#8220;I am not a terrorist, please don&#8217;t arrest me&#8221; to defend habeas corpus. A right that invokes the spirit of democracy. Writing a manifesto called &#8220;Active Resistance Manifesto&#8221;, in which she analyzes arts relation to the human predicament. Claiming &#8220;We have the choice to become more cultivated and therefore more human – or by muddling along as usual we shall remain the destructive and self-destroying animal, the victim of our own cleverness (To be or not to be)&#8221; (Westwood, Active Resistance Manifesto, pg.1). She has even gone so far as to denounce our mainstream culture for its hyper consumerism. Remedying her position as a fashion designer by telling those that can afford her designs to buy them but not buy too much (wikipedia).

&#160;
Vivienne Westwood is not a flighty designer, disconnected from the world that has chosen to partner with The International Trade Center&#8217;s Ethical Fashion to gain financially from putting poor Kenyan women to work. In fact she is an incredibly aware, cause conscious individual; that has historically used her position [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/british-designer-vivienne-westwood-kenyas-friend-foe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Poet, Joyce Lee : Spoken Words of the Unspoken &#8220;black American womyn&#8221; (Exclusive Interview)</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/indigo-thread-women-vision-purpose-2/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=indigo-thread-women-vision-purpose-2</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/indigo-thread-women-vision-purpose-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:47:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>michelleflowers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fresh Off the Boat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arlene Eisen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James Baldwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joyce Lee]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nina Simone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sam Cooke]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=4944</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Interview: Joyce Lee
Interviewed by Michelle Flowers


Poet and performer, Joyce Lee, has toured the United States and been featured at the Nuyorican Poetry Café, Yoshi&#8217;s of San Francisco, 1st Annual Oakland Gay Pride Parade, and many other spoken word events. As the winner of the 2009 and 2010 Oakland Grand Slams, she speaks with Michelle Flowers of Orijin Culture’s Indigo Thread about her influences, art as testimony and her need to grow beyond boundaries of time and space.
Q: What makes spoken word such a unique art form?
A: The artist makes it unique. Spoken word is as ancient as storytelling or a Cathedral confessional. It makes it unique. Time and dedication to new and old truths, if we dare to tell them, make spoken word unique. There is a humbling power in being blessed enough to describe the human experience, especially as a black American womyn raised in the church. Traditionally, we are taught to serve and submit whether it be to parents, elders, pastors and/or Jesus. I have been baby sitting, styling my own hair, washing my own clothes, and making my own snacks and sometimes meals since I was eight—and my mother was and is very active in my life—active, functional and awesome, but for the most part she raised me like she was raised, and I am raised similar to how many of my black womyn friends were raised: to serve, obey, be pretty and not be heard. So to break out of that shaping, and be blessed with the words to describe the shaping and the process of breaking out of that shaping for yourself and other womyn, is a very powerful and humbling experience, particularly when that kind of testimony is referred to as Art.
Q: Who are some of the African American female spoken work artists that you look up to?
A: To be honest, there really aren’t many that I look up to. I’m not stating that none of them are “good” but most of my heroes were before my time. But I am impressed by Mahogany Brown because she too is from Oakland, and is a spoken word artist and curates the Nuyorican Poetry Café in Manhattan, NY, she is a student and a mentor and remains accessible. I am impressed by her because she realized that she had a spotlight and could’ve stopped there and been content or selfish! However, she chose so much more and remains strong and sweet, which is a hard balance. I am impressed because she is a phenomenal writer, but I can describe her justly without ever mentioning it and she would still be just as interesting.
Q: Who or what are your other artistic influences?
A: Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, James Baldwin. Arlene Eisen is a published author and friend/ mentor to me. She has been a HUGE influence to my growth and awareness as a womyn and critical thinker. I also have been influenced by Alice Walker, Zora Neal Hurston, and my mother Rolette Findley. My brother-in-law, Kevin Barnes, makes [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/indigo-thread-women-vision-purpose-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Masculinisation or Dehumanization? The Sambia Tribe of Papua New Guinea</title>
		<link>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/masculinisation-dehumanization-sambia-tribe-papua-guinea/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=masculinisation-dehumanization-sambia-tribe-papua-guinea</link>
		<comments>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/masculinisation-dehumanization-sambia-tribe-papua-guinea/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:02:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nekita</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culturally Misunderstood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[on stand by culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roots & Culture Effect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Masculinisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Papua New Guinea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sambia Tribe]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.orijinculture.com/community/?p=4927</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
In today’s society, we have to be careful about how we view and portray cultural practices as due to our own ignorance and conditioning as inhabitants of the West, which are heavy influenced by Eurocentric theories, we are prone to condemn things that are unfamiliar to us or might deem them to be “barbaric.” As we have seen with the practice of female genital circumcision, there continues to be discord between what many of us might consider inhumane practices and what might be viewed as by some as “sacred cultural practices.” The difficulty comes in when we as individuals have to assess and judge for ourselves what practices should be protected and respected for their cultural significance and which practices should be deemed inhumane regardless of their cultural importance.
Such is the case of the practice of masculinisation as it is conducted by the Sambia Tribe in Papua New Guinea. This ritual, which is a symbol of a young boy’s rite of passage to manhood, starts when a boy is between the ages of 6 to 10 and comprises of 6 stages. Imperative to the processes and teaching of the initial ceremony is the notion that women can be dangerous to men.  To become a man, and in essence a “warrior,” these young men are taught how to detach themselves from their mothers and the women around them as a means of showing that they can live without them and prove their masculinity.

The six stage process of affirming one’s manhood can take anywhere from 10 to 15 years until these young men give birth to a child. Much of the initiation and training is characterizes by what some have deemed to be highly eroticized and sexual. In the first stages, a sharp stick of cane is inserted deeply into the young boy’s nostrils until he bleeds profusely. The young boys are also introduced to older warriors who are told that bachelors are going to “copulate” with them to make them grow. Throughout much of the 6 stages, the act of having the stick of cane inserted into the nostrils and the performance of “fallatio”  are integral to the process of becoming a man. While the former practice is often derided by many as “inhumane” and the latter is often referred to as “homosexual” behaviour, the Sambia’s understanding and purpose behind these two processes differs from our conventional understanding.

While many of us might view the practice of inserting the cane stick into the nostrils as being “inhumane,” because of the obvious infliction of pain and injury to the body, for the Sambia it is a symbol of strength and his ability to sustain pain, which is a needed requirement of a warrior. Additionally, the act of performing fellatio and the act of ingesting semen is seen as an integral part of manhood because boys are unable to mature into men unless they ingest semen and they adhere to the notion that all men have, “eaten the penis”. According to Sambia belief, the [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.orijinculture.com/community/2011/masculinisation-dehumanization-sambia-tribe-papua-guinea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments></slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

