"We Were Made For These Times"

This website is primarily a compilation of different stories and projects I'm worked on, but every so often I like to share the words that inspire me. Today, here's an excerpt of "We Were Made For These Times" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. The full version is available here. 

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.

The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for."

Black Muslims Face Double Jeopardy, Anxiety In The Heartland (NPR)

I wrote this piece for National Public Radio (NPR) on the intersectional identities of black Muslim immigrants in light of the recent rise in hate crimes and xenophobic rhetoric. You can find the full piece here on NPR's website. 

Jammeh’s Departure Isn’t a True Victory for Gambians and ECOWAS Without Justice (OkayAfrica)

The Gambia's former dictator, Yahya Jammeh

My latest op-ed for Okayafrica takes a look at the lessons learned for ECOWAS from Gambia's electoral crisis. Take a look at the original here or read below. 

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Joy now runs through Africa’s “Smiling Coast” as The Gambia’s dictator Yahya Jammeh has finally ceded power to President-elect Adama Barrow after 22 years. While the former president’s departure has been heralded as a victory for Gambians, it was a botched opportunity for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to show its diplomatic strength.

While blood drops may not have been shed, Jammeh has bled the country dry. During a press conference in Senegal, President Barrow’s special adviser Mai Ahmad Fatty claimed that Jammeh stole over $11 million dollars during the two-week electoral impasse. The former dictator, who flew to his new life in exile via private plane, also absconded with his fleet of Rolls Royces, Mercedes-Benz, and other luxury cars—each with “His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor Yahya AJJ Jammeh” embroidered on the headrests.

Under the joint declaration by the United Nations, African Union and West African regional bloc ECOWAS, Jammeh is not only at liberty to retain his ill-gotten assets, but he is at liberty to return to The Gambia at the time of his choosing.

Having rejected opportunities for asylum in Morocco and Nigeria, Jammeh heads to Equatorial Guinea, where he will no doubt receive a warm welcome from Teodoro Obiang, Africa’s longest serving dictator. Obiang has his own fearsome reputation for torture and a healthy appetite for corruption and, if rumors are to be believed, cannibalism. Given that Obiang’s own son Teodorin is on trial in France for embezzlement, and, moreover, Obiang and Jammeh own mansions on the same street in the tony Maryland suburb of Potomac, Equatorial Guinea’s aging dictator is unlikely to bat an eye at his peer’s indiscretions. More importantly, he will not hand the Gambian ex-president over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as Equatorial Guinea is not a signatory to the Rome Statute.

With no discussion of prosecution and such a flagrant display of corruption following years of repression, can Jammeh’s departure truly be ruled a victory for ECOWAS? Rather than delivering justice to the Gambian people, ECOWAS handed Jammeh a golden parachute.

On one hand, ECOWAS involvement in the Gambian electoral crisis signals progress for a regional bloc with a reputation for protecting outdated incumbents over democratic leaders. On the other, although ECOWAS has played a previous mediating role in recent regional conflicts in Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire, allowing Jammeh to leave The Gambia with de-facto immunity signals toothless diplomacy.

ECOWAS deployed a military operation comprised of tripartite coalition of Senegalese, Nigerian and Ghanaian soldiers with Nigerian air and water support. For The Gambia, a country with little more than a 1,000 soldiers, challenging such an operation would have been foolhardy. In the face of this formidable display of force, the Gambian army chief even admitted that the army would not fight the intervention prior to Jammeh stepping down. Given the backing of the international community and the strength of its military force, ECOWAS had the bargaining chips. Yet it gave them away.

The dawn of The Gambia’s Third Republic is the latest sign that West Africa, a region often troubled by political crisis, is committed to embracing democracy; however, a return to rule of law should be accompanied by justice. In future interventions, ECOWAS, as West Africa’s leading regional bloc, must adopt a stronger stance during such crises or risk undermining its legitimacy.

‘This Feels Like Being Born Again:’ Gambians Hope for Change and Long for Home (New York Times)

Thanks to the team at the New York Times for engaging the voices of Gambians at home and in the diaspora. I shared my thoughts on hope for the regime ahead. Check out the rest of the article, which includes perspectives on joy, limits on power, and the road ahead here. 

"The vast majority of my people have left the Gambia because of the culture of intimidation that Jammeh created. There was no point having a successful business because he would crush it. There was no point aspiring to have a dynamic career because he had limited all opportunities for professional advancement. Now, I believe many of my family will return because of the spirit of hope — of possibility — in the air.” 
Akinyi Ochieng, 23, a Gambian-American writer and student in London

Afropreneurs: This Company Is Bringing Luxury African Fashion Under One Roof Online (OkayAfrica)

Check out the latest edition of OkayAfrica's Afropreneur series featuring new luxury start-up, ONYCHEK (think Net-a-Porter for Africa). You can find the original piece here or scroll for more. 

For 26-year-old health and safety expert turned tech entrepreneur Chekwas Okafor, fashion is a family business. “To a certain extent, I’ve always been running away from fashion,” he explains. “When I was younger, my father imported textiles from China. At the time, I didn’t want to get into the business, which I didn’t think of as fashion—just as something that paid the bills.”

As a biology student at Voorhees College, a historically black institution in South Carolina, Okafor chose practicality over passion. Although his well-tailored, bespoke suits garnered the attention of classmates and led to a short stint in modeling, he cast aside the idea of a career in fashion until a friend introduced him to the work of up-and-coming Nigerian designers.

“I began to wonder about how the fashion industry at home was changing, and how I could leverage that growth to expand opportunities,” he says. “I spent the next two years learning more about the industry, and diving into the world of luxury.”

Okafor’s newly launched e-commerce website, ONYCHEK, is the result of that intensive research period. The site, which stocks a range of clothing and accessories for men and women, aims to foster job creation and cultural preservation in Africa through fashion.

But developing relationships with designers hasn’t been easy. As a new concept, ONYCHEK initially struggled to bring designers on board. Designers protective of their brands were initially hesitant to collaborate, so Okafor adopted a guerrilla approach to making a pitch.

“Because I prefer to show instead of just tell, I bought products from all the prospective brands I was targeting,” he says. “I made an editorial with high-quality images and a mock-up of the company and the website. Based on that, some of them reached out because they were able to visualize what I was building.”

ONYCHEK, which now stocks seven brands including Kenya’s Adele Dejak and South Africa’s MaXhosa by Laduma, focuses exclusively on brands based in Africa. “There are many African designers based in the diaspora who make their products around the world because the continent’s fashion infrastructure is still underdeveloped,” he explains. “However, our focus is on companies that maximize value addition in the region by boosting employment of local suppliers, craftsmen, and manufacturers.”

In 2017, Okafor hopes to expand ONYCHEK’s offerings and has his eye on leading designers like Deola Sagoe and Lisa Folawiyo, favorites among Nigeria’s jet setting elite.

African luxury may be a foreign concept to a fashion industry dominated by western brands, but ONYCHEK hopes to educate consumers on Africa’s diverse cultures and the history behind textiles from batik to adire and imigwegwe through its “African Fashion Dictionary.” The site’s blog, THEINSIGHT, walks customers through traditions around head attire to the new attempts to repurpose the sacred Ankole cow horn.

Through ONYCHEK, Okafor aims to offer consumers something more than just click-to-buy. Through its products, editorials, and social media, the platform hopes to inspire a wave of conscious consumption that inspires consumers to consider the origins of their clothing and accessories.

“In the same way, consumers look to France or Italy for high-quality goods,” Okafor tells OkayAfrica, “I hope they begin to look to Africa.”

Afropreneurs: These Fly Beanies & Hats Help Protect Your Hair In Style (OkayAfrica)

My latest for Okayafrica's Afropreneurs series profiles Grace Eleyae, the Kenyan-American entrepreneur behind new brand Satin-Lined Caps. 

From bonnets to durags, Grace Eleyae tried almost every hair accessory to preserve the moisture in her fine hair. Although satin scarves did the trick at night, she didn’t feel comfortable rocking the look while running errands around town. Struggling to find a functional and fashionable solution, Eleyae launched Satin-Lined Caps in 2014 to empower women to conquer the world while looking good.

Most black women are well acquainted with the nighttime ritual of covering one’s hair. Because cotton pillowcases strip moisture from hair, women of curly textures, particularly black women, have used satin for decades to help reduce breakage. “Because it sucks out that moisture, it causes friction,” Eleyae says, “which causes tangles and breakage as we try to comb it out.”

But day-to-day activities in dry climates can also be hard on hair. After a long trip road trip across Kenya, Eleyae noticed hair breakage after long days traveling in the heat. Frustrated with the lack of stylish protective daytime accessories, she soon broke out her sewing machine to create a prototype of her signature satin-lined cap.

“It was all trial and error,” she tells OkayAfrica. “When I jumped in, I didn’t know what I was doing. At the time, I was working towards a fashion design certificate, so I knew how to sew, sketch, and make patterns.” After cultivating a network of reliable vendors, Eleyae’s vision slowly took shape.

Satin-Lined Caps (affectionately known as SLAPs) are made with a satin interior lining to keep hair moisturized from day to night. They also feature an elastic band to ensure the cap stays in place, and a cotton-knit exterior similar to a beanie, for fashion and comfort. The caps fit a variety of hairstyles from a short crop to waist-length box braids. Eleyae also sells pillowcases, scrunchies, and hats ranging from $7.99 to $45.99.

Although scarves and bonnets are most commonly associated with black women, the SLAP customer base is remarkably diverse. “We’ve seen customers from all different ethnicities and hair textures,” Eleyae says. “In Northern Europe, where the women often have very fine hair, and it’s quite cold and dry, many women will constantly find strands on their pillowcases. The difference is that African-American women see a scarf or the SLAP and immediately understand it; however, women of other ethnicities need to be educated about satin.”

As a much more stylish option than the bulky bonnets found in most beauty store aisles, SLAPs are suitable for everywhere from the grocery store to the gym. Eleyae, who wears her hair natural, favors styling her hair at night and wearing her SLAP while working out to preserve the shape of her twist-out.

Each cap is branded with the founder’s own name—an homage to other female entrepreneurs like Tory Burch and Vera Wang who make products for women. Because Satin-Lined Caps is rooted in Eleyae’s own experience as a woman of color, the company has succeeded in making much-needed products in a traditionally underserved market. As the beauty and apparel industries continue to struggle to cater to women of color, Satin-Lined Caps joins the new spate of brands like Nubian Skin, that are expanding a range of products that empower every woman to look and feel beautiful.