Opinion Editorial

“What Lupita Nyong’o Can Teach Us About Beauty,” The Guardian.

“There is an important history to all this, to how society has conditioned us to equate beauty and worth with the lightness of our skin color. Understanding a little of this history of racial categorization can help place the issue of colorism in some much-needed context….”

“Facing Down Nigeria’s Ghosts,” The New York Times

“Before my grandmother died in 2010, she gave each of her 17 grandchildren a crisp one-pound note. It was an unceremonious gift, without lectures or reminiscing. She opened my hands and firmly pressed the bill into my palm. “You must keep this,” she said, before following up in Igbo: “Inugo?” Do you hear me? “Yes, Grandma,” I responded. “Thank you….”

“Dancing Through the Difficulties,” The Guardian

“I was raised to the deep scratchy voice of Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong and his thundering trumpet, the rich almost crystal clear vocals of Bing Cosby, the haunting hypnotism of Billie Holiday, the scatting sass of Ella Fitzgerald, and the dapper cocktail lounge swoon of Dean Martin. By sheer passion and vinyl volume my father encouraged his children to appreciate not only a wide range of musicians and talent, but to also appreciate and recognize the various ways music could hypnotize us into distinct moods and could cultivate specific feelings in us.”