As a child, I would sit on our living room couch for hours listening to my father tell stories from back home. Despite being miles away from Oromia, he carried their oral storytelling traditions with him. It was through these stories I was first introduced to the rich and complex history and culture of my people. For centuries storytelling served …

During their time, when children are born, the male and the female child are betrothed to one another. The male’s family will come to the home of the female’s family and ask for her hand in marriage. She will marry the man that her family has agreed from birth that she should marry.

There is an unspoken rule that the child of a couple that has not celebrated a traditional wedding in full cannot celebrate one of their own. So Mama and Papa Chisom are doing their winecarrying ceremony, at last; they are moving on from the Imego fulfilled 25 years ago to the Igba nkwu

In a society with no social insurance checks and no modern medicine, your family was not just your labour force. Your family was your healthcare system, your emergency response unit, and your primary caregiver. Polygamy promised safety. Everyone had a family, and every family protected their own.

Marriage is not about marriage – it is about power. It is about who is considered valuable, and what human interactions are sanctioned by society. This is what I am going to discuss here—value systems that are upheld and reproduced through marriage rituals.

When any couple ties the knot, they bring together long-standing traditions with at times convoluted histories, not unlike that of jumping the broom. Ultimately, wedding customs exist to accent the joining of families and the declaration of mutual love and fidelity.

During their time, when children are born, the male and the female child are betrothed to one another. The male’s family will come to the home of the female’s family and ask for her hand in marriage. She will marry the man that her family has agreed from birth that she should marry.

Marriage is not about marriage – it is about power. It is about who is considered valuable, and what human interactions are sanctioned by society. This is what I am going to discuss here—value systems that are upheld and reproduced through marriage rituals.

This is the crux of many a discussion on culture and carnival. There is the view of the cultural purists who want to see the tradition stay the same, where the meaning and connection to the origin are preserved. Then there are the entrepreneurs who say ‘yes, but it’s also business’. There is always this tension between the instrumental value and economic value of culture and the arts.

Despite the global pandemic, the spirit of Carnival has not deflated in the hearts of Carnival artists who make these celebrations their life’s work.

Steel pan was a defiant instrument. At the time it was invented, the people of Trinidad were exposed to and under the rule of the powers of be at that time. And because when the slaves originally came to Trinidad against their will, they took away their native instruments including the drums. But they found another way to flourish.

We should not be afraid of change. Instead, we must explore the ways in which we are still connected. We are all on a common journey to freedom.

The rich aunt touched by Marzel: Elegant and beautiful. Foreshadowing a season of drought in my life – she makes it rain ! Bless her heart !

Steel pan was a defiant instrument. At the time it was invented, the people of Trinidad were exposed to and under the rule of the powers of be at that time. And because when the slaves originally came to Trinidad against their will, they took away their native instruments including the drums. But they found another way to flourish.

Love Letter to Sudan is an ongoing series of digital collages using dated and modern photographs of my families in Sudan during the 1960s – 1990s.

To the 20-somethings out there, I understand that the hustle is real, the grind is real. The deck is stacked against you until we can reshuffle the cards.