I’d often wonder if African peoples from before they were colonized had more comprehensive concepts of what constitutes a person, and how they understood romantic and sexual encounters between people. I wonder if by revisiting some of these concepts and reintroducing them, we can build a bridge to better care for, and respect queer Africans. Indegious african perspectives on sexuality are desirable, but not necessary to guarantee the dignity of members of our community.
Types of People at a Habesha wedding
The rich aunt touched by Marzel: Elegant and beautiful. Foreshadowing a season of drought in my life – she makes it rain ! Bless her heart !
The secret lives of commotion:
We revisit "Fuji House of Commotion' and 'The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives"
In Yoruba tradition, it was acceptable for a man to bring in a second, third, even fourth wife, as long as they all respected the women that came before them. As my age group grew older and more exposed to the larger world, we began to discuss these traditions, sorting out the ones that worked for us and the ones that did not.
When do you pop the question ?
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 …
The wedding of Nana Achaa Boahemaa II, Queen Mother of the Ashanti Kingdom
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.
The Winecarrying:
Mama and Papa Chisom are getting married—again. Or, at last.
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
My Great-Grandmother married her Husband’s Brother.
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.
Good family:
Who is worthy of love ?
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.
Jumping the Broom and the Black Power Movement
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.
Diplomatic relations.
There is a good story, the Law of the Grazing Field by Cyprian Ekwensi , and in this story a woman and her groom run away to get married because they might not be permitted to marry in their homes. This also happens traditionally in Somalia. If you are closer than 80km away from the girl’s parents, without their permission, you can not marry.
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