16 Feb 2014 2 Comments
in My Sexuality is a Human Right Tags: LGBT, Nigeria
Love and I, repeat again, Love and I.
Love is termed as the greatest of it all,
because any kind of Love is better than all kinds of hatred.
Though we are faced with greater challenge today, but am sure we shall conquer it all.
Though we live in a continent
where hatred is now perpetually the message we hear, by the people around us, in the media, and every corner we turn our ears. More
17 Jan 2014 8 Comments
in My Sexuality is a Human Right Tags: Anti-Gay, Gay, Homophobia, LGBT, Nigeria
During a visit to Nigeria in 2004, my mother told me about a massive row she had recently had with her neighbour. The row had started because the neighbour had put up some cables in front of my mother’s apartment without her permission. My mother in anger had pulled down the cables and hence this massive row – during which they shouted and called each other names. It went on for ages. My mother said, out of nowhere the neighbour shouted “Don’t take your frustrations out on me, just because your son is a homosexual”. My mother said “that just destroyed me and I went inside and started crying”. More
29 Oct 2013 4 Comments
A short documentary following Paul Woodward and myself as we prepared for our two separate one-man storytelling performances in “The Father+Mother Project” – ‘Killing My Mother’ and ‘Fathers & Feathers.’
This film was produced, directed and edited by Francois Lubbe (littleredshoes.me).
21 Oct 2013 2 Comments
in Reflections Tags: Gay, LGBT, Nigeria, Race
How I am both black and gay at the same time – (Gay Star News)
24 Sep 2013 5 Comments
in Gay Tags: Africa, Father, Gay, LGBT, Mother, Storytelling
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do ” – Brené Brown
Early next month I take to stage with a fellow storyteller to share stories about my journey with my mother. My solo piece is called ‘Killing My Mother’!
When I think of the phrase ‘killing my mother’ there are three stories that come to mind. The first story features the statement – ‘I never killed my mother, so you cannot kill me’. This was something my mother often said, as she would beat me in my teens whenever I misbehaved. The second features – ‘You have killed me!’ This was the first thing that my mother screamed when in my late 20s I told her that I was gay. The third features – ‘You made your mother miserable and that misery killed her’. This was what my mother’s pastor told me when I returned to Nigeria in my 40s for my mother’s funeral.
I recently sat down with my fellow storytelling collaborator (Paul Woodward) to discuss our upcoming performance, our inspiration and intentions….. here is our conversation…..
10 Aug 2013 2 Comments
in Reflections Tags: Africa, Gay, Inspiration, Reflections
I have always journeyed between two worlds,
for that is all I know.
And even though I often long
to simply be in one place and call it home,
that experience feels so alien to me.
And so I continue to travel
– from here to there,
from now to then. More
OutTales around the Fire 