Saxophone player Manu Dibango dies from coronavirus — Dear Kitty. Some blog

 

RIP, Manu Dibango.

The world may only know of your song because Michael Jackson and Rihanna (by proxy) ripped it off, but I know who you are. You were one of the people I gave tribute to in my song “Cameroonian Originality March”. You didn’t deserve this. Your family has my sincerest condolences.

 

 

This 2015 music video says about itself: Soul Makossa – Manu Dibango (Original) Soul Makossa meaning: “I will dance.” Translated from Dutch NOS radio today: Saxophonist and bandleader Manu Dibango has died from the effects of the coronavirus. The 86-year-old musician from Cameroon was best known for the worldwide hit Soul Makossa from 1972. The […]

via Saxophone player Manu Dibango dies from coronavirus — Dear Kitty. Some blog

18th Century Ethiopian Crown to be Returned Home from Netherlands — African Heritage

This was a good news and had to be shared. Enjoy! It is from the BBC. ===== An 18th Century Ethiopian crown will finally be returned home after being hidden in a Dutch flat for 21 years. Ethiopian Sirak Asfaw, who fled to the Netherlands in the late 1970s, discovered the crown in the […]

via 18th Century Ethiopian Crown to be Returned Home from Netherlands — African Heritage

Thank you for sharing this news, Dr. Y.

I needed to hear a positive story given the nonstop depressing things going on here in America. I’m happy that Ethiopia is getting what’s there’s back. It’s a lovely crown and that country getting their diadem back is part of a spree of goodness that’s happened to them like the peace deal with Eritrea, getting a former emperor’s hair back from England, and for setting a new world record for planting trees.

This story made me smile when I was in tears the past few days.

Quote by Miriam Makeba on the Misrepresentation of Africa in the Media — African Heritage

I reblogged this post from Dr. Y’s Afro Legends blog which is so true that I just had to post it on here. Dr. Y is an awesome blogger and person who taught me a lot about African history and cultures that they NEVER teach you in school (at least here in America or the West as a whole.

That quote from Miriam Makeba is inarguable with how Western mainstream media treats the continent. At best it takes place in a fictional country that no one will ever visit (see: Wakanda in Black Panther). At worst, the whole continent is either war-torn, super poor, and uncivilized.

The Tarzan example is spot on. Granted, I’m more familiar with the Disney version, but it only proves my point since that company was too cowardly to put any Black characters in that film. That and having a certain other movie which has no humans at all also proves Makeba’s point (**cough** The Lion King **cough**). It’s as if Hollywood sees Africa as either a giant zoo, some conflict-torn continent, or a place where they can get their rocks off by exterminating Black people offscreen in their movies much like aforementioned Disney movie examples.

Thank for sharing, Dr. Y!

“People in the United States [the West] still have a ‘Tarzan’ movie view of Africa. That’s because in the movies all you see are jungles and animals . . . We [too] watch television and listen to the radio and go to dances and fall in love.” Miriam Makeba

via Quote by Miriam Makeba on the Misrepresentation of Africa in the Media — African Heritage

Slower Blogging Ahead…

For the month of November, I’m going to be swamped with so many things. There’s work and me participating in this year’s NaNoWriMo. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for posting new content on here or my other blogs, so I won’t be as active as I once was.

In the meantime, you can download my newest single: https://ospreyshire.bandcamp.com/album/diletanttism-end-of-a-decade-single

You can download some books from NoiseTrade: https://books.noisetrade.com/cmbbell