Oríkì

Àbèbí Agbó,
Omo Agbó máàtí,
Omo agbérekete f’Óba!
Gbígbé lèyín ngbé,
Omolómo ní nru igi oko.
Among the Yorùbá of Òyó, oríkì are poetic utterances recited to honor a person. It is an affirmation of a person’s essence, their history, and their connection to their roots, past, present and future. It...
Blind Love


Ìyánlá: Great Mother

From Ìyá Agón of the Égúngún to Erelú of the Ògboni or Ìyálásè of the Èfè Gèlèdé, and Ìyá Orò of the Orò, women have always played a significant, albeit little, part in Yorùbá cults and traditional organizations. These women, though exclusive, are revered within these institutions and are considered to be...
Beneath These Skins

ABIAMO

The Woman in the Painting
She is half in profile, looking away from the viewer at some intriguing out-of-view object, an almost imperceptible smile on her lips like she is sharing a private joke with that intriguing out-of-view object, or subject. There is a serenity to her that exudes an uncanny sense of self-worth. Her eyes appear to hold a lifetime of secrets...
I Am. Not.

Identity. Belongingness. I’ve been asked countless times, in different forms, who I am. How do you see yourself? What do you identify with or as? Where are you from? Who are you? I’ve been told not to lose myself, not to let anyone put me in a box, not to let anyone tell me what I can or cannot be. I’ve been told to fight for my...
THE OATH

We made The Oath. The three of us. A three-fold cord that cannot be broken. We did it for love. For life. For justice. For what was right. For all we stood for and believed in. We swore to uphold Truth and Righteousness. We beat our chests and declared war on evil, And everything that was wrong with our world. We would be the...
WISHES AND WISDOM

Àdùnní Olórìsà: Priestess and Art Champion

There are several interesting things about Àdùnní Olórìsà, Priestess of the goddess Òsun and guardian of the Sacred Groves on the banks of the Òsun River in Òsogbo, but perhaps the most intriguing is the fact that she was a white woman. Born Susanne Wenger on the 4th of July 1915 in Graz, southern Austria during WWI, she grew...