R&S: Genie Locs: The Story of A Queens Crown

I have had my locs - which I call my crown- for roughly eleven (11) years now I used to dye my crown different colours, do wild hair styles, shave some off, reattach em you name it and over the past decade I have had some crazy conversation that often leave me wondering (and praying) for the fate of the human race.

"You know when the rapture comes you won't ascend to heaven with those things on your head..."

"We have to look like respectable and professional black women, that style doesn't say that"

"Oh my gosh I could never get locs it is such a huge commitment!"
"You're just rocking em for fashion...rent-a-dread"
"You are so exotic"

I would like to say that never have I invited these conversations, and they happen in everyday life, on the bus, street, work, parties you name it...and sadly I end up walking right into them. Outright undeserved criticism, perverse notions of my assumed 'otherness' and other peoples insecurities...I promise you these conversations got tired a long time ago, but at last as with many things in life you win some and you inevitably lose some. It happens. I can assure you that no one can ever tell me I don't look hella sexy! My crown asserts my presence in a room without me even having to say a thing, I enter and leave rooms feeling like a queen in my own right, and I can not be dethroned unless I lay my crown to rest. 

So how does all of this = a recycle and save project? Well, I cut my locs shoulder length about a year ago, and started missing the length I used to have. I tried adding braids multiple times, mistake. It was so heavy my neck hurt...plus my head looked so big! Not cute. Anyway,  I met up with a friend of mine who I had not seen in a while she had these beautiful long locs, and I was shocked cause the last time I saw her she didn't have em. she simply told me "Girl, its just yarn!"

Yarn is a simple way to add length to existing locs, or can be added to non-loc'd hair as a substitute for the synthetic hair bought at the hair store. I remember when I started loc'ing I hated it, they just looked nerdy to me poking out all over the place. So for anyone looking to avoid the awkward stage of locs this is the perfect style! Most importantly its a pocket friendly lengthening en devour! It took about three days on and off to complete (with some help of course), looks %100 like my kinky hair, its light weight and super fly. By recycling some black yarn I had lying around the house from various projects and some free time, I got to work and the final outcome was sexier than I could have imagined.

 

Genie Locs - half up, half down

Genie Locs - Up do

Materials:
1. Yarn Needle
2. Worsted Yarn (that matches your hair colour)
3. Scissors
Where do I get em?: If you don't have any of these materials you can most def find them at any store similar to Wal-Mart

Instructions:
1. Insert and pull the yarn though the eye of the needle
2. Pull through eye of needle until desired additional length of loc
3. Use scissors to cut yarn
4. Thread through the tip of loc (with about 1 cm from the tip to work with) until both ends of the yarn starnd are even
5. Use scissors to cut yarn again (to remove the needle)
(You should now have the yarn threaded through your loc and have two pieces of yarn on opposite sides of it)
6. Fold one of the two pieces in half and hold (this is where you decided the thickness to match your loc)
7. Use the opposite (unfolded) yarn to begin braiding (making sure to keep the other piece folded)
8. Braid part way down, then start to twist all the way to the bottom
9. Tie in a knot & cut

Thats it! Now you have another use for yarn!

Tips:
1.The more times you fold the yarn in half, the thicker the loc will be. (to match the size of my individual locs I folded the piece in half twice)
2. You can choose to burn the end to make sure it doesn't unravel, but it doesn't look too good, or real...I tried -_-
3. If you run out of yarn to braid/twist with DON'T WORRY just cut some more and continue
4. Braiding and twisting give slightly different looks. Twisting looking more loc like and braiding less loc like (not visible from far, but more so up close)

 Who says you can't look cute just cause you're broke?

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Have any questions? Something not clear? Just ask!

What happened to all the book worms?

Book MONSTER!
material: 100% worsted
Size:10'
Stitch: Single crochet

....the book monsters ate em all! Growing up I was never really too big on books, mostly because up until I was in grade three I had trouble reading. The weird thing is that I always used to read with my mom before going to sleep as a child, but for some reason when in school the ability somehow escaped me...so I used to attend after school reading classes with my homeroom teacher. Since then I have developed a healthy appreciation for reading, I have come to the conclusion that it stems from past inability! My appreciation has manifested its self in different ways throughout the years, and reading has developed beyond an action or pass time to a deeply personalized experience.

I first started reading novels by black authors when I was in high school. It first started off with black erotica, anything from Eric Jerome Dickey to Mary, B Morrison was a must read, which is probably attributed to underlying teen sexual frustration haha! But more importantly while reading I started to realize that it was hard for me to imagine black characters in novels, and to this day it honestly still proves to be a challenge for me. I thought "oh gosh, has my mind been white washed?" This was really a troubling thought for me, so I started to look for books that distinctly addressed historical events pertaining to the black diaspora. Books like, Roots By Alex Haley, The Book of Negros By Lawrence Hill and so on. While this proved to be helpful, I hated the idea of black populations not being represented beyond traumatic events of displacement, and mostly I did not relate to these stories because my experience of 'blackness' is fragmented between being a racial minority and being of East African decent.

While searching for 'new' types of stories, to my surprise (not really) the only ones I could find in school/public libraries & book stores were stories about slavery,  war/political/civil unrest, travel guides or half-assed romanticized Eurocentric novels about African countries. Never stories of the Africa (I am using this term loosely) I have known, lived and understood. I also started to wonder why novels by African authors outside of those themes are so inaccessible. A lot of novels available on African countries tend to speak to non-African understandings of those countries experiences, so stories of love, families and everyday life outside of trauma, poverty and despotism seldom matter or exist in the conscience of the reader, or more frequently, the idea that these themes can not exist seperately. In the search for new literature my eyes were forced open to ideas and questions that extend beyond the books themselves.

I only recently started to think critically about the novels I had been forced to read throughout primary and secondary school. What obligation or responsibility does a white author have to represent bodies of colour? Should schools be forced to teach black diasporic history beyond slavery? What implications/ repercussions does ignoring contemporary African history have on the black diaspora? How has the absence/under representation of bodies of colour in government school curriculum, and mainstream media affected how and where people of colour place themselves within these exclusive and selective outlets, and how does this effect the way we navigate ourselves through everyday life? While all these questions require larger discussions and subsequently greater actions, my first step is to change the limitations my socialized imagination by inserting characters of colour into contemporary western stories that I read to challenge normalized ideas of white bodies as a neutral or default characters, and secondly to continue reading novels by various African authors past and present.

Books by various African authors

My favourite novels by African authors:
1. Ambiguous Adventure - Cheikh Hamidou Kane (Senegal)
2. Tsotsi - Athol Fugard (South Africa)
3. Tales Told by the Son of Kenya - Aggrey Chepkwony Sambay (Kenya) 
4. Going Down River Road - Meja Mwangi (Kenya)
5. A Grain of Wheat - Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
6. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
7. On To Kilimanjaro - Brain Gardner (this book is an exception because is not by an African author, but it gives you a very clear definition between self representation, and othering )

If you're a book worm like me, don't let the book monsters take away the ability to exercise your imagination by keeping truly reflective stories out of reach. Go out and look for a good book.

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

P.S. If you are interested look up Roots (Alex Haley) vs.The African (Harold Coulter)...a really interesting back story to our friend Kunta Kente and the so called "timeless American Saga"

Dolli

Dolli
size: 18'
material: 100% worsted
stitch: single crochet

I decided to make a dolli of myself...why? It has always been a challenge to find a black doll that I can look at and see myself. Just cause a doll has black skin does not mean it can stand to represent the complexities and variations found within black populations. So this dolli is my big "Eff you". If how I look is not marketable or profitable, I'll do it myself simply because I can.

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Shamili

-Shamili-
$15.00
beaded earrings
materials: bamboo
size: o/s

My newest creation on my oldest model, isn't she's wonderful?

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Artducation: Vulvas?

Crochet vulva's

 I have been making these vulva pins for a while and giving them to my friends as gifts, as well as rocking my own. I have been presented with varied reactions from both friends and strangers

"Ew!"

"So F***ING COOL!"
"What is that?"

"Why would you make this?"

Why would i make this...? It is not so much the question that bothers me, but the tone in which the question is asked. There is a lot of disgust and hostility, but ultimately interest. I was recently at a symposium where we spoke about how different vulva's can look and how in text books they are presented as uniform; symmetrical labia, hairless, and cut off from the rest of the body. So that night I came home and looked up diagrams of vulva's. I was baffled (not really) when I tried to look for diagrams that show vulva's that belong to bodies colour and...surprise! I found none! Now you might think, well a vulva is a vulva...right? Yes and no. Sure I've got a vulva and you may have one too, but historically bodies have been presented through race (racialization) and through that, differences have been assumed to justify many historical events that books don't often tell you about. Let us take a few steps back and look at the well known hottentot venus exhibition of Saartjie Baartman, a relative of the Khoikhoi ethnic group born in 1789 in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.

In 1735, Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) divided humans into four racially classified subspecies: Homo sapien americancus (Amerindians), europaeus (Europeans), asiaticus (Asians), and afer (Africans) (Hamilton, 2008).  Later, anthropologist Jonathan Marks attributed traits and behaviours to these subspecies, calling the afer “black, impassive, lazy. Hair kinked. Skin Silky. Nose flat. Lips thick. Women with genital flap; breasts large. Crafty, slow, foolish. Anoints himself with grease. Ruled by caprice.” (Hamilton, 2008). Another example of this is the French scientist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) who also based his findings on the taxonomy of Homo sapiens and depicted the afer as “marked by a black complexion, crisped or woolly hair, compressed cranium and a flat nose. The projection of the lower parts of the face, and the thick lips, evidently approximate it to the monkey tribe; the hordes of utter barbarianism.” (Hamilton, 2008). From this established approach to race in academia in the eighteenth century, there is an acknowledgement and acceptance to the validity of the racialization of traits and the hierarchy based off of it. The Hottentot Venus exhibit recreated and brought these ideas throughout Europe, it specifically reinforced and reflected race based on the social hierarchies that existed. The presentation and representation of black bodies in contrast to white ones placed emphasis on differences, and more specifically differences of physical anatomy. The anthropological rhetoric represented the Hottentot as primitive, inferior, secular and uncivilized  and from this made distinct connections between the Hottentot and animals. Labeling black bodies as primitive attributed animal characteristics to them, such as animalistic instincts of reproduction  “…Buffon stated that this animal-like sexual appetite went so far as to lead black women to copulate with apes” (Gilman, 1985). Academic travelers went further as to say that the black woman also show external signs of being primitive, from “Steatopygia a protruding buttocks resulting from the accumulation of fat, and what was then called the “hottentot apron” the elongated labia of the genitalia” (Moudileno, 2009) (see fig.1). 

Saarjtie Baartman’s exhibit relied heavily on the discourse created by academic and scientific elites. These assumptions  presented as fact romanticized ideas about non-white populations, and constructed a false identity that according to Gareth Knapman (2008) pushed non-white populations to a status below that of white Europeans. By labelling these populations as animals, an ideology of inferiority became common thought.

fig 1 the external genitalia of the Hottentot Venus, standing upright

200 years later and this is the only image of the vulva of a woman of colour?! So when someone asks me why I made this I tell them that I am serving to represent my own vulva, sexuality and ultimately myself. And of course I'm gonna make a pin and make sure its all up in your face! Additionally I love making people feel uncomfortable...for a good reason though! I believe that when we are the most uncomfortable is when we are in a space to absorb knowledge and have conversations that we might not otherwise have. We must keep in mind that knowledge and academia are never depoliticized spaces and they entirely selective, meaning there is choice in what is included or excluded given the political and economic climate...think of it like the news, there is always another part of the story we don't hear and we have to be critical and ask why. Knowledge as a form of power is inaccessible for a variety of reasons and it has always been used as a tool of inclusion and exclusion....but that's a whole other conversation!  It's actually hilarious to me when it falls on the ground, and someone will be like "oh, you dropped something!" they go to pick it up for me, but immediately hesitate and retreat once they see what it is. I always say "Ooups, I dropped my vulva!" smile and walk away. Sometimes you have to laugh at other peoples expense, so make things that have a personal statement and challenge normative ideas, it makes your craft that much more meaningful.

Smiles:)

Tuly Maimouna

Daraja

Daraja [Dah-Rah-jah]
$25.00
Pendant and Earrings
Materials: Bamboo beads
Size: o/s

When I was about 8 my aunt bought me this Jazzy Jewelry kit. It was this box filled with beads and attachments for making earnings, bracelets and what have you. At the time I was thoroughly unimpressed, but smiled in false appreciation none the less. Now check me out!

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Peep: Crafty Chas!

CRAFTY CHAS

I have to do a quick show out to my girl who is making some real fly stuff! I can never stress enough how your hook can take you as far as your imagination! Forget shopping, make something perfectly tailored to your body and flavour!

Follow the Jump to peep her designs!

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Artducation: Crochet condom cases!

Crochet Condom Case

I remember once being told that if someone can't afford to buy condoms they probably shouldn't be having sex. While I am neither for or against that comment as we are all entitled to have the kind of sex we enjoy, I do believe that being able to negotiate condom use gives room to fairly evaluate and assess what kinds of risks we take or do not take with our body. I see condoms as tool to providing choice and sexual agency, meaning you can decided what kind of sex you want to have or do not want to have.

I have only recently come to realize and appreciate that being brought up in a informative environment has heavily informed the sexual decisions I make and the risks I take. My mother is and always has been open to talking about any questions I had about sex and sexual health. To this day she still provides me with information to questions I have not even thought to ask. I never had that "awkward" sex talk because she was never awkward about it. She was always willing to address issues and frame them in a way without shame...this is really a privilege afforded to me! So sex in my mind is a very healthy, normal and well enjoyable aspect of life. I can not stress that enough!

So why crochet condom cases? They came about as an arts based workshop some peers and I facilitate in communities of colour,  where we talk about sexual health and HIV/AIDS. They are so much fun...I get paid to talk about sex!  We do not entourage people to have sex, we create spaces where youth get to talk about sex in a positive and safe way to be able to answer any questions people have and challenge any misconceptions or negative perceptions. Participants get to decorate the pre-made cases how ever they want while engaging in conversations and discussions around sexual health and HIV/AIDS. Its artducation (art education)! Mine is really extra cause I just do it like that, but they can be as modest or flamboyant as you'd like :)

Choices should be linked to personal preferences, so whether you have sex or not why not be prepared with information and resources to be able to exercise choice in a way that is comfortable for you? Sex is not always planned and sadly not always consensual, but whether you're carrying condoms for your own use, a friends or even a total stranger condoms often open a dialogue that help us in negotiating and analyzing our position in sexual experiences and inform our decisions. I also have to say that not everyone has that ability, space, support systems or comfort level to have these kinds of conversations. So we have to start thinking about what prevents these conversations from happening in our respective communities. Furthermore, we need to think of how can we use these conversations to work collectively to challenge silence, and empower our communities.

All of our desires, sexual appetites, and lived realities vary, therefore I can never tell someone that they have to use condoms, but I can provide you with all the information, positive and negative, that you need to come to that decision on your own.

FYI: Never store condoms in your pocket, wallet or purse as over time the friction deteriorates the latex (that's why the cases are so great!)

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Chavu

CHAVU [Cha-voo]
Mesh t-shirt
material: 100% wool size: o/s
Stitch: Solomons' Knot

I had initially intened for this to be a scarf and it was turning out all wrong, but it turned into an oh so right t-shirt! I love showing some skin in the summer time and thought this would be perfect. Might mess with the tan, but doesn't fashion always call for sacrifice?

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

R&S: Brown Sugar & Honey Skin Care!

One thing that I have to state is that having no money really forces you to be innovative in the ways you approach different aspects of your life, for example: I normally drive to school, BUT since parking is really expensive I park at a friends house and walk or Rollerblade 3km to and from school everyday. You have to look at the positive side here, I am forced to do exercise I would otherwise never do. Health benefits! So I started to think..."humm, how else can I apply this?" I came to the conclusion that whether you are refurbishing some old jewelry or reworking some old clothes recycling and saving can really be a beneficial holistic approach to bettering yourself how ever you feel fit doing so.

Now to the point! It is still winter...and my skin has been getting real dry which is terribly unflattering....and far from cute! So how did I deal with this? Well first I hit up the dollar store! Any dollar store can EASILY be your best friend if you give it a chance, or any bargain or family discount store to be honest. You can find everything at a fraction of the price! All I needed was two all natural ingredients to make...

The Brown Sugar and Honey Exfoliating Scrub!

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of Honey

Instructions:

1. Measure out and mix the brown sugar & honey together in a small bowl
2. You want a thick and hard consistency (NOT liquid)

3. Hit the shower
4. Wet skin
5. Exfoliate
6. Rinse

What's great about brown sugar is that it has larger granules than white sugar so it makes a great exfoliant! Additionally I spend under $4. Plus I feel real sexy when I say "Yeah I just rubbed myself down with brown sugar and honey" Hehe. Personally I only use oils as a moisturiser, specifically a mix of; olive, Castor, almond, & grapeseed oils with glycerin. But whatever moisturiser you use stick with it if it works for you, but after the scrub I promise your skin will be feeling and looking as luscious as butter! I do it once every week or two cause like on your face, you don't want to over exfoliate. Summer is almost here and I can't be rocking ashy cobble stone skin when that time comes!

FYI: If you choose to use this mix on your face be careful and rub gently!

Smiles:)

Tuly Maimouna

Broke? R&S!

     I've been thinking about this idea that the way you start your year dictates the following events throughout the course of the year. Does that include being broke? Almost two months into the year, my bank account still isn't saying much, and the dent I made in my savings running all over the world is still very real. I swear every time I open or close my wallet I hear an echo...therefore, my swahili phrase of the year thus far has been 'Ah la! Mimi sina pesa!' meaning 'Oh gosh! I don`t have any money!' So I've resolved as a means of saving and decreasing debt, to not spend a single cent (Can I say that? Canada stopped producing cents Feb. 4th of this year) on buying clothes, shoes or jewelry. Now I know you're asking, 'Guuurrrrllll how you gonna do that?' Easy!

Broke+Imagination = Recycle & Save

     So here is what happened, my favourite faux gold earrings started to rust (LOL) so I had to get rid of them, right? So wrong! Coupled with being too broke to afford a new pair I decided to make entirely new ones! It is a really simple do it yourself project (DIY) or what I like to call recycle and save (R&S) project.

Materials:

1. Hoop earrings

2. Cloth of choice (I used Kente)

3. Hemp string (Optional)

4. Hot glue gun OR crazy glue

Instructions
1. Cut a length of cloth long enough to wrap around the entire hoop

2. Dab a wee bit of glue on the hoop (near the backing of the earring), press and hold the end of the cloth there and ensure it sticks!

3. Begin to wrap the length of cloth around the hoop (If you are using cloth with a pattern remember to make sure you are wrapping it in a way the the pattern is visible!)

4. Once you get to the other end of the hoop, again, dab a bit of glue on the end, press and hold the cloth and ensure it sticks!
5. Wear and look fly

END!

Optional: If you choose to use hemp as i did follow the exact same procedure

     Remember to be creative and make em as extraordinary as you like! Add beads, things that dangle...whatever! Then you can be as obnoxious as you'd like when someone asks you where you got em from! Who cares? Well think of it this way;

 1. You saved your wallet about $10,
2. You (to a very small degree) reduced your ecological footprint by recycling

3. You now have your own customized jewelry

4. You saved your wallet about $10!!!

So whether you're broke (like me) or you're simply looking for some new swag remember, anything can be an R&S project you just have to add some imaginative flavour.

My R&S Hoop Earrings

Happy crafting & saving!

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna



Acts of Kindness (AoK!)

Back after along pause! I learned wood work, then went to the other side of the world and back. 2012 was a year of self realization, new connections and bountiful learning! A midst all of this I came to appreciate how none of anything I did would have been possible without the support of countless individuals...but is it possible to share the kindness of others so graciously bestowed upon you with others? Of Course!

AoK! <3s

A friend and I started Acts of Kindness (AoK!) to use our crafting abilities for good...instead of evil! We want to acknowledge and recognize the people that make our lives as wonderful as they are! But who cares? We do! Whether these acts be big, small, random or intentional we should never be surprised when someone is kind to us or others! We are all humans after all! 

Acts of Kindness (AoK!) hearts represent spreading love, and giving props to those who deserve it. 

How it works

1) You get a <3

2) You give your <3 to someone who has committed an AoK!

3) Take a picture of the person with the <3 

4) Post it of Facebook and big up the person and their deed!

Check it out at: facebook.com/aokindness

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Beware the “New” Paternalistic Discourse

I watched the Kony 2012 video last night on youtube and had a few thoughts....sorry folks, sales aside real life beckons!

Perpetuating the idea that justice in the periphery is unattainable without assistance from the core, suggests that paternalistic theories of development and justice seem to be recycling themselves and reappearing as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Jason Russell the film maker of Kony 2012 suggests that modern science and technology must firstly, be provided by the United States and secondly, that they are key to the capture of Joseph Kony in 2012. These ideas, which I might add have not worked since their emergence in the early 1950’s, are quite similar to the varying theories of development that suggest these elements as preconditions to alleviation of sufferance. This movement brings to light that old ideas of the African continent and its people still persist in contemporary –north American- thought, and it enraged me that some people, including Jason Russell validate this language and imagery.

I have come to be very aware of langue use, and the power it has to mobilize people with good intentions in the wrong way. I have long been conflicted with the use of the word Africa to generalize and minimize a place and its people who vary in so many ways, from lived realities, language, customs and ideas, to values. Throughout the film I found myself cringing at the use of the word Africa, why? While the main focus is on events specific to Northern Uganda with Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the term “Africa” was used too often, homogenizing 54 countries into a particular conflict that has more recently expanded into Central African Republic and parts of Democratic Republic of Congo. I must admit that I am mad and I had a lot of questions;

1.     Why is this group suggesting military action to target a man who has child soldiers and sex slaves?

2.     Why are Ugandans not at the forefront of this initiative?

3.     Why are Ugandan efforts over the last 26 years being ignored? Such as the reintegration of escaped child soldiers through Acholi mato oput; (http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2011/10/20111012152024670219.html)

4.     Are they examining the more particular issues that have stemmed from Konys 26 year tirade? Aside from building schools, what about community needs assessments, which include addressing increased HIV rates as a result of sex slaves, and the mental state of former child soldiers.

5.     If the periphery must be involved, why are they not suggesting the United States facilitating a United African effort empowering African nations to help one another? Such as was done with the Organization of African Unity (OAU) during the fight for the liberation of Mozambique from the Portuguese, prompting and promoting African solidarity, sovereignty and unity.

6.     Why are they not trying to build capacity in a way that empowers the disempowered?

7.     Why is this group not creating a platform for Ugandans and Central African Republicans to speak upon for themselves, instead of speaking on their behalf?

8.     Are they looking at the bigger picture, those involved, his supporters? As with the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, it has not stopped it is simply at a smaller scale and the militia group had moved into parts of Congo.

9.     I also question the transparency of the group, and where funds are being allocated (as with most large-scale Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs))

All this touches on my point of perpetuating ideas of helplessness within the continent and regurgitating the idea of “otherness” and “backwardness” a dialogue and language started by Europeans, that has haunted African countries for centuries.

Now believe me when I say that I am able to give credit where credit is due, Jason Russell was able to create a contextual movement. By this I mean he came up with a perfectly innovative way of using social media for social movement, and I commend him for that. Russell was able to take an international issue and localize it, making it relateable to North Americans by challenging the idea of “I can’t do anything I am only one person.” He has increased awareness on an on-going issue and has mobilized youth globally, which on its own is very impressive, and much more than I have ever done or could imagine myself doing. Yet my points still stand.

The new face of the scramble for Africa is evident. In the beginnings of colonization, the scramble for African countries -more over its resources and available laborers- began simply as a “saving and civilizing Africa” movement and evolved to what it was during colonialism, to what it is now. Many people can argue that colonialism ended decades ago, but I strongly believe in the idea of mature colonialism, just as much as I do in new racism. Just because it no longer exists in the form it did when it first appeared does not mean it has since ceased to exist. I believe that this Kony 2012 initiative disempowers Ugandans as capable rulers and decision makers of their own country – invading on their sovereignty as a nation-, and serves to further perpetuate the age old idea that stems back to the partition of Africa, where European powers decided that Africans were uncivilized and could not govern themselves, thusly prompting outside –European- intervention. The language of “saving Africa” and “saving Africa’s children” is one of the more elusive and clandestine scrambles for Africa, masking its intentions and through dialogues that openly exclude the voices of African people, – except of course as the innocent victims- creates a vast knowledge gap, while also creating a void validated to be filled by western values and ideas. I am not suggesting that Kony 2012 has imperial motives behind it – although I am skeptical-, but we have to question the potential backwash effects of this movement. In context ask yourself, what role are Ugandans playing in this Kony 2012 movement? Are they in positions of power and decision making? How will Ugandans and their country be affected by US military backing and intervention? What role will existing Ugandan institutions play?

In short, my main worry is the resurfacing of large scale of colonial language that once justified imperial occupation within most African countries. I ask that we always keep mind the politics of representation, whom is speaking on behalf of who, are the real issues being addressed and question if the right voices are being heard or even considered. I ask that as global citizens we do not take the things presented before us for face value, and that we challenge these ideas before leading each other blindly, and most importantly, we have to learn from and understand the past and the cumulative causations of seemingly simple issues to be able to examine future courses of action.

Is anyone else sensing another free the children on the rise? As if one wasn’t enough -_-

Beware the “new” paternalistic discourse

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Laroo

-Laroo-
chunky infinity scarf
 material:%100 Ragg  size: o/s
length: 15" height:13" diameter: 30"

smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Tulyfurahi

-Tulyfurahi-
 [two-lee-foo-rah-he]
hanging flower earring
material: 100% worsted wool size: o/s
diameter: 12"

smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Mpira

- Mpira-
[Mmm-pi-rah]
yarn ball earrings
material: 100% acrylic size: o/s
diameter: 1/2"
price: $8.00

smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Ua

-Ua-
[ou-ah]
flower broach
material: %100 hemp size: o/s
diameter: 13" length: 5" hight: 5"

smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna