I am officially stepping away for the corporate Western mainstream news media space.

A thread. I've been a journalist since I was 16 years old. I'm now 37. I have seen face-to-face that mainstream media outlets continue to perpetuate negative narratives about Africa. It's a narrative that highlights war, disease and disaster.

The women of the Mau Mau uprising (the 1st post–war armed liberation struggle on the African continent)that gave rise to Kenya's independence,are often forgotten.

Muthoni wa Kirima joined the fight against the British at age 20 as a spy and rose up the ranks.She's 90 yrs old. The British forces suppressed the Mau Mau uprising: burning fields of crops, poisoning rivers, dropping bombs.

Muthoni was wounded on two occasions but was never caught.

History is often not far away.

On Feb 4, 1999, a young West African man named #AmadouDiallo was standing in front of his New York City apartment when 4 cops shot him 41 times, thinking Diallo had a gun - he was only carrying his wallet.

The 4 cops were all found not guilty. His mother, Kadiatou Diallo, flew to New York from her home in Guinea when she heard that her son was killed.

"As China and Russia compete in what is effectively a new scramble for Africa, African countries should come to the realisation that it is in the continent’s interests to negotiate fairer agreements..."

- oped in @dailymaverick

bit.ly/3fzSuGI @dailymaverick Brookings explains China and Russia's growing influence on the emerging economies of developing nations explained this way:

To the African men who say women belong in the home/the kitchen:

"What is not traditional is restricting [African] women to the kitchen. The African woman is a miracle of versatility. Mother, cultivator, market woman, negotiator."
- Ali Mazrui

bit.ly/2Z8eSC9 “Women all over Africa are at least as central to the economy as men, and certainly more so than most Western women. Who says nature intended women to be just homemakers? Certainly not indigenous Africa.”

- Ali Mazrui speaking on traditional/indigenous societies in Africa

#AfricanLivesMatter

Attention on the extremist group #BokoHaram is dwindling. Some may feel the topic isn't "sexy" anymore.

But there's still a conflict raging in the Lake Chad area. People are still getting killed. Women are still getting kidnapped. For those who are unfamiliar with Boko Haram and what's going on in northeast Nigeria/Lake Chad region, I recommend following Abdulkareem Haruna's reporting on @PremiumTimesng

He's done brilliant some brilliant reporting

premiumtimesng.com/author/abdulka…

What we can all learn from the #okayafrica
story is that male toxicity in the workplace is very real.

It's also very unsettling, traumatic. It took me a long time for me to recover from what I endured at another media outlet run by another Nigerian man.

bellanaija.com/2013/08/chika-… @AntoinetteIsama @ThatgirlXanan, @ivieani @ABisi123 @chikanwam, @seenahgee @kokothenut @winniekassa, @Rufaro_Samanga @damoladurosomo

I hope you all can fully heal from this. It is hard, I know.Your stories are triggering some of the pain that I experienced.Let's heal together.

I was having a thoughtful conversation with activist @lupaisambro yesterday here in Juba, our discussion veered to the topic of the portrayal of black Africans in the media.

He asks me, "Why is it that when the media portrays poverty, they focus on showing dark-skinned people?" His question struck me. It came from a place of honesty and hurt. From his observation, dark-skinned people are negatively portrayed in the media.

Perceptions like his motivate and remind me to always be mindful about the way I practice journalism.
#RepresentationMatters

About 20 minutes ago, I saw these beautiful Mundari women here in Juba, South Sudan. I asked if I can take their picture and told them I'm from Nigeria. The one on my right said, "Ah! Nigeria! Nigerians do witchcraft! So you want to take my photo and use it for witchcraft?!" I had to explain to her, no, I don't do witchcraft but she didn't look convinced! Then, I showed her photos in my phone so that she could see I'm a photojournalist traveling through Africa. Then, she was finally convinced and said I could take a picture with her.

My first experience with xenophobia in South Africa:

I was pulled aside by an "official" upon arriving at the Cape Town airport from Nigeria. 2016. I had come as a finalist for the CNN African Journalist Award.

Thread
1
#XenophobiaInSouthAfrica
#SayNoToXenophobia My first experience with xenophobia in South Africa:

The man who pulled me aside at the airport was hostile. He demanded that I follow him to a room. The man was not wearing any type of official uniform, therefore I hesitated to follow him anywhere.
2

#SayNoToXenophobia

Mozambique is a Dutch business

via @africasacountry

bit.ly/2Yk2v2e @africasacountry Development aid and promoting the foreign interests of Dutch businesses like Shell and Heineken are coupled in the world's fifth poorest nation: Mozambique

Violence against women is on the rise in different parts of the world.

Re-visiting this 2013 op-ed
bit.ly/2TDVQCv

#WomensHistoryMonth
#WomensHistoryMonth2019 "...an entire community, or at least the designated decision makers, can have a stake in girls’ vaginas. That’s why elders can charge a higher bride price if the girl is 'unspoiled.'"

I'm re-visiting this 2013 op-ed
bit.ly/2TDVQCv

#WomensHistoryMonth

The term "investigative journalist" is loosely applied these days.I observe this in places I've worked across Africa,where media terminology isn't widely well understood, reporting standards are often perceivably low &sometimes re-inforced by intern'l groups/foreign media outlets The term is being used in cases where, for example, a reporter posts a scandalous video online and stops there or when a blogger posts the transcript of a phone conversation that reveals a politician accepting a bribe and does not go further to report anything else on the matter