tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91988053681589599902024-03-09T18:46:26.286-08:00Mass LiteracyThis Web Log is devoted to simple but deep readings of the subtle and not so subtle messages and to the interpretation of the silences that are strategically delivered through the mass media. Other readers are welcome to agree or disagree or even offer new readings of other relevant texts for the promotion of mass literacy and mutual understanding.Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-75618029002108866852024-01-28T18:38:00.000-08:002024-01-28T18:38:27.407-08:00The Afrocentricity of MarxBy Onwubiko Agozino I was delighted to receive this attached clip from my daughter telling me about a mention of my work by the 'social media sensation, @theconsciouslee. It is a moving commentary on my paper about how much Karl Marx admitted that African history was at the center of his own intellectual activism. My paper was first published in the Review of African Political Economy in Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-25702394738772272492024-01-15T10:37:00.000-08:002024-01-15T18:07:49.596-08:00Salute To Courage By Onwubiko AgozinoToday, January 15, I reflect on 'The World House' which MLK repeatedly said that we inherited from our ancestors. We must share with brothers and sisters in the Jim Crow South, in Vietnam, in apartheid South Africa, in Palestine and everywhere else. We must share all in a 'Beloved Community' or fight in 'chaos' and burn it down. Achebe identified the world house as Mbari,Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-63242645175473328632023-04-15T20:01:00.007-07:002023-04-18T16:32:56.005-07:00Soyinka Is RightSoyinka Is Right In a Sense By Onwubiko Agozino Do you agree with anything or everything that Wole Soyinka said about the embarrassingly disorganized and badly marred 2023 elections in Nigeria in which he singled out one party for apparently undeserved harsh words? Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie expressed her disagreement with the ‘strong words’ that Soyinka used in describing one of the Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-31766691097974199342023-02-06T18:11:00.049-08:002024-03-09T16:11:35.173-08:00The Case for the Prosecution of the Ekweremadus?The prosecutor, in the case of the Ekweremadus, opened on February 6, 2023 by saying that the donor must have been coached to call the defendants, cousins, uncles and aunties. Is that all they have got after more than 200 days in detention? It is completely normal for all younger people to call all older people uncles, aunties, daddies and mamas; and call one another brothers, sisters, Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-64736559538948122612022-06-28T08:20:00.016-07:002023-11-01T09:30:03.504-07:00Ekweremadus: British Justice System Is Still Racist-Sexist-Imperialist By Onwubiko Agozino The detention of Ike Ekweremadu (along with his wife, Beatrice) is a racist-sexist-imperialist act. They are detained on allegations of a conspiracy to traffic a 'minor' for the modern-day slavery plot to harvest the organs of a ‘homeless minor’ for transplant to their own ailing daughter. Ekweremadu is the Nigerian Senator representing my home Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-62057060406575663492022-06-26T07:24:00.004-07:002023-11-20T08:08:49.049-08:00Marxism in Africana Studies Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-81931052370844617652022-03-16T12:30:00.005-07:002022-03-16T12:30:40.744-07:00 Special Broadcast on Critical Race Theory, including an interview with me by producers in Northern Michigan:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1RQ_tb_hIsBikoOdozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-61751474220221168162022-01-31T15:18:00.019-08:002022-03-18T08:29:34.491-07:00My Cousin Was Lynched as an alleged Witch By Biko Agozino During the time of goodwill towards all, bad news came during the Christmas holidays, on January 2 2022, saying that youths who returned for the holidays from distant cities, accused one of my cousins, Agatha Mgboebuba Nwaba, of being the witch who caused misfortune in their village. She was said to be the evil one who consumed the wealth of her husband who lived Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-78050991546387994962021-12-15T16:59:00.004-08:002022-12-02T15:19:55.725-08:00Review of our video in a Class Hey Biko,I showed your video in my Race, Class, Gender and Sexualities class this semester. Here is what one student wrote on her final exam essay:"The lecture that most struck me over the course of this semester was, in all honesty, the lecture given on the history of racism and intersectionality on Virginia Tech's campus. Upon entering Virginia Tech in 2017, and up until mid-October of Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-67179654355589791032021-11-10T11:13:00.014-08:002021-11-14T10:18:37.719-08:00On Amala, Ohu and OsuBy Biko AgozinoIn answer to a question raised by colleagues on the USAfricaDialogue Series, I wrote this on December 11, 2020, but recurring questions have led me to repost it on this blog: Of course, no one ever said that precolonial Igboland was an Eldorado of mythical absolute equality. There has always been a hierarchy between elders and youth irrespective of gender and wealth as OyewumiOdozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-28055699099364395892021-10-13T09:54:00.005-07:002022-07-07T18:15:22.342-07:00 Selfies With White DwarfsBy Biko AgozinoThis is a series of selfies that I took during the August 2017 solar eclipse in Virginia, USA. The shower of colors from cosmic rays that emerged as bubbles around my African silhouette image made me wonder where they came from and where exactly was the eclipse that I was trying to capture without daring to look the eye of the sun squarely in the face as it raced from West to what Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-40760833691476740252021-10-04T11:10:00.026-07:002021-10-15T08:46:56.826-07:00Igbo Legal Advice to a European Law Firm By Biko Agozino A Paralegal at a Solicitor Law Firm once wrote to me out of the blues seeking advice about a case that touched on Igbo belief systems. I was told that he came across my details while researching the family law proceedings that his firm was handling. They were looking for a court expert to hopefully advise about 'threats' by a "Nigerian father to place a Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-2727045427130343722021-09-12T17:57:00.014-07:002021-09-24T11:16:39.298-07:00Appreciation for Kasala Kamara’s Tribute to African Civilization By Biko Agozino I received a signed copy of A Tribute To African Civilization (Atlanta, Sene Press, 1995) from the author, Kasala Kamara, on 10/11/2006 in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago shortly after sharing a panel with him at the Center for Black Arts and Culture conference with delegates from Nigeria. He had just spoken about the energy sector and later that evening, the Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-9617318055106122482021-09-05T19:12:00.006-07:002021-09-05T19:32:08.655-07:00Life and Times of Chinua Achebe By Biko Agozino I was privileged to preview this new book released by the Toyin Falola ‘Global Africa’ Series with Routledge. Dr. Kalu Ogbaa’s book will be an eye-opener even for established scholars who may not have had the author's long history of association with the great Achebe. Early on, as an undergraduate student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he canvassed for Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-3718915332109952392021-08-17T13:57:00.010-07:002021-09-20T08:13:15.530-07:00Obama's Withdrawal DoctrineBy Biko Agozino It was Obama's idea to get out of Afghanistan as far back as 2010, even without a victory. He did not like the idea of fighting to protect corrupt politicians who did not have the guts to fight their own civil war. Bob Woodward wrote in Obama's War that the policy should have been to construct a Jeffersonian style democracy (as if Jefferson who enslaved hundreds of Africans Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-63297255058685928442021-01-12T18:09:00.002-08:002021-01-12T18:09:20.221-08:00Two Conference Performances These recordings of my summer conference performances may be of interest to some:A reinterpretation of Jefferson's Notes on Virginia from the perspective of Sally Hemmings: Virginia Dares Conference Session 3b Virginia Dares Conference Session 3bVirginia Dares Conference Session 3bA presentation of my documentary on Reparative Justice, officially selected by the VirginiaOdozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-21310493710484249632021-01-12T13:10:00.001-08:002021-01-12T13:11:04.019-08:00A Critique of Neo-Colonial Reason Scottish Criminology Seminar on Counter-Colonial Criminologyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR0k0ayhGKHHD-V5Gd-WAVK1wZ4HeDlJdsfNmYhzdkn0oaQBD-4C4djLeIQ&v=nd6mKmPfR9c&feature=youtu.beBikoOdozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-60862306275329781262020-09-15T18:03:00.001-07:002020-09-15T18:03:51.774-07:00 The Zerai Model of gendered people-centred approach to governance, ICT and social justiceAfrican Women, ICT and Neoliberal PoliticsBiko AgozinoOct 08, 2019The author posits that from the perspective of African women, it is impossible to ignore racism and sexism while organising against poverty.I first met Assata Zerai in 1999 while visiting the family of Horace Campbell in Syracuse Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-28218712215566798082020-07-20T09:07:00.005-07:002020-07-20T19:06:22.835-07:00My Great-Grand Father Fought for JusticeBy Biko Agozino Senior colleagues in Africana Studies have been asking me to explain if it is true that Africans sold their own people during the Trans Atlantic slavery as alleged by Henry Louis Gates in his BBC series, Wonders of the African World. This renewed interest follows the historical fiction by a Nigerian writer, Adaobi Tricia Obinne Nwaubani, who published a story in New Yorker, ‘Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-43991149690384972182020-07-03T20:43:00.007-07:002022-07-04T16:32:19.930-07:00The 4th of July to UsBy Biko AgozinoTo us the 4th of July is a grave dayMother’s kindred had bottomless belliesGallons of palm wine were emptiedCartons of beer followed to energize themStill they demanded a gallon of ogogoroAnd packets of okpoko fire smokeTo dig deeper or they would go on strikeOur kindred banned push-me-I-push-you,We said no to the cancer sticks: no give no takeCows were led to their silent Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-48396456490853829712020-04-11T08:59:00.014-07:002022-12-28T10:05:33.784-08:00COVID-19 AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMSNovel Conceptual Framework for COVID-19 ResponsesBY BIKO AGOZINO As in the Great Plague of 1665-1666, the cure for COVID-19 may not be a magic bullet in the form of a vaccine, herbs or pills because no vaccine is 100% effective and there may be chances of breakthrough infections and the need for booster shots with no end in sight as the virus mutates. The search for effective Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-61593904804255091372020-02-03T20:42:00.000-08:002020-02-20T11:23:09.492-08:00The Author is Dead: Long Live His Work<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-64175822285140074402019-09-30T14:38:00.000-07:002019-09-30T18:38:43.011-07:00Achebe Critiqued Okonkwo
By Biko Agozino
The interview of Achebe by Soyinka and Nkosi in 1964 goes to show why written reviews and the sort of interviews that James Eze did for The Sun should be accompanied with video documentaries for the archives. I work with video a little and I have won an award in this genre to my credit but we should do more. In this interview, Achebe critiqued the 'Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9198805368158959990.post-85764627432379531632019-09-05T13:08:00.000-07:002019-09-06T17:57:06.613-07:00Brotherphobia is not Xenophobia
By Biko Agozino
Brotherphobia or sisterphobia is an ancient problem that should not be confused with xenophobia. Europeans attacked and killed fellow Europeans for centuries over who should get the lion's share of the colonization of Africa. The Semitic people are still at each other's throats even though they all claim to be the children of Abraham. Nigerians have been slaughtering fellow Odozi Obodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04482441827170429284noreply@blogger.com0