Monjae Collective

24/11/2023

Amazing how much of Africa was taken out into the diaspora for safekeeping. Suriname keeps calling!

17/11/2023

Beautiful vignette(s) from across the diaspora

As digital connections bring the African diaspora together, these 12 creatives are at the center of a global shift.

13/11/2023

Remi Adeeko Enobakhare

Lorenzo Dow Turner (August 21, 1890 – February 10, 1972) was an African-American academic and linguist who did seminal research on the Gullah language of the Low Country of coastal South Carolina and Georgia. His studies included recordings of Gullah speakers in the 1930s. As head of the English departments at Howard University and Fisk University for a combined total of nearly 30 years, he strongly influenced their programs. He created the African Studies curriculum at Fisk, was chair of the African Studies Program at Roosevelt University, and in the early 1960s, cofounded a training program for Peace Corps volunteers going to Africa.
Lorenzo Dow Turner is best remembered as the father of Gullah studies. His interest in the Gullah people began in 1929 when he first heard Gullah speakers while teaching a summer class at South Carolina State College (now University). Although established scholars then viewed Gullah speech as a form of substandard English, Turner sensed that Gullah was strongly influenced by African languages. He set out to study the language. For the next 20 years, he made trips to the Gullah region in coastal South Carolina and Georgia, interviewing Gullahs (often in isolated locations) and making detailed notes on their language. He also made recordings in the 1930s of Gullah speakers talking about their culture, folk stories and other aspects of life.
As part of his studies, Turner traveled to several locations in Africa, specifically Sierra Leone, to learn about the development of Creole languages, as well as to Louisiana and Brazil, to study Creole and Portuguese, respectively. He did research at University of London School of Oriental and African Studies on various African language systems. He wanted to be able to provide context for the obvious "Africanisms" he discovered in his Sea Islands research. "Such depth and breadth allowed Turner to locate Gullah culture and language within the broader complexities of the African diaspora in the New World, ... firmly outside the reductionist theoretical model of cultural assimilation.
When Turner finally published his classic work Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect in 1949, he made an immediate impact on established academic thinking. His study of the origin, development and structure of Gullah was so convincing that scholars quickly accepted his thesis that Gullah is strongly influenced by African languages. He showed the continuity of language and culture across the diaspora. Many scholars have followed Turner over the years in researching the African roots of Gullah language and culture. He created a new field of study by his work and an appreciation for a unique element of African-American culture.
Turner was strongly influenced by the American linguistic movement, which he joined at its inception. Through his Gullah research, he gave shape to several academic specialties: Gullah studies, dialect geography and creole linguistics, as well as being an important predecessor to the field of African American studies, which developed in the 1960s and ′70s.
Turner's pioneering work, which academics credit for introducing African-American studies to U.S. curricula, was the subject of "Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities Through Language" at Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum in July, 2016. Exhibit curator Alcione Amos said the Washington, D.C., museum acquired many of Turner's original notes, pictures and recordings from his widow, Lois Turner Williams, in 2003.
Turner died of heart failure at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on February 10, 1972.

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21/02/2022

Check out some highlights on the diversity and of shifting Black migrant population - and overall considerations for the collective “African Americans.”

The breadth of what it means to be a Black American is widening, according to new analysis of the latest migration statistics.

31/01/2022

African Diasporans: Do you use the term JUKE? And in which context(s)?

21/10/2021

South African comedian Trevor Noah has teamed up with the free language app giant Duolingo to help teach South Africa’s most popular languages....

20/10/2021

How jollof rice made it to the Spanish speaking world. The origins of paella and Spanish rice, etc.

08/10/2021

Cette arm�e f�roce enti�rement f�minine �tait si impitoyable que les colons europ�ens l'ont surnomm�e les Amazones, en r�f�rence aux cruelles guerri�res de la mythologie grecque.

07/10/2021

John Amos was already a TV legend when he assumed the role of Cleo McDowell, the proud proprietor of McDowell’s burgers-and-fries, and the father of Lisa

22/09/2021

This amazing 1998 documentary shows how the Gullah descendants of Mende people from Sierra Leone preserved an old mourning song in the Georgia Sea Islands, in their ancestral language, though they no longer understood the words or the meaning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0OirdYGdlY&fbclid=IwAR0pswn-sXg7zmWZeoxPTjGAduYDoAhLnJBf9nBhY0HiSkk4j1tYSTHuPw8

In Harris Neck, in Georgia's coastal islands, in the 1930s, Lorenzo D. Turner recorded a 50-year-old woman singing. Her song preserved the longest known text in an African language in the North American diaspora. It was later recognized as Mende by a grad student from Sierra Leone, on the basis of a single word, kambei, which had funerary significance, and he published a translation of the song.

The singer's grandmother had been born into slavery, a descendant of many West Africans trafficked to Georgia because of their expertise in rice cultivation. Slave traders paid a higher price for people with this skill, shipping captives from the rice-growing countries from Senegambia to Sierra Leone and Liberia. More than 45% of those trafficked to Savannah were taken from Sierra Leone, out of Bunce Island which was used as a holding area prior to the Middle Passage. The channels these Mende people dug for rice plantations still remain in Georgia.

A group of Gullahs returned to Sierra Leone, and performed this melody for their African hosts. They discovered that one word, tombei, could be traced to a specific place. Anthropologists took recordings of the song around that region, and at first people recognized one or two words, but not the song. The researchers finally gave up, disappointed. Later, Cynthia Schmidt decided to try one more place, just outside the boundaries of the area they had searched in. To her amazement, people began to sing the song, which included the words “Everybody come together, the grave is restless, the grave is not yet at peace.” (starting around 15:25 in the video at link)

This was a song that Mende women sang at burials, in a funerary rites called Tenjami, Cross the Water. Bendu Jabati describes how her grandmother taught her how to perform the mourning rites, kneeling and making gestures to the ground with outstretched hands. (And it seems that the grandmother foresaw that her descendant would be the one to preserve this knowledge, and the connection that it would make to distant kin.)

The ceremony began with a call to the ancestors to accept the dead person. The women went in procession, their faces painted with white clay, dancing while bent over. They then cooked at the grave side (three days after a woman’s death, and four days after a man’s). They performed ritual crying and lamentation at the grave, and bid farewell with rice mixed with palm oil and meat. The ceremony ended when the pot was upturned over the grave, the final farewell.

The ceremony lapsed after World War II, according to the narrator, when soldiers brought back Islam and Christianity; but this one woman Bendu Jabati had been charged to remember by her grandmother, and she kept the knowledge and the song alive.

Back in the Georgia Sea Islands, Amelia Dawley taught this song to her daughter. Living in a remote area, without TV or radio, she was able to preserve it. (Hear her sing it around 26:00 in the video) The anthropologists visit and play the recording of her grandmother, telling her of the historical importance of her family legacy, in its connection to African roots.

Thanks to Hannah Ekberg for this link.

18/07/2021

Today is Mandela Day, marking the birthday of one of Africa’s most inspiring leaders, Nelson Mandela. 🇿🇦Today we are honoring the legacy of South Africa's former President and his values, celebrating the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world and the ability to make an impact.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” - Nelson Mandela

18/07/2021

Can’t wait to see this!

Cannes: The musician, poet, writer, and actor’s directorial debut is a peculiar film brimming with ideas, co-directed by Anisia Uzeyman.

19/06/2021

June 19th is officially designated as World Sickle Cell Awareness Day. The international awareness day is observed annually with the goal of increasing public knowledge and understanding of sickle cell disease, and the challenges experienced by those affected by the disease. Visit sicklecelldisease.org to learn more and find ways that you can get involved.

19/06/2021

has finally been recognized as a Federal Holiday as of June 17th, 2021.
“Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.
Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics, and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long overdue. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.” – Juneteenth.com

14/06/2021

Thanks for the feature, !


Annete Johnson is a changemaker lawyer engaged in the international development social impact space.
​
​ She has keen interest in designing and growing the changemaker lawyer community; children/child protection interventions; and growth and development of the whole person. 

Her platform, , supports African diaspora social entrepreneurs rebuilding, rebranding and propelling Africa to a self-actualized future by telling their stories and rewriting prevailing false narratives about the continent and its people across the diaspora.

She also hosts a podcast telling stories of the changemakers, influencers & social entrepreneurs rebuilding and rebranding a self-actualized Africa. Don't forget to check it out: https://www.monjae.com/

31/05/2021

A deep and astounding illustration of systemic oppression

It’s been one hundred years since the Tulsa Massacre of 1921–which is largely absent from our history books. But Tulsa was only one of so many brutal riots and massacres that have taken place since the end of slavery and after so many of them, very few were held accountable or did jail time. This is what it means when people talk about how our institutions are rooted in racism—policing, housing, education, healthcare. Successive attempts to to literally destroy black upward mobility have happened throughout American history. Unfortunately, our history doesn’t include these stories and so many others in the books. We have to do better so we can be better.

18/05/2021

On this week's episode, art and design editor Noor Brara speaks with gallerist Mariane Ibrahim about what led her to the art world.

14/05/2021

"Connecting with our ancestors by returning to African agrarian practices and bringing plants native to our ancestral homelands into our environment is healing for Black people in a world that often denies us access to greenery, frivolity, healthy food options, and full access to our history." Read the full article via bit.ly/Monjae

What plants do you have in your home? Any house plants with African origins? Let us know below!

13/05/2021

Two former students from Burkina Faso designed a mosquito-repellent soap, which they hope could be a simple and affordable solution in the fight to end malaria. Moctar Dembélé and Gérard Niyondiko, the brains behind Faso Soap (now called MAÏA), were awarded a $25,000 prize for their invention in 2013 when they became the first African winners of the Global Social Venture Competition at the University of California Berkeley.

After learning that 80% of children under 5 receive ointment on their skin every night, MAÏA worked on an ointment that was concluded to have a greater impact on malaria than soap. The ointment is also used daily as soap and protects more effectively at a lower cost. https://www.maia-africa.com/en/

12/05/2021

encourages people and organizations everywhere to come together to raise awareness and reduce risks. According to a 2019 NASA study, roughly 70% of the 10,000 fires burning across the planet are in .

Studies show that measures taken at the home and in the area within 100 feet of it, known as the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ), have a significant impact on minimizing damage and loss. Something as simple as clearing the immediate 5-foot zone around the home can assist in making a huge difference in avoiding a catastrophe.

11/05/2021

, we celebrate a variety of national & public holidays across the continent, including:

May 10th: of recognizes the native tree species of the sub-Saharan region of Morocco. It’s the defining species of a woodland ecosystem and is resilient to a harsh environment under water scarcity, risk of erosion, and poor soil.

May 14th: People Liberation Army (SPLA) Day commemorates the foundation of the in 1983.

May 14th: celebrates President Kamuzu Banda’s Birthday- . The nation’s first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, reigned for 30 years and is referred to as the “Father and Founder” of Malawi.

May 14th: celebrates the Unification and Integration Policy aimed at tackling political, social, and economic disparities within the country.

10/05/2021

Now more than ever, there is an immediate need to replace the shame surrounding mental health with wisdom, compassion, and honesty. is a new docuseries, executive produced by Prince Harry and me, that features stories that help lift the veil on the current state of mental health and hopefully sparks a global conversation. Watch all episodes on May 21 only on Apple TV+.

07/05/2021

Reintroducing.... !!!
Join us every week on social media and any time via Monjae.com for inspiration of African lifestyle at home & abroad. We'll discuss healthy living, design and aesthetic, textiles and textures, natural embrace, and so much more.

07/05/2021

🚨**New Blog Post**🚨
Click the link in our bio to read a review of 'His Only Wife' by Peace Adzo Medie from Monjae's Founder, Annette McGee Johnson. “The first line of His Only Wife may well get under your skin, or at the very least, evoke a palpable reaction: “Elikem married me in absentia; he did not come to our wedding.” And just like that, we step right in it, no time to take our shoes or coats off.” bit.ly/Monjae

07/05/2021

, we celebrate a variety of national and public holidays across the continent, including:

May 3rd: celebrates , an old spring festival celebrated by the Egyptians since 2,700 BC.

May 4th: commemorates the Cassinga Massacre that took place on May 4th, 1978 with .

May 5th: celebrates Patriots' Victory Day in commemoration of the gallantry of Ethiopian Patriots in the five years struggle against Italian forces the end of the Fascist aggression in the country.

03/05/2021

This year’s theme “Information as a Public Good” serves as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good, and exploring what can be done in the production, distribution and reception of content to strengthen journalism, and to advance transparency and empowerment while leaving no one behind. The theme is of urgent relevance to all countries across the world. It recognizes the changing communications system that is impacting on our health, our human rights, democracies and sustainable development.

30/04/2021

April is .

Pictured here is Josh, who is THRIVING in his journey living with autism. In our Q&A, Josh's mother - born Henrie Johson - shares insights into her family’s unique experience. Read the full story to learn the universal applicability of many of Henrie's words of wisdom. bit.ly/Monjae

30/04/2021

📸Louis and the Great Sphinx of Giza

In 1961, while on a State Department sponsored tour of Africa, Armstrong visited Egypt with his wife Lucille. *Fun Fact* Early on in his tour, Armstrong’s mere presence in Leopoldville stopped a Civil War (for a day).

Today, April 30th, is - the world’s largest annual celebration of jazz!

The 2021 United Nations celebration, an All-Star Global Concert, streams live at 5:00 pm (US EDT) on jazzday.com, YouTube and Facebook and features Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller, Andra Day, Dee Dee Bridgewater, John McLaughlin, Dianne Reeves, Joe Lovano, Angelique Kidjo, John Beasley (Musical Director) and many more artists.

29/04/2021

Since the African American Museum in DC is currently closed, check out this African American Museum Tour. This is only a short walk through as I don't want to take away from the beauty of this museum and I hope that you can one day visit in person!   While you're here, please subscribe to my...

29/04/2021

Innovations We Love 💧🌍
- Wind 💨 and 🔆 water filtration systems
- Morocco’s Dar Si Hmad’s fog catching system (According to Goodnet | Gateway to Doing Good, this system is also being used in Ghana, Eritrea and South Africa)
- Desalination of ocean water 🌊
- Water purifying tablets
- The good old tried and true process of simply boiling water