Ololade Siyonbola

Ololade Siyonbola was born in Lagos, Nigeria, during a period of failing Military rule. As a child she then lived in London and the US, documenting her experiences as an immigrant in poetry, prose, fiction and photography. Siyonbola is the author of several articles and essays on the effect of migration on the present generation. She is the founder of Exodus to Afrika International, based in New York City. Siyonbola is also the founder of the Yoruba Cultural Institute where she directs programs on Yoruba language instruction for students from every corner of the Diaspora; and the author of Market of Dreams, the first quadrilingual poetry collection by a Nigerian author.
Faith & Philosophy

The Afropolitan Fear of Traditional Religion

Ololade Siyonbola -
Available for sale in certain parts of Lagos are chopped human body parts. They may be sold from the back of a car or in more remote parts of neighboring towns. They are used most often for rituals requiring human sacrifice for gaining riches. The demand for these body parts is so high that Nigeria especially remains besieged by an undeclared state of emergency...
Life Abroad

Yorùbá Girl Found

Ololade Siyonbola -
I had a very memorable conversation - in Yorùbá - with one of my fellow. It was the first time that I can remember, since beginning to learn the language, that I held a complete conversation with someone who wasn’t testing me, questioning me or my authenticity…
Life Abroad

Akátá vs. Afrikàná: The Truth about our ‘Differences’

Ololade Siyonbola -
Tensions between “Akatas” and Africans in this country have worsened since the upsurge of African immigration here in the ‘80s, but were always there.  And they remain tense, in some circles.  Why?
Life Abroad

Akátá vs. Afrikàná: The Truth about our ‘Differences’

Ololade Siyonbola -
Tensions between “Akatas” and Africans in this country have worsened since the upsurge of African immigration here in the ‘80s, but were always there.  And they remain tense, in some circles.  Why?
Life Abroad

Yorùbá Girl Lost

Ololade Siyonbola -
I am a Yorùbá Girl Lost.  My parents taught me neither the culture nor language.  I was partially responsible for losing the language, because at age six, I decided that I was not going to speak it.  The culture was lost when I was transposed into a foreign, non- Yorùbá environment...
Introspective

It's Good To Be Black

Ololade Siyonbola -
We need to rewrite our history, because as it stands now, most of what we learn is based upon a long-term fabrication of the truth done by those with something to hide.In order to rewrite it, we will first have to learn it...
Life Abroad

Consumer Power: The Rich Black Race

Ololade Siyonbola -
What if I told you to stop spending at Wal Mart?  K-Mart? Kroger? Ralph's? Macy's, Bloomingdales, Prada, Banana Republic, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, AX?  Could you do it? Am I crazy?

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