fuckyeablackart:

Morena by ~fxcastellanos

tobia:

Toyin Odutola
AKATA
2013

Pen ink and marker on paper. 9 x 12 inches.

________________

I feel I should explain why I chose this title. ”Akata” is a Yoruba term meaning, literally, “wild animal” or “bush animal.” As my father said, jokingly, when I inquired on the term, “think of it as road kill.” But on a more serious side, “Akata” also has a double meaning that leans more towards slang. “Akata” is also viewed as a derogatory term migrant Africans may use to describe African Americans. My titling this piece “Akata” was not meant for confer this slang meaning at all, but to dissent it.

I wanted to play with the idea of “wild/bush animal” and the African American stereotype that still exists as a divide between recent African immigrants and Americans of African decent in this country. Myself, being a documented “Nigerian American”, often having to grapple and mitigate with these opposing views and separatism has left me weary and suspicious of terms like “Akata.” My “identity” is a combination of these two distinctive cultural stances. Thusly, to titile a portrait variation of myself “Akata” is to undermine that distancing and highlight the problem of having Pan-African particularities and distinctions made inferior or derogatory. In-fighting and name-calling doesn’t help the conversation, it only seems to create more binaries.

I can already see that this view will cause some people to disagree with my statement on this—on both sides—but the aim to make people understand that in order to properly look at other people with equal regard and respect, is to look at ourselves individually and understand ourselves individually—contradictions and all. I am a Nigerian American, these two labels are at odds with each other already and I have always felt ambivalent towards them (committed to they representation and equally compelled to disregard them). However, by titling an intentionally androgynous self portrait with a potentially offensive Yoruba term for African Americans towards myself creates a space that I hope others can see the self and community destructiveness in separatism. If we are to respect difference, it doesn’t mean we should all assimilate or blanket individuals and communities, it means we should understand the importance of why we are different and how much of that difference is self-imposed and socially imposed upon us all.

Edit: Concerning the “gold teeth” — it was an aesthetic choice, primarily, but I think it supplements the aforementioned “Akata” argument. What may be considered gaudy or “low” are all connotations that are mostly imposed (even I was hesitant about the teeth/grill). Now I understand that by taking the risk of adding the teeth, it helped to better formulate my argument with an aesthetic that reflects the feelings I aimed to express. 

(via dynamicafrica)

(Source: fuckyeablackart)

fuckyeablackart:

Calypso by ~Heteferes

(Source: fuckyeablackart, via queennubian)

palaceofposey:

Maybe I’ll clean this up later.

(via acceber74)