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Hello 2021: best wishes and 2020 content in review

First things first…Happy new year !

I swear it was the 1st of January like 30 seconds ago, and here it is almost mid-February!

Is it late to express my well wishes for the new year ? Well considering it’s the Chinese New Year, I guess it’s still appropriate. So I wish each one of you a soft, happy and prosperous 2021.

2020 has been a very difficult year for a lot of us. We’ve all experienced many losses brought by the terrible Coronavirus pandemic.

It’s been only a few weeks into 2021, and most of us are still experiencing grief and losses; losses of loved ones, of good health; jobs, incomes, opportunities and lifestyle. Most of us are now living through anxiety and uncertainties of getting back to normal. Or trying rather to imagine new ways of living in a Post Covid-19 world.

But let’s remain hopefully that better days are coming and we can soon put everything behind us and , go outside play with other kids  again 🙂 !

Chinese people around the world celebrated the New year on 12 Feb. 2021 is the year of the Ox.

Before diving into this year content, take a look at the year that was 2020:

2020 content in review:

My monthly musings:

A letter from the Editor with love. This monthly features reflects on the past month and set the tone for the coming one. Read :

H.O.N Weekly:

Last year seemed like each minutes of every single day was packed with breaking news ranging from the pandemic crazy evolution, social unrest and protests worldwide, shocking celebrity deaths (Kobe Bryant etc.).

Sitting at home under lockdown, I decided to launch a weekly commentary blog to discuss and keep a tab on pop culture news, current affairs, social media conversation and trends, dance challenges that were exploding my TL.

Re-discover 2020 through House Of Nzinga lenses.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brilliant speech against misogyny in the work place

Let’s get social, let’s connect!

Website:    http://houseofnzinga.com/

Facebook page : https://web.facebook.com/houseofnzinga/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabulous_trysh/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/house_of_Nzinga/ 

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/houseofnzinga

Portfolio : linktr.ee/PatriciaYumbaM

H.O.N Weekly : Your Weekly Roundup of Trending News

Here is a roundup of the top current affairs, lifestyle and entertainment news that has been trending for the past week.

1. POLITICS: Kamala Harris makes history has the first-ever woman to be elected vice-president in the US

On November 7th, 2020, four days after the American election day, numerous US media projected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the winners of the presidential elections.

The 4 years of Trump’s presidency have been quite a ride. And this year’s campaign could be described as the most polarized and eventful yet. As of Monday, November 16th, Trump has not yet conceded defeat and he claimed on Twitter (in CAPS letter!) that he is the winner.

Kamala Harris will be the first-ever woman, furthermore woman of color, to occupy this position. She is the daughter of immigrants: her father is Jamaican and her late mother is Indian. In her victory speech, Harris thanked and honored her mother and all African-American women. The latter overwhelmingly showed up at the polls and voted for Biden and Harris (According to national polls, 95% of African-American women voted for the Democrats). They are hailed by many as the ‘backbone of US democracy”.

Listen to Kamala’s victory speech here :

Read this article to learn more about people like Stacey Abrams and Cori Bush, who worked tirelessly for years to put the Democrats back in the White House: the ‘Real MVPs’ of this year’s election (Source: XONecole)

2. WATCH: Beyonce releases behind-the-scene footage of her photoshoot with British Vogue

In the early hours of Monday, November 9th, Beyoncé released a short video of behind-the-scenes footage of her British Vogue photoshoot. The 4 minutes long video, titled ‘A Friday in September’, shows Beyoncé getting ready and playing model for the magazine shooting.

It didn’t go unnoticed to African -especially Congolese- music lovers that the video’s background music is a Congolese song titled Ngai Tembe Eleka, from the late, legendary musician, “Franco” Luambo Makiadi. Franco was a genius guitarist and acclaimed storyteller whose several hits are classics in Congolese music.

For this photoshoot, Beyonce requested to be photographed by a black woman. Read more about 21-year-old Kennedi Carter who was selected to shoot Queen Bey.

Beyonce is keeping her Beyhive excited with multiples projects. From the release of the movie Black is King (I still need to write my ‘think-piece’ on it ) in August to Ivy Park’s latest collection releases and now her interview and photoshoot with British Vogue.

3. MEET Elsa Majimbo, the Kenyan social media sensation who just won the “African Social Star of 2020” at E! People’s Choice Awards

Elsa Majimbo’s funny and witty attitude has kept us laughing during the quarantine and puts her in front of global audiences. She has since been featured on several South African media, spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper and, recently landed a Fenty Campaign.

Check out how Elsa has been rehearsing for international fame in her hilarious video below 🙂 .

Watch this interview to know more about Elsa Majimbo :

4. COVID-19: “Lockdown” has been declared ‘Word of The Year’ by Collins Dictionary

Lockdown, quarantine, coronavirus, social distancing… So many words have seen a sharp use during this year, due to the exceptional sanitary situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lexicographers registered more than 250,000 usages of the word “lockdown” during 2020, up from just 4,000 last year. (source : BBC)

Did you know or were you using some of these words before the year 2020? Social distancing is totally new to me.

5. TECH: Have you heard about Clubhouse, the latest social app?

Have you heard about Clubhouse, the new invite-only, voice-based social media app where you join and discuss with people in chat rooms? Well, if you haven’t yet, don’t worry you’re probably not the only one.

P.S When you tell your friends about Clubhouse, say that you first read about it here! 😉

The Clubhouse app is still in its beta version. For now, it seems like it’s mostly celebrities and a selected list of people that have been invited to try it out. So, until the rest of us are invited to hang with the cool kids and check it out, here’s how the New-York Times describes the app:

“Clubhouse is a social media app where venture capitalists have gathered to mingle with one another while they are quarantined in their homes. The app is, for now, invite-only, and buzzy: Seemingly everyone who has been allowed to join the early test version, from celebrities like MC Hammer to activists like DeRay Mckesson, has tweeted about it. And it has recently been one of the hottest deals on Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valley’s venture capital nexus.”

Are you eager to try a new social media app or you’re happy with Facebook and Twitter?

darkbean instagram fire facebook twitter GIF

Thanks for reading ! Let me know which story you enjoyed the most or which trending story I might have missed.

Check out below how to connect with me.

Let’s get social, let’s connect!

Website:    http://houseofnzinga.com/

Facebook page : https://web.facebook.com/houseofnzinga/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabulous_trysh/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/house_of_Nzinga/ 

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/houseofnzinga

Portfolio : linktr.ee/PatriciaYumbaM

H.O.N Weekly : Your Weekly Roundup of Trending News

Welcome (back) to H.O.N Weekly, your weekly roundup of the top lifestyle, current affairs and enter/edutainment trending this week.

Nicholle Kobi’s illustration of the upcoming animated series on Africa queens. Nicholle Kobi Instagram.

1. COVID-19: is South Africa losing the battle against COVID-19?

After what seems like a great start at managing the pandemic, South Africa is unfortunately now ranking 5th worldwide, on an international COVID-19 chart. Cases in the country are spiraling, despite a strong involvement of the government. The country was first praised by the WHO for its early strict measures and national testing program . What went wrong then? According to an opinion piece published in Quartz Africa, it’s because South African’s leaders want to emulate the” First world” while it is a country being ‘both first and third world”. The article points out to a capacity problem to correctly execute the wide-scaling testing initiative, elitism and exceptionalism views. (Source : Quartz Africa)

2. Edutainments: Artist Nicholle Kobi teams up with Erick Barmack to bring animated African queens’ series to life

French Artist and illustrator Nicholle Kobi, known for her empowering illustrations of black women on social media, is teaming up with Erick Barmack, a former Netflix executive, who is credited with overseeing the streaming giant ‘s game-changing drive into production around the world, on the production of “Queens” a high-concept, stylish animated series about six extraordinary real-life African queens. They will mesh real-life events ranging over thousands of years of history and authenticated by historians with a dash of magic and, as the series’ central visual look, Kobi’s character art. The pair is working on another animated project, a series called ‘La femme noire’ for BET. The series will feature stories of Queen Amanirenas of Kush (Ex-Sudan), Queen Nandi the mother of Shaka Zulu (South Africa) and Queen Amina of Zaria (Nigeria) among others. While waiting for the series learn more about these amazing African queens here. (Source : Variety)

3. Tech/business: The faces of startups in Kenya

An info-graphic of start-ups in Kenya has been making the rounds on social media and causing a stir because it is revealing the demographic of start-ups founders : they are mostly whites. Unlike South Africa and Nigeria, (along with Kenya, these countries make up the three most-funded start-ups hubs in sub-Saharan Africa), expats founders are more likely to be funded more than locals.

As per data compiled by WeeTracker, Kenya-based start-ups raised a total of USD 428.9 Million in total disclosed funding deals recorded in 2019. Expat-founded start-ups were the recipients of 87.8 percent of that sum, raking in a staggering USD 376.7 Million. (Source Weetracker.com /digest Africa)

4. Viral/US Politics: Watch US presentative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brilliantly shut down misogynistic slurs

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is often referred to by her initials AOC, is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district. AOC is fearless and outspoken while defending her points of view. Earlier this week, she reportedly was accosted and called a ‘fucking bitch’ by a republican congressman, Ted Yoho. Watch belowAOC’s poignant and classy response, a real masterclass in standing up to your bullies and handling misogynistic bullies in the workplace or elsewhere. Her speech has stricken a chord with many women across the world, as the majority of us have, one way or another, had to deal with such mistreatment. Watch the full speech here. (Source: HuffPost)

5. Music : Aya Nakamura is the most listened to French singer

According to Spotify’s world ranking, artist Aya Nakamura is the “most listened to” French singer. She is ranked 288th, in particular thanks to her massive hits like “Djadja”, “Pookie” or “Copines”. With 13 million monthly listeners, Aya is way ahead of the other top 3 most successful French artists on the platform, the rappers Jul (3.3 million per month), Booba (2.3 million) and the duo PNL (2 million). Of Malian descent, Aya has been dominating the French airwaves and international festivals with her unique blend of French pop and afro-inspired beats. Unfortunately, Aya is regularly the target of cyber-bullying and frequent racist attacks highlighting the issues faced by black women in the show-business (misogynoir). Allez Aya! (Go Ava!). (Source Web24.news)

Et voila for this week’s round up. What’s happening on your side of the world that we should know.

PS: Before you go, do not forget to check the latest blog posts

Let’s get social, let’s connect!

Website:    http://houseofnzinga.com/

Facebook page : https://web.facebook.com/houseofnzinga/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fabulous_trysh/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/house_of_Nzinga/ 

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/houseofnzinga

Portfolio : linktr.ee/PatriciaYumbaM

How “Black Lives Matter” re-ignited my blog’s purpose

Last time I checked with you for my monthly musing, was in May when I did a round-up of the 2020 first quarter. I mainly discussed the rise of the COVID -19 pandemic and the top events, thus far, of the year. Today I’m telling you how world’s events of the past week, the Black Lives Matter movement especially, have helped me re-ignite my blog’s purpose.

A mural in honor of George Floyd.
A mural in honor of George Floyd.

Things have been even more eventful (and draining) with the eruptions of the Black Lives Matter protests, following the senseless killings of black people in the USA. So draining that I could not put my feelings and emotions into words (considering that we’re still battling the pandemic).

“I can’t breathe”

On May 25, the killing in Minneapolis (USA) of Georges Floyd, an-African-American man, by 3 policemen, sparked national anger. The videophone footage shows Derek Chauvin, one of the policemen, kneeling on George’s neck for almost 9 minutes. Two other policemen are seen pinning his body on the floor, while George was repeatedly imploring them to stop, by saying “I can’t breathe”. He later lost his consciousness and subsequently died.

The shock and exasperation spread worldwide, with protests erupting around the world.

Black Lives Matter

Protestors around the world have rallied across the slogan Black Lives Matter, that first started as a hashtag created in 2013, in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the murderer of Trayvon Martin, another unarmed teen back boy. Since then, the hashtag is getting used widely on social media to highlight the senseless, and often racially motivated killings, of black people, especially young black men.

A few weeks before Floyd’s killing, Breonna Taylor, a 26 years-old female, was shot and killed in her bed, while police officers entered her apartment, to execute a ‘no-knock warrant search’. Her family is still seeking justice.

Before Breonna, Ahmaud Arbery, a young black man was killed while jogging in his neighborhood. He was pursued, confronted and killed by 2 white residents. His killing was recorded by another neighbor, who was later charged alongside the other two.

The shock and exasperation of these killings spread worldwide, with protests erupting across many cities around the world. In France, the movement has found resonance with the killing of Adama Traore by French policemen, in a condition similar to George Floyd.

#BlackLivesMatter goes global

This year people from every background of life, race and nationality have joined the movement. It has also sparked conversations about racism and prejudice in our society. Social media in particular, has become a very powerful platform, because it has given black people all over the world a platform to share their painful experiences with institutionalized racism.

Powerful brands and companies have all been forced to reflect and enforce changes in their organisations to actively combat racism. Ex-colonial powers such as France, Belgium and the UK are also facing a growing discontentment with Afro-descendants wanting them to be accountable for practicing slavery and colonization. They want these countries to recognize the atrocities committed under such practices and discuss reparations. Symbols and statues of colonization and slavery are being toppled in major cities across Europe and the US.

If anything, the events of these past weeks, have shown us that racism is one of the most enduring pandemic that black, and other non-white people, have been subjected too for centuries. It has permeated, in the most insidious ways every aspect of our lives.

A renewed purpose and re-commitment to my blog’s vision

The tragic killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests have reignited my purpose and the vision of House of Nzinga. It reminded me that, I created this platform to contribute to an afro-centric and afro-optimistic worldview and narrative.

My mission, when I started this blog, was to counter all the negative, stereotyped portraying of black people, especially women, by amplifying our voices and stories, while celebrating our past.

Although my platform and voice, is a tiny one in this world wide web, I strongly believe every voice counts in the fight against institutionalized racism and Neo-colonialism.  Every signed petition, every tweet, every post changing the narrative counts. As I read somewhere “activism has many lanes”, and social media activism is certainly become a powerful modern tool for activism when used correctly of course).

So stay tuned for more inspiring, educating and empowering content.

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