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Richard Solomon

Spectres of Famine The Ukraine War and the East African Grain Trade

Richard SolomonMay 25, 2022

Richard Solomon

is an MA student at the University of Chicago. Formerly based in Cairo, he has translated Arabic for the Cairo Review of Global Affairs and his essays have been featured in Slate and Current Affairs.

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Today in 1933, Folashade ‘Shade’ Thomas-Fahm w

Today in 1933, Folashade ‘Shade’ Thomas-Fahm was born. #RxHistory⌛ ⁠
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On 22 September 1933, Folashade ‘Shade’ Thomas-Fahm was born. She is one of Africa’s most important designers, and a pioneering figure in Nigerian fashion.She is reputed for owning the first boutique in Nigeria and for being the first professionally-trained fashion designer in the country.⁠
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Thomas-Fahm’s love for fashion began at the age of 12 when she started learning how to sew from a local dressmaker in Lagos whose shop was called ‘Sisi Sewing Shop’. In 1953, she moved to England to study nursing but after being inspired by the boutiques in London, she decided to study fashion instead at St. Martins College of Art and Design, London. She became a qualified fashion designer in 1959—becoming the first Nigerian woman to acquire a professional qualification in fashion design.⁠
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In 1960, she returned to Nigeria and opened a factory and the first fashion boutique in Nigeria under the name, Maison Shade (later Shade’s Boutique), in Yaba, Lagos. She became known for using traditional Nigerian textiles such as aso oke, adire, akwete and okene to design outfits of different styles. She is the originator of several outfits including women’s kaftan, the ‘boubou’— a style she created when she feminized the male ‘agbada’ for women by reducing the volume—and the transformation of the iro into a wrapper skirt.⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read more stories about Nigerian history at the link in our bio.⁠
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📝: Tomisin Awosika, Junior Editor⁠
📷: 1) Shade Thomas-Fahm by Kelechi Amadi Obi⁠
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2) Shade Thomas-Fahm at the 1957 London Earls Court Motorboat show. Shade Thomas-Fahm.⁠
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3) A poster advertising Thomas-Fahm’s boutique. Shade Thomas-Fahm⁠
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4) Shade Thomas-Fahm at the Simpson Street factory, in Lagos, in the late 1960s. Shade Thomas-Fahm⁠
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5) Shade Thomas-Fahm. Shade Thomas-Fahm⁠
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6) Shade Thomas-Fahm for This Day Style. Simi Pixel⁠

The Invisibility of the AU in Sudan. #OnSite⚡ ⁠
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The African Union’s diplomatic efforts in Sudan are evidence of the difficulties the AU has faced regarding its autonomy and credibility. Although not solving all the problems, the AU’s efforts are not completely insignificant.⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read more on the conflict in Sudan at the link in our bio.⁠
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________________⁠
📝: Catarina Milhazes⁠
🔎: Chukwudi Ukonne, Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors⁠
📷: Head of Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council and Commander-In-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Mahmoud Hjaj / ANADOLU AGENCY.

Today in 2013, Kofi Awoonor died aged 78. #RxHisto

Today in 2013, Kofi Awoonor died aged 78. #RxHistory⏳⁠
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On 21 September 2013, Ghanaian author, poet, and diplomat, Kofi Awoonor was killed in a terrorist attack on Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, where he had been attending a literature festival. ⁠
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Born in 1935 in Wheta, Gold Coast, Awoonor’s works were inspired by the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people. His first poetry book, 'Rediscovery', was published in 1964, four years after he graduated from the University of Ghana. He would later go on to get his M.A. and PhD in the UK and US respectively. While in the US, Awoonor published his first novel, 'This Earth, My Brother', and, in a career that spanned 49 years, would go on to publish seven more books, including three additional books of poetry.⁠
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In 1975, after about five years in the US, Awoonor returned to Ghana to head the English department at the University of Cape Coast. A few months later, he was arrested for being complicit in a plan to overthrow the military government, and was imprisoned without trial. After he was released in October 1976, he became more politically active.⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read more stories about Nigerian history at the link in our bio.⁠
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📝: Adams Adeosun x Ugonna Eronini⁠
📷: Photo 1: Ghanaian poet, Kofi Awoonor. Poetry International Foundation.⁠
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Photo 2: Kofi Awoonor, in his last public appearance, a poetry master class, in Nairobi, on Sept. 20, 2013. Storymoja Hay Festival/Msingi Sasis. Christian Thompson/AP⁠
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Photo 3: Awoonor’s first novel. Goodreads⁠
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Photo 4: Kofi Awoonor. FH Communications Bureau

South Africa’s Haphazard Commitment to Open Bord

South Africa’s Haphazard Commitment to Open Borders. #OnSite⚡ ⁠
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South Africa’s migration policy highlights the contradiction between its commitment to free movement which now struggles against the AU’s Agenda 2063 and international treaties.⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read more on the not-so-free movement of people at the link in our bio.⁠
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_________________⁠
📝: Adenike Fapohunda (@sometimesnike)⁠
🔎: Peace Onafuye (@yetundeandboks), Yusuf Omotayo (@yusufomotayo), Wale Lawal (@wallelawal); Editors⁠
🎨: Onyinye Dike (@oxdx); Illustration / THE REPUBLIC.

Today in 1923, general elections were held for the

Today in 1923, general elections were held for the first time in Nigeria #RxHistory⏳⁠
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On 20 September 1923, general elections were held for the first time in Nigeria. The Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) established under the leadership of Sir Herbert Macaulay in June 1923, won three of the four elected seats in the Legislative Council.⁠
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The 1922 Nigeria (Legislative Council) Order in Council provided for a 46-member Legislative Council, only four seats out of 46 were elected, others were only provided or appointed, among which were 23 ex-officials, four nominated officials and 15 unofficial members. ⁠
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As for voters, the right to vote was withheld from those who had been convicted of a crime and sentenced to death, hard labour or prison for more than a year. It was also important to be of ‘sound mind’, in order to be considered eligible to vote. Approximately 4,000 people registered to vote in Lagos, with around 450 people registering to vote in Calabar.⁠
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Egerton Shyngle, Eric Moore and Crispin Adeniyi-Jones of NNDP won three seats and the last one went to Kwamina Ata-Amonu of the Independents Party.⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read more stories about Nigerian history at the link in our bio.⁠
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📷: 1) Lagos Landscape in the 1920s. National Archives UK.⁠
2) Crispin Adeniyi-Jones of NNDP. Ed Emeka Keazor ⁠

Today in 1956, the first Congress of Black Writers

Today in 1956, the first Congress of Black Writers and Artists met in Paris. #RxHistory⏳⁠
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On 19 September 1956, the Congress of Black Writers and Artists held for the first time, with eminent artists and thinkers like Frantz Fanon, Leopold Sedar Senghor, W.E.B. Du Bois, Aime Cesaire, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Nigerian painter, Ben Enwonwu, in attendance.⠀⁠
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Organized by Présence Africaine, a pan-African journal which wielded strong influence in the decolonization struggle and the Negritude movement, the 1956 congress took place over four days during which issues of colonialism, slavery and Negritude were addressed.⠀⁠
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Swipe to learn more and read more stories about Black history at the link in our bio.⁠
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📝: Adams Adeosun x Ugonna Eronini⠀⁠
📷: The First International Congress of Black Writers and Artists meets in Paris in 1956. Du Bois’s Telegram: Literary Resistance and State Containment/Harvard University Press

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