Arts & Culture
Adetola Babawale: Completing A Circle Of Life
Published
4 months agoon

By Toyin Falola
Be still, dear wind, be still
Open your palms and show me what you stole
Be still, dear man, be still
I can see the pain in your heart
Be still, dear river, be still
Let me bare my soul to you
Maybe you will take pity and wash away my pain
Maybe I’ll have a reason to smile again
All and sundry, be still, please
I am not at peace
I am not at ease
Let me bare my pain, listen, please
The wind said it did not steal from me
Yet, I cannot find my loved ones
The wind claims innocence
Even after they disappeared into thin air
To grow old is to see evil
Where do I go from here?
There is nothing left on the left
There is nothing right on the right
Let a hush fall on all and sundry
Give respect to the lost ones
Those dear ones we would not see again
For except in dreams and illusions
I used to have a clear sky
I used to bask in the sun
I used to revel under the moon
No more
Sun fell out of my sky
Moon disappeared into the clouds
I am left with a twinkling star
Shining in my dark skies.
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A few days ago, my brother, my friend, Professor Gabriel Olatunde Babawale, lost his wife, Chief Doris Adetola Babawale. Your grief is ours, Tunde Babawale. A man of your reputation and standing deserves all life’s joys. In the intellectual space, you have conquered your motherland and overseas. Your works have brought light to ignorant eyes and truth to unenlightened ears. But unfortunately, your intellect could not sway the cold hands of death from snatching away your precious wife. You never wished it to be so; we never wished this for you, but every man would only tread the path of life according to destiny. Yours is a harsh one, but who do we question? We would have fought, but who do we fight? If Olodumare, the Almighty and All-knowing, has wished it so, we have no choice but to accept our fate. Sadly, I cannot accept this fate on your behalf. No one can. It is a big burden that only your head can carry. But you will not carry it alone, as your faith has prewarned:
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” – Psalms 34:17-19 NIVUK
Your spirit has been crushed. I cannot restore it; only God can.
The angel of death is an uninvited and unruly guest who enters and exits a household at will, leaving behind wailing and everlasting sorrow. That is the responsibility the Omniscient has saddled us with. Everyone will taste the sour pill of death. When the time is right, we all will have to die to give more meaning to our lives; we only pray that we live long enough to fulfill our destinies and realize all our dreams.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted….
I repeat.
It is common for men to die before their wives. For centuries, men have taken pride in that concept and worn it proudly as a mark of masculinity. I even once told you in Brazil, where I am writing from, that I want to die before my wife. I am sure you said the same to me, but as we did not write our own path of life, the Unquestionable God did not grant you that wish: to die before your beloved wife. If the angel of death had given you the option of choosing who should be taken, I know your choice, which is the same decision that practically all honorable men would make. None of us wants to see death plunder our homes. No man wants to witness the loss of a child or wife, for that would look like he has failed in his primary task of protecting his family. I know the death of your wife will trouble you for a long time, but I preach steadfastness to you, my friend. I wish you steadfastness, but I am nothing but clay, like you. The source of your strength will not come from me; it will come from your faith in the word of your Creator and Maker.
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The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all
Tola was a beautiful bride. Strong, young, elegant, and vibrant. God delicately created her. Her overwhelming sense of hope was revealed in the glint in her eyes and the smile on her face. She personified the joy of existence. I imagine how hard she must have fought to stay back with us, to remain by your side and journey this world with you, but the Giver of life said her time in this realm was up. He called her, and, left with no choice, she had to heed. Her death saddens us, but we are grateful for all the impact, laughter, and memories we shared with her.
Your cry was loud when I called you a few hours after her death. I pictured your tears flowing down like water from a hill. You cried out as the righteous would do. I did not ask you to stop crying. As you did, we also cried, though our grief is incomparable to the pain you feel in the core of your soul. Our sorrows pale compared to how much you weep and grieve in the privacy of your room, where no one will see you. Tunde, your cherished wife was sweet and dear to your heart, I know. You may cry uncontrollably and feel your sorrow will never end because of the grief and the pain, but I know God will console you. The combined lamentations of sympathizers, home and abroad, cannot give you an elixir for the pain: you have to turn to God because no one else can give you the consolation that works.
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them…
Many would crumble under the weight of grief, but I implore you to be strong. Draw from the little strength of those around you so you do not sink into a permanent state of depression. Our words cannot take away the pain of your loss; we only want you to know you are loved and supported during this very difficult period of your life. This sorrow is real. This pain is real. This hurt is real. All the “You will be fine” and “God will strengthen you” do not imply that it will not be difficult or painful, nor do they mean the memories will not linger in your mind. The Lord is what you need.
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Life and things cannot be controlled; only God controls the circle of life. My friend, the journey ahead of you is challenging. I cannot assure you that this darkness will pass quickly, but I can only pray that light will shine on your path again. No words from me can diminish the sorrow of your loss. I only pray that God gives you the strength to carry through and that your family safely rides this storm. Have hope, as the Holy Book gives you its assurance:
“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore, I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:19-23 NIVUK
Falola is a Nigerian historian and professor of African Studies. He is currently the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin.
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Arts & Culture
Toyin Falola, Memories Of Africa: Home And Abroad In The United States
Published
5 days agoon
March 19, 2023
By Olusegun Olopade
Toyin Falola, Memories of Africa: Home and Abroad in the United States (Atlantic Migrations and the African Diaspora) | © March 2023
Book Details
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (March 24, 2023)
Language: English
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1496843487
ISBN-13: 978-1496843487
Memories of Africa: Home and Abroad in the United States suggests a new lens for viewing African Diaspora studies: the experiences of African memoirists who live in the United States. The book shows how African Diaspora memoirs beautifully and grippingly depict the experiences of African migrants over time through political, social, and cultural spheres. In reading African Diaspora memoirs from the transatlantic slave trade period to the present, a reader can understand the complexity of the African migrant legacy and evolution.
Author Toyin Falola argues that memoirs are significant not only in their interpretation of events conveyed by the memoirists but also in demonstrating how interpersonal and human the stories told can be. Memoirs are powerful because they are emotionally captivating and because important themes and events circulate around a particular person (in this case, the memoirist).
Undoubtedly, a memoir is significant because it can teach anyone about a part of the human experience, even if the “facts” are not described without bias. Through this sort of narrative, the reader cannot help but enter into the memoirist’s mind and, therefore, feel more empathy for them. In doing so, the reader can “feel” what the memoirist feels and “see” what the memoirist sees as clearly as is humanly possible. In this way, the historical events and life lessons become tangible and poignantly real to the reader.
Editorial Reviews
Memories of Africa makes a significant contribution to the study of the African Diaspora, African intellectual history, to our understanding of African autobiography, and more importantly to life studies. Falola provides fresh insights that will reinvigorate the field. — Olabode Ibironke, author of Remapping African Literature.
Memories of Africa opens a new dimension to the understanding of the experiences of home, space, and place, and their interactions in African and diaspora studies. — Adetayo Alabi, author of Oral Forms of Nigerian Autobiography and Life Stories.
Toyin Falola is Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. He has received over thirty lifetime career awards and sixteen honorary doctorates. He has written extensively on the African Diaspora, including The African Diaspora: Slavery, Modernity, and Globalization.
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12th Toyin Falola Annual International Conference On Africa And The African Diaspora (2023 TOFAC) Set To Hold
Published
1 week agoon
March 16, 2023
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Kenyatta University Holds Toyin Falola At 70 Conference
Published
2 months agoon
February 4, 2023
The Department of History, Archeology and Political Science of the Kenyatta University is set to hold a Toyin Falola at 70 Conference.
The conference with the theme “Post-Colonial Africa: Historical and Contemporary Realities” is scheduled to take place between May 10 and 12, 2023 at the Kenyatta University.
Description
Modern African economic, socio-cultural, and political realities have been considerably influenced and defined by colonialism. Colonialism created the foundation of the post-colonial. Since the start of the post-colonial and (especially) the post-cold war era, there has been increased academic interest in colonialism– both in the classic and the neo-colonial forms. There have also been considerable academic and non-academic efforts at decoloniality and decolonizing Africa. These efforts have led to studying and documenting African pre-colonial history, literature, and cultural intricacies to achieve self-determination and re-establish the African identity. It is, therefore, necessary and logically consistent with the above to study Africa’s past in relation to its present. Essentially, it is important that aside from examining the print of colonial pedagogy, methods, and philosophies, Africa is studied in the light of its actions, attempts at self-governance, and realities defined by its stakeholders.
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A considerable effort has been directed at researching, documenting, and analyzing Post-colonial Africa across different fields of the Arts and the Humanities. Through such efforts concepts such as neo-colonialism, political hegemony, economic instability, societal disillusionment, administrative lapses among others that touch on the African post-colonial condition have been explored by several researchers and academicians. However, the very basis of the evolution of knowledge and the foundation of the academic world is the consistent evaluation of knowledge, theories, and philosophies. As much as there has been enhanced scholarship around the aforementioned issues, there are still thematically important aspects of Post-Colonial Africa that are relatively unexplored or under-explored. New concepts, skepticism, and relatively new subject matters have developed with the continent’s evolution – particularly concerning socio-culture, administration, globalization, conflicts, diplomacy, and ideological paradigms. For instance, it may be important to define the extent to which pre-colonial Africa influences the post-colonial realities of its nation-states, regions, and Sub-regions, as it applies across respective fields.
Other relevant aspects of the post-colonial African reality like identity dynamics and minority politics, institutions and sub-institutions in Africa, diaspora dynamic, administrative evolution in Africa, Post-colonial gender dynamics in Africa, intercultural realities of distinct nation-states in Africa, cultural awareness, and preservation in Africa, decolonial legal education and practice, ideological politics in post-colonial African, among others. The COVID-19 pandemic presented new dynamics to interpret and understand the place of post-colonial Africa in the world in light of global power politics and diplomatic spate over the causes of COVID-19, vaccine politics, and international travel restrictions. COVID-19 highlighted the need to rethink post-colonial Africa’s readiness to respond to global challenges independently.
The Department of History, Archeology and Political Studies through the Research and Innovation Committee (DRIC) plans to host a conference that is directed at answering the conceptual questions that underline some key aspects of post-colonial Africa – as defined by the necessary contextual factors and underlining theories. The conference is expected to feature different themes and introduce concepts, arguments, and theories that are well-adjusted to current African realities.
The department also wishes to use the occasion to celebrate the 70-year life journey of Professor Toyin Falola, a world renowned Distinguished Professor of History and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, at the University of Texas at Austin. Professor Falola has dedicated his entire academic life, with over 150 titles under his name, reflecting on the African condition both in historical and contemporary terms. In March 2022, the Department hosted Professor Falola, who gave thought provoking lectures on “Decolonization of Africa Studies”. As a department, we are keen to use the conference to continue enriching our conversations around this and related themes, enhance our scholarly connections and collaborations, establish new research and publication partnerships as well as strengthen existing ones.
Sub-themes
The conference sub-themes will include but are not limited to the following:
- Decoloniality, and decolonization, as it intertwines with post-colonial studies
- Internationalization in the African region – key factors for consideration should include Pan-Africanism as examined through the lens of its basis, the status quo, and possible ways forward.
- Post-colonial economy and the role of the nation-state in establishing independent regional control
- Resource control as it affects neo-colonialistic affiliations and European hegemonic influence in Post-colonial Africa
- Liberal ideological predispositions and the socio-philosophical future of the African Nation states – with considerations to the influence of the youth demography
- Developmental politics in Post-colonial Africa
- Gender dynamics and politics in Post-colonial Africa
- Post-colonial Literature and the future of the arts in Africa
- Migration, conflicts, and peace actions in post-colonial Africa
- Regional collaboration and diplomatic politics in Post-Colonial Africa
Participation
The conference is expected to attract participation from academicians, researchers, experts and practitioners in the area of African history and other related humanities and social science disciplines. These shall be drawn from mainly Kenyan and other African institutions as well as from outside the Africa continent. The conference will allow for a blended mode where some participants will be present on-site at Kenyatta university while others will present online.
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SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
Prospective participants are encouraged to send abstracts of between 250 and 500 words, including their full contact details (title, name, address, email address and telephone number) as well as their institutional affiliation by 30th February, 2023 to: haps-research@ku.ac.ke
Final Output
Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by 5th March 2023 and asked to prepare full papers to be presented during the conference. The official language of the conference will be English. Papers presented at the conference will be peer reviewed and published in an edited volume.
Important Dates
27th January, 2023: Call for Papers/Abstracts
30th February, 2023: Deadline for Receipt of Abstracts
5th March 2023: Notification of Acceptance of Abstracts/Papers
15th April 2023: Deadline for receipt of Full papers
20th April, 2023: Registration begins
1st May, 2023: End of Registration
10th to 12 May 2023: Conference Dates
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