5 GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK
Just to brighten your day, I combed through the internet for positive news that occurred this week plus a lesson I learnt from my own setback.
This week has been *coughs* a lot. There was so much negativity hanging around the air and most were reflected through social media because it is the quickest medium to pass information to people in this age. As you all know, negative news spread faster.
This newsletter was created to spread the gospel that is known as ‘’Popular Culture’’ and its influence on human behavior in the 21st century. Social media helps in great length in spreading popular culture, they go hand-in-hand in producing the content that I like to write about and what you like to read about.
So I did a bit of a comb-through around the internet to curate a list of the good things that happened this week amidst a ton of very bad, horrible happenings, you know, something like a feel-good list to take your mind off the negativity and just focus on the good things. I even added a personal victory of my own in the end, keep reading to find out why!
Netflix Naija shares exciting news about producing original Nollywood contents
After penning down my frustration with the Nollywood content available in the decade and their inability to break through the modern Nigerian audience because many of us cannot relate to their stories (read that here), this news was particularly good news for me. I have been genuinely waiting for this moment where films by Nigerians, for Nigerians, and about Nigerians are produced and showcased not only on local platforms but international platforms like Netflix. If we are being honest, Netflix means a great deal, having novels adaptations (The Secret lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin) released by the company is a big deal. Original contents are being demanded these days and I am glad Nigerians filmmakers are joining this train. My only concern would be having the producers focusing majorly on ready-made stars alone without using this medium to showcase the fresh but talented faces to take up major roles. I do not want to feel like I know the actors that will be cast, I want to be shown new faces and expand the actors’ list. A lot of us are really looking forward to this, and I personally tweeted about my concerns and so did many Nigerian writers. Lola Shoneyin’s novel adaptation will open the door for more original stories by Nigerian writers and I am literally excited. I would pay money to consume these contents.
Rape Culture and survivors calling out their rapists online
Last week had us protesting against rape and the women that were raped and murdered in Nigeria. The rage was enormous and it has really sparked a fire inside people online especially women. Rape is not anyone’s fault except the rapist and to discover women standing up for themselves and calling out the names of men who sexually assaulted them either online or in-person was a huge deal this week. Names were called, lawsuits were threatened, apologies were tweeted, solidarity was shown. It was a week filled with courageous stans and a reveal of men that have asserted power in the form of abuse towards women and felt they could get away with it. Sadly, nothing will happen to most of these men because this is Nigeria and the system is crashing below the surface as we speak but the true image of these rapists especially their online personas have been revealed. And I am so happy these women got to speak their truth. May their courage inspire others to speak up.
The Vogue Challenge
The Vogue challenge that lasted the entire week was an effective way to get creators mainly photographers and models to showcase their visuals while adding the vogue fonts as though it was an actual Vogue magazine cover. The result was phenomenal, it got a lot of creators all over the world especially in Africa to tweet their own versions and the responses were unanimous. It got a lot of people reassuring themselves about how far they have come artistically and how they really do not need a western validation to make them feel seen and appreciated. Black creators have a harder time breaking into the mainstream brands and companies because their works are undervalued and underappreciated. However, the good thing about this week was that these simple vogue challenge made people even mainstream brands to question the status quo. To me, that is good news and one I would always remember because it made me realize black people are mad talented! And we do not need the western audience to validate our greatness.
Last week’s post taught me a great lesson about consistency and how I can get better
I might be shooting my own foot by sharing this but if it can motivate you to start that project you have been side-lining, I would do it all over again. The last good thing that happened this week was my failure to get my last newsletter to reach a bigger audience; my ratings were low compared to the week prior. I almost did not want to continue but I found a way, like Beyoncé, to turn my lemons into lemonades. I realised how bad it made me feel but it confirmed the reason why I started this newsletter in the first place. This is my time to showcase my work no matter the numbers. Speaking of the Vogue challenge, it made me realize that the numbers will not be as high as I would want it to be every week but reminding myself that I created this newsletter to provide a platform for readers who crave contents about Popular Culture to read and connect will keep me going. You might not know it yet, but this will be one of the best newsletters to showcase the best of Nigerian Popular Culture of this generation. However, this will not happen if I keep letting a low rating get to me every time and shuts down my consistency, would it?
If you made it this far, you are the real G! Please, take a look at this GoFundMe account that was created to cater to the family of Barakat Bello who was raped and murdered in her own home in Ibadan this month. A little can go a long way, and share on your social media spaces. Someone might see it and donate! Click here!
Stray Mention
I began the Chloe Ting 2-weeks shred workout challenge. Let us see how it goes, pray for me guys!
See you next Sunday! Tell your best friend about our Newsletter today!
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P.S
Tap this link to see —-> Top 3 binge-worthy series you should watch!