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The Blog
The Blog by Shades of Us provides insightful and engaging commentary on socio-economic issues affecting Africa, Africans and people of African descent. The Blog features articles, social commentary, and fiction.
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- Everyday People
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- Unsung Heroes
- Health and Wellbeing
- We Outside
- All Post
- Back
- Advocacy
- Social Commentary
- Fiction
- Poems
- Everyday People
- Rants
- Unsung Heroes
- Health and Wellbeing
- We Outside
- All Post
- Back
- Advocacy
- Social Commentary
- Fiction
- Poems
- Everyday People
- Rants
- Unsung Heroes
- Health and Wellbeing
- We Outside
Social Commentary
This category contains blog posts that convey our passion for the social issues we are concerned about with the intention of engaging more people in these causes. We express our displeasure towards damaging actions and attempt to deconstruct limiting and harmful stereotypes, myths and societal norms. Some of these are captured as real-life experiences to connect with individuals and encourage reflection, positive action, change and reformation.
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- Everyday People
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- Unsung Heroes
- Health and Wellbeing
- We Outside
Ritual killings have been a longstanding issue in Nigeria, but in recent years, these gruesome practices have taken a terrifying…
My parents in their benevolence kept me in a bubble: a bubble of perpetual provision and financial security. I had…
In Africa, queer and gender non-conforming individuals face significant challenges in accessing healthcare, exacerbated by legal and social discrimination.
Fiction
This contains fictitious stories and characters that captures issues affecting Africans and are obtainable in African societies. It also dispels myths and patriarchal systems as it ranges from themes of love, marriage and relationships to gender and sexual based violence, religion, parenthood and so on.
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- We Outside
I stared at his eyes as he made several sexist statements. He has been spilling unreasonable comments since we started…
Once upon a time, my village was green. My grandma said her mother lived in the village in the Hulla…
Poems
This contains descriptive and sublime poetry that spotlight the issues and realities of Africans. It also celebrates the African people and their cultures. These poems highlight different perspectives on certain issues as some are composed by others and featured on the blog.
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- Unsung Heroes
- Health and Wellbeing
- We Outside
Image: Mwangi Gatheca for Unsplash I know what it’s like being in your head. Dark, cold, happy. I know what…
Lot of these guys talk much about how “shawty look like a snack” But I think you look like a…
Everyday People
This category contains the recognition of individuals who are note worthy, their biographies and contributions to society. These blog posts cut across people from different spheres of society, fields and disciplines. They include interviews and real experiences of seemingly average or ordinary people who have made and are making a difference for themselves and others.
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Attah Igoche at his Office As my taxi rolled to a stop in front of the building that housed Aiivon…
Tonia Orevba Image: Facebook I woke up thinking of Tonia Orevba Roberts. Tonia is a beautiful actor cum model…
You need to meet the amazing Steven Edward. Steven Edward is the Founder and Executive Director of Goldmine Educational Resource,…
Rants
With this category, we express our displeasure and dissatisfaction towards issues affecting Africans and the unpleasant and damaging existing norms in Africa. These rants aim to address these issues and incite change as they contain real life and relatable experiences, scenarios and stories.
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I was sitting in the bus when a thought came into my head. ‘What happened to Kainene?’ For those who…
A memory came to my head a few days ago and stayed with me. It was sometime in early 2013.…
I am 30 years old today! Whoot whoot! For the first time in a long, long time, I decided I…
Advocacy
With this category of blog posts, we seek to amplify the voices of the unheard, unseen or ignored in society and promote human rights and social justice. We raise awareness on certain issues affecting Africans. It is an avenue to commemorate and promote international days that align with our values and work. This category also contains posts about community engagements we have organized and partnered with other organizations for as well as events and programmes, both online and in-person, that we have attended.
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I remember when I was around 10 years old, sitting at the back of my classroom, listening to my classmates…
The lives of Nigerians changed significantly on May 29, 2023, when President Bola Tinubu said the infamous words “subsidy, gone"
I was glad I attended the Future of Health Conference this year. There are ideas around climate action that we…
Unsung Heroes
This contains not only a recognition but also an appraisal of individuals who contribute greatly to society but are ignored and go unnoticed for their hard work. These posts celebrate and appreciate them for the value they add and spotlight their worth to society.
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There exists a unique league of heroes we are going to call the ‘Sanitation Superheroes’. These extraordinary individuals don’t wear capes…
Due to a failure of government to meet basic infrastructural necessities like constant power supply, running water, good health care…
A while back, I wrote a series of tweets addressed to the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment about a refuse…
