Truth be told

From Hollywood directors to producers, writers, script writers, film makers, and ect.

Every body loves to populate their creative writing pieces with intrigue, and mystery to get get that unique flare to the story line making their masterpiece stand out from the dull, unimaginative, and utterly boring ocean of 
read-a-like short stories. They want to be emancipated from the dull drums editors force feed you to write.  A fate worse then death for the creative mind.  You crave to write about places that are different;  uncharted territory to make your story come alive.  Everybody wants their story lines and plots to hold their audience's  attention; by any means necessary, including distorting the facts, or maybe blowing things out of proportion....just a little. We might even misrepresent and villainise  a culture or two at the expense of  the integrity and authenticity of the subject content. No big deal it reads great.      
How often has Africa been relegated to a mere afterthought when applied to the beginning of civilization or the creation stories of the word. It is almost implied that the only creation story that ever existed was the Christian version of creation when there are numerous stories that circle the globe, however in this article we will just focus on this one story… giving you a little back ground before we start of course..... it's just power for the consciousness, and better resources for stories, novels, and other articles in the long run. 

Archaeological evidence of human habitation dates back to 9000 BC in Nigeria with Benin Chad, and Cameroon along with the Gulf of Guinea surrounding her borders. Taking her name from the Niger Nigeria birthed several ethnic groups from her fertile soil, or what the creation story refers to as the land of expansion so to speak. But how was this distorted to the notorious "N" word? That's another discussion.  
On the western shores we have the Ga, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Ibo, Popo and Fulani which are only a few of the ethnic groups that make up the population of Nigeria's of 158,000,000’s souls covering 36 city-states with an official language of English due to colonial occupation from the United Kingdom, however on October 1, 1960 Nigeria gained her independence from the United Kingdom and was declared a republic in 1963. Abuja 923768 (km) her capital reverberated independence to her highest peak Chappal Waddi (2419) for all to hear; the most populous country in Africa, and the most populous in the world. Despite Africa being labeled poor backward and primitive how is it that Nigeria  is a member of “The Common Wealth of Nations” with her oil reserves bringing in an

enormous revenue…in other words a whole lot of Naira the country’s currency flows like the Niger.

Fifty percent of the country practice some form of Islam while 40 percent are Christians and the other 10 percent remained loyal to their ancestors embracing their traditional beliefs.

The Yoruba's beginnings are almost lost in time. One of their most ancient names is the Nok; going as far back as 9000 BC. It was said that they migrated from the east as far as the north eastern extension of what was called Alkebulan that bordered on the western coast with was what was referred to then as the Ethiopian sea.  The Nok culture later became the Yarrib which then became what is commonly known today as the Yoruba, or Yoruba land hosting a rich and diverse culture of art music and literature.  

Their spiritual beliefs are cosmological in nature therefore the practice was referred to as Ifa; a nature based spiritual practice that consisted of a host of deities residing in nature called Orisha an extension of the creator god Oludumare who resided in Orun what Christians consider to be heaven. When we say Orisha we’re referring to a deity that guides our consciousness.  This is only the tip of the iceberg a small piece of the puzzle due to the scope of this article however it will be just as informative.

The folklore of the Yoruba people of south western Nigeria is deeply sub merged in oral traditions, beliefs, and legends pertaining to the formation of the universe and structure of the spiritual and physical world.  This ancient science of the material world and celestial bodies was called Gede; the practice and study of the universe's celestial bodies including astrological events that greatly influence the spiritual costumes of the ancient Yoruba and the traditional Yoruba today.

 The spiritual beliefs of the traditional Yoruba states that the creator’s essence resides throughout the universe and within nature the creator’s attributes referred to as Orisha emanate planetary cosmological and Stellar influences.  The Orisha are also described as numerous individual heavenly energies with specific characteristics that dominate throughout nature and the heavens.  Oral traditions passed on from generations to generations have symbolically communicated universal laws, morals, values, principles, ethics, and abstract ideals in regards to the role played by cosmological and Stellar influences. The ancient Gede describe cosmic and stellar influences as timeless individual characteristic energies expressing themselves universally in allegorical narratives telling of legends eons older then Western civilization.  This is what would be referred to as the creation story or genesis of civilization according to the traditional Yoruba practicing Ifa. They believe creation began 218 kilometers 135 miles northeast of Lagos at Ile-Ife the holy city of Nigeria. Ile-Ife is also considered the land of expansion dating back to 600 BCE the planet's oldest organized community.

Their oral traditions also include a creation story; one version of the story states that Obatala gazed out as far as his eyes could see and was met with a watery waste so he decided to ask the creator god Oludumare if he could create life.  He was referred to the oracle deity Orumila for instructions. Orumila told him to get a three toed hen a bag of soil and go to Ogun to get a chain to descend down to the watery waste when arriving sprinkle the sand and drop the hen and when the hen scratches the sand earth will begin to form.  Afterwards Obatala would return to Orun to create the new being, and Orumila Obatala and Oludumare; the three of them including the new being would decide what his or her destiny would be, but only after Oludumare breathed the breath of life into the new being.

Another version is that Obatala started the creation of the new being but stopped to drink some palm wine and became intoxicated, so Odduduwa another Orisha had to complete the creation of the new being. Odduduwa was successful. 
Many city-states and empires were named after the sons and daughter of Odduduwa such as the following, Ila Orangun, Owu, Ketu, Sabe, Popo, Oyo, and Benin. These are the original regional states and also where life is said to have come from in Ile-Ife.

It is this rich culture whose creation story has intrigued and fascinated those of us who are conscious of its existence. How arrogant to assume that there exist only one genesis, or creation story.  Imagine the many ethnic groups throughout the 59 countries in Africa alone.  There are thousands that circle the globe.  Over the decades the spiritual and religious traditions of Africa have been grossly

misrepresented and distorted out of ignorance, fear, and racism.  Mis-education has played a vital role within the education system in contributing to this misconception with our society continuing to be influenced by the clergy escalating  intolerance to African and non-Christian spiritual practices in general.

African deities, and its religions have been vilified while the media and the graphic media have explored the spiritual icons and avatars throughout Africa using them to gain a great deal of wealth in the media industry.  

As a writer and published author it is my pen's responsibility to retrieve and recover the traditions of Africa and place them in their proper context and correct the mis-representation that have created negative images in regards to traditional African spiritual practices.

The clergy who influences society in general have no understanding of African culture or the spiritual concepts embraced by the indigenous population who embrace a traditional belief system. During the colonization of African countries an ocean of religious intolerance spilled over onto the ancestral beliefs  nearly obliterating their culture, oral traditions and practices.  However the movie industry has taken full advantage of the so called dark primitive  African gods accumulating great wealth while the masses remain ignorant of the true origins of African spiritual practices. So it really begs one to wonder how did such a large percentage of African descended people in the Diaspora become Christians, especially in these crucial times of change. 

For more information please visit www.wix.com/soyinkaiyabo/chaoschronicals

The Comic Book Evolution

Our techno age has evolved so drastically; who ever thought that our cell phones would serve as interchangeable mini computers with ideas communicated in the blink of an eye whether they consist of graphic arts or military objectives.  A whole new world is at our finger tips waiting to be explored while we’re on the move with numerous cultures around the world to numerous to count. Even our literary options have drastically increased allowing us the freedom to enjoy our favorite books, magazines, news papers, and last but not least the various hard back to soft back graphic novels that were birthed from the comic book age we all grew up with.

 The onslaught of comic book genres that fill the shelves in our homes and at book stores are too numerous to count.  Who knew then how they would evolve and how their value would sky rocket as time moved into this techno age.   

One can only imagine how easy it was to accumulate boxes of comic books with companies like Wild Storm, Image, Vertigo, Dark Horse, Top Cow, and last but not least the Grand Daddies of them all “DC comics and Marvel Inc.” supplying our weekly habit of super heroes and villains fueling our imaginations.  When did the world of comic books enthrall and compel us? At one time or another in our life we have picked up a comic book. What was it about that collection of colorful images that drew us in captivating us? Was it the unbelievable feasts of our heroes or was it the diabolical plots of those villains who sometimes invaded our dreams as children.  Who were these villains where did they come from what was their psychosis and plot for world domination…or destruction of the universe itself.  For as long as anyone can remember there has always been some petty tyrant threatening mankind.  So our comic book industry has taken advantage of these psychotic individuals with delusions of grandeur as far back as the First and Second World War with Hitler and his infamous Third Reich, or America’s ugly history of segregation that created a dark backdrop with images of white robed tormentors burning crosses and how African descended people and people of color in general were depicted during that time.  Can you imagine how long the comic book industry has existed?  Let us turn back the pages of time.

Originally located in Manhattan, NY 432 Fourth Ave later relocating to 575 Lexington Ave in 1934 National Allied Publications was one of the most successful companies operating in the market for American comics they were the publishing unit of DC entertainment a company of Warner Bros owned by Time Warner. They were the producers of well known characters such as Superman, and others.  Later with the advent of Dick Tracy and Batman National Allied Publications transformed to Detective Comics hence the initials D.C. later they were to morph into Direct Comics, but still maintaining the DC logo   

In 1939 in NY Timely Publications was founded another American company that published comic books and other related media as the segregation era continued raging in the south. 

By the early 1950s Timely Publications had become Atlas Comics, and the birthing of the Civil Rights era was underway with Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.  In 1955 Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white person hence fueling the inequality and injustices of the treatment of people of color in this country.  Her defiance inspired the Montgomery Alabama boycott which Dr. Martin Luther King and others was a driving force.

 In 1961 at the height of the Civil Rights era Atlas Comics became Marvel Comics launching the Fantastic four and other super heroes created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and others creating the marvel universe with such characters as the Avengers, Dr. Doom, X men, The Hulk and many others.  

As the Civil Rights era gained momentum influencing the nation to adopt a stand for the elimination of injustice and inequality attracting worldwide attention the first black super hero was created in a mainstream comic book publication Marvel comic Inc.  T`Challa the king of a fictional advanced African nation referred to as WaKanda located in central Africa; made his appearance as the “Black Panther” in 1966 in the Fantastic 4 issue #52 created by writer / editor  Stan Lee and penciled by Jack Kirby. 

The Black Panther’s name predates 1966. The original Black Panther title was birthed from the segregated African American WW2 tank Battalion who liberated France. In the sixties others soldiers would pick up the mantle of fighting for justice ushering in the next generation of civil rights; Huey Newton, Bobby Seals, Stokely Carmichael, creating the Black Panther Party.  The Black Panther has always had a history of fighting inequality, injustice and protecting those who could not protect themselves. Could this concept of the Black Panther been adopted from the African American experience in this country by Marvel comics?    Later on in the sixties The Falcon, and Luke Cage were penciled to life with DC comics following suit creating such characters as Tyroc, Black lightning, and John Steward / Green lantern.  However there were predecessors to these black characters. 

In 1947 All Negro Comics Inc. was founded with artist / writer John Terrell and George J Evens; who created black characters such as detective Ace Harlem.  Another popular comic series was Ezekiel’s manhunt an action adventure and there was Lion Man an educated black man sent by the United Nations on a mission to find Uranium on Africa’s Gold Coast. These characters predated our heroes we know today; blazing a trail for positive images much needed for the revolutionary era to begin Civil Rights and Equality for all.

In 2008 Walt Disney acquired Marvel Worldwide commonly referred to as Marvel comics formally Marvel publishing Inc. and Marvel Comics Group for $4.24 billion. Walt Disney grosses 36 billion annually.

There is no doubt the African American experience has dramatically influenced the Marvel and DC universes.  Such a rich and diverse history accompanied by a culture older then the colonization of this country has left its mark upon the comic book industry. 

The process of thinking outside the box

 

The process of thinking outside of the box takes one on a path that bends, and twist and winds around to places never before acknowledged by the everyday thought process. It's what you would call another reality.  Being so deeply submerged into his or her thought process is referred to as unrestrained and critical thinking; which often leads to creative visualization.  From that union a gestation period forms, thoughts, ideals, and concepts; birthing a “Word-Smith”.  A “word smith” is a special kind of person; one who sits and chisels at a manuscript’s first draft for hours unrelenting, consistent, and determined. 
 Despite the obstacles and challenged along the way she is never wavering from her path.  She is devout in her purpose following her path with all the twist and turns; sometime never knowing where they may lead her.  Enduring frustrations along that road are many for this new born “Word Smith” learning to circumvent or avoid the predators that disguise themselves as friendly well meaning publishing houses with their minions speaking in garbled contractual languages sometimes they themselves don’t understand. 
 The “Word Smith” must also learn to swim in the deep waters of proof reading and editing avoiding the carnivores of typos and grammar, and the ocean of formatting.  Sometimes these horrific waves are over whelming resulting in mistakes; however not life threatening, but these mistakes in the hands of the average hater can cause great distress, and annoyances. Of course along any path taken there will be mistakes made, it is not the end of the world.  The sun will continue to rise and set.  The moon will maintain its orbit as will the earth.  It is being able to acknowledge these mistakes made and regroup from them making one a better Word Smith.  It is what I refer to as the “Re-Birth Process” after crashing and burning one rises up like the Phoenix to something amazingly better.  You have now completed your rights of passage where you can now where the title of “Creative Writer”  As a creative writer I’ve always thought that the thought process and mind set was crucial, not to mention world view, and one's own evolution. 

 The collection of experiences one possesses on this plain of existence is invaluable as a creative

being, and how we view ourselves is of equal importance for our creation process.  To know who you are as a person and where your blood line originates is to know thyself and to be true to ones ethnicity so you may write from the heart, and the spirit.  It is invaluable that positive characters populate our stories, novels, comic books and media in general.  Heroes that  resemble our

ancestors is empowerment of the spirit. Their deeds and actions of courage create the story lines and plots.

It was the late Octavia Butler an African descended female who pioneered this trail for those who would bring our rich culture into the realm of this genre. Her writings has inspired me since my youth, and she is a true hero that deserves all our praise as an honorable ancestor now.  There was a great deal I leaned from this legend as a writer. We birth our characters  and mold them to be strong, nurturing,  powerful, and intelligent that is how they become super heroes, warriors queens, healers in the fine arts of metaphysics, and so much more.  They are not to be anything less, nor disrespected or portrayed in a negative or derogatory roles.  We are more then a sub-culture, we have a rich culture that extends beyond the Diaspora.

As a mid-night writer/ creative writer it is imperative  that I think and write outside of the box, but in order to create in that capacity you have to step outside of what is common place.  You have to leave behind what is familiar and what is comfortable.  You often walk a path that very few walk.  A world perspective takes one outside of his or her comfort zone.  Before I wrote my first Sci- Fi novel 

“Cosmic Beginnings The Chaos Chronicles” I traveled extensively along the West coast of Africa.  From Senegal  to Gambia to Ghana, and Togo briefly stopping thru Nigeria and Namibia.  Those experiences allowed me to expand my horizons, my world view and see and feel the land my ancestors came from.  The slave castles and dungeons were a most intense and emotional experience.  Making that particular pilgrimage was life changing, but witnessing the greatness of our ancestors was an experience that will forever influence my writing.

Not everyone is able to hop on a plane and just take off, but the world wide web is at our disposal  as a learning tool. We need not be locked into only writing of small trivial existences of media exploited misery pertaining to thugs, drugs, and crime ridden communities infested with cultural

amnesia and ignorance.

My mother a venerated ancestor told me as a child grow up finish school and see the world. So I

Did. The military bounced me around the globe, and when they finished my ancestors called me to

return to the beginning allowing me to create Cosmic Beginnings the Chaos Chronicles Vol. 1&2the beginning of a new genre where Africa’s legends, myths, and oral traditions rise up to elevate

those literary concepts, and talents to blend into the new millennium.