Every Successful Artist Comes From A Family

All Power Within The Microcosm Of My World Was Held And Wielded By People Who Look Like Me. Plus, I Think Nigerians All Have This Sense That They Are Better Than Everyone, Including White People. So I Have The Privilege Of A Certain Distance. It May Just Be That. So In A Sense, I Can't Claim That As Any Ability That I Have, Simply A Matter Of Circumstance.

Sometimes We Say We Want An End To Hate Or Racism Or Sexism. But We All Participate In Keeping These Structures Alive. If Everyone Decided To Relinquish The Past What Would Happen To People Who Feel That There Hasn't Been Proper Atonement Made To Them? And What Happens To The Person Who Feels That The Constant Atonement Is Their Identity?

Literature Is An Aspect Of Story And Story Is All That Exists To Make Sense Of Reality. War Is A Story. Now You Begin To See How Powerful Story Is Because It Informs Our Worldview And Our Every Action, Our Every Justification Is A Story. So How Can Story Not Be Truly Transformative? I've Seen It Happen In Real Ways, Not In Sentimental Ways Or In The Jargon Of New Age Liberal Ideology.

Nigerians Are Everywhere. There's An Old Joke, Particularly About The Ibos, That When You Finally Land On Mars, You're Going To Find A Nigerian There Who Has A Shop That Is Selling Coca-cola--who Took A Speculative Trip 20 Years Ago And Has Been Waiting For Everyone Else To Arrive.

What I've Come To Learn Is That The World Is Never Saved In Grand Messianic Gestures, But In The Simple Accumulation Of Gentle, Soft, Almost Invisible Acts Of Compassion, Everyday Acts Of Compassion. In South Africa They Have A Phrase Called Ubuntu. Ubuntu Comes Out Of A Philosophy That Says, The Only Way For Me To Be Human Is For You To Reflect My Humanity Back At Me.