Middle Passage Discussion

About two weeks ago, I visited the Middle Passage experience in the Saminaka sim. Today, there was a follow-up discussion led by Acuminous Watanabe, a psychologist in RL, for those who went through it to share their impressions. Like me, others were affected by what their personas went through--being ripped from families and their homes, and the confusion and inability to communicate in this new foreign place where they were treated so horribly. One thing we all agreed upon was SL's positive aspect as a medium with which to be able to share something like this and be able to discuss it--despite the painful aspects it brings up. I believe, and will continue to believe, that SL helps us to see past barriers we might have in place in RL and see one another as persons--no matter our ethnicity or anything else.

Remembering the Middle Passage

There are times that surprise you with the emotions you feel inworld. For me, this was one of them. On a tip from NWN, I thought I would go to the Saminaka sim after hearing about an interactive experience that allows you to experience the Middle Passage--when almost 20 millions Africans were enslaved and sent to points overseas. Upon my arrival, I was instructed to choose a persona box, which came with clothing and information about the person you were portraying. Mine, "Nzinga", was a 36-year old Kongo married mother of six who was captured by the Portuguese traders in 1619...You are instructed to go to the Door of No Return--which represents the last time that most stood on African soil before being loaded onto the ship. You are instructed to strip down to only your loincloth undergarment and I also put on the shackles that were provided. What I did not expect was my RL visceral reaction to doing so. I stood there and hesitated. I did not want to...
I found myself actually taking a deep breath and stepped through. I passed the Egungun--representing the ancestors. As you walk along the representation of the ship there are large flowers to touch, each containing RL narratives/accounts of experiences. When you get to the end, more boxes await and you choose the one with your persona...this time it is for when you have arrived in America...
Now in my new garments of an American slave and with the name "Mary", I find that my persona was sold to a captain in Jamestown, VA. To find out what happened to her and others, you must go and visit for yourself. I found it to be a very moving experience. This is the kind of thing SL is truly meant for and I commend Tamsin Barzane for creating it.
I felt this inworld experience was worth it. I know that many of my RL ancestors experienced this and I am here today because they were strong enough to survive it. In 2001, RL me got a chance to stand Goree Island, Senegal's museum and memorial "Door of No Return". For me, it meant a lot to me that I did...

Celebrate Mandela's Birthday in Virtual Africa!

Nelson Mandela turned 90 years old today! As a way of celebrating the life and legacy of this inspiration to so many the world over, the folks at Uthango and Virtual Africa will be holding events and parties inworld today!

They are also going to have an entire month of events and are asking for participation from the SL community to help create builds and artwork! You can find out more information here!

SL Africa Day!

To celebrate the opening of the Virtual Africa sim and the 1st SL Africa Day, there were events and panel discussions at Orange Island today. As you go went the stairs to the main stage, free men's and women's outfits by Senegal-based (Yay Senegal!) Solylence Houston were available. I could not resist her pretty boubou. I unfortunately came in at the tail end of a panel discussion about web accessibility and Africa, but was able to catch master percussionist Sage Duncan (RL: Stacey Fox), who encouraged us to get up and dance...
Afterwards, there was another panel discussion about "New Media & A New Voice for African Cultures/Ideas", moderated by Alanagh Recreant, head of the Cape Town-based Uthango Social Investments (who are the driving force behind the VA and SL Africa projects). The other panelists were (l. to r.) SLInworld4 Planer, the software developer responsible for VA's AI meerkats; Anna Annenberg, a fellow with the int'l tech nonprofit iCommons, who did a recent analysis of cross-cultural interactions within SL; and KhoisanMermaid Afarensis (RL: June Bam Hutchinson), who is the CEO of the South African History project and director of Diversity for the London Museum. Jean Miller, former director of Linden Labs' International Intiatives, gave the introduction to the insightful discussion about how SL can help to be not only a gateway for African citizens' involvement in SL, but how it can help to promote cross-cultural dissemination of ideas and understanding...We were all very excited to see the sim declared opened and adopt a meerkat. The HUD is free and then you buy your meerkat, which lives on the sim and will respond to you, depending upon your treatment of it. DJ Doubledown Tantino was spinning the tunes and I had a great time talking to everyone...
Codie Redgrave and I were finding that our meerkats ("Rafetna" and "CodieKat" respectively) seem to have quite a mind of their own...

Natural Hair and a Trip to Africa

While out in the world, I found this fantastic hair shop called A d i m u Salon! I was like a kid in a candy shop as I bought up her natural and braided styles named after stars of African descent with ad photos of models reminding me of friends and family...In RL, braiding's not a gift of mine, but my sister and cousin can with no problem. A d i m u's creator, Rubina Stanwell, does fantastic braided hairdos like this one--"Maya"...And this one, "Rita". In RL, I spent a month in Senegal (in West Africa) a few years ago. Women in Senegal are very style-conscious and folks pay attention to what you're wearing. I joked that I was in a nation of supermodels. In both photos, I am wearing an inworld re-creation of my RL floor-length Senegalese ndockette dress, with the fabrics taken from the actual garment...
I also re-created the flowing robes and headwrap of my grand boubou, a flowing garment that is common in West Africa. This is the version in white. Senegal is a 96% Muslim country and you will see most folks wearing white boubous and ndockettes on Fridays...
Here I am in the Africa sim (please make sure you check out the art for sale to support the sim and its positive cause!), wearing it in its actual hand-dyed fabrics (bazin--pronounced "bah-zahn"--cotton damask). The embroidery around the neck is also scanned from the actual garment and was hand-made as well...
I have always been interested in diversity and cultural experiences here in SL...I'm happy to be able to share one of mine with you all...