The moments when humanity disappoints me

Yesterday, I posted about a video that I believed that everyone should flag so that it could be taken down. I flagged the videos in as many places as I could find this morning and yesterday but it’s a shame that one the one I saw yesterday is still up. The little things always spiral and become larger issues. Please show your support and flag the “Harassed 4 short dress” videos so that they can be taken down. No  person deserves that type of humiliation. (if you don’t know what the video is about, the gist is that a girl wearing a short dress is harassed in public, a bunch of men follow her, raise up her dress revealing her privates.) No one deserves this! Take this video down. And I encourage other bloggers not to put this video up! You are condoning this behavior in some ways. The content you allow on your blog shows that ideals of your blog. I don’t know about you but the things that appear on my blog are the things that I support. Please take down this video and any video like it!

xoxo

Kofo.

The little black dress (LBD)- inspired by the harassed 4 short dress video

Turn on the television, read the papers, they all say that every girl should own that ‘LBD’

Well I wore that LBD!

To feel gorgeous, to feel loved, to feel empowered, to hide the shame when there was no one to blame

Yes I OWNED that LBD! I walked on the streets with that LBD

Representing the modern world where the western has permeated and merged into ours

A good thing or a bad thing, I have no idea…

All I know is that this is reality

I can pick and choose what I want. I have a choice and I wore that LBD!

The world became cold, dark and ugly!

That LBD stood for everything that made them angry!

How dare I assert my confidence!

HURE! ASHAWO! SLUT!

A girl dressed like that deserves no sympathy!

But how could I be all those things when I wore my LBD when the sun was out?

Girls, empowering women! all wear their LBDs at night time…

but I had no right to my LBD.

With humiliation and disgrace as my armor,

I fight through the crowd but they open my jewels for the whole world to see!

The longest walk of my life was over

When the west merged with tradition…

A woman with a wrapper came to merge the worlds

And covered my shame.

Writer’s Note:

Flag any Harassed 4 short dress videos! This poem is unedited. The same way that the video was raw and unedited. I choose to leave this poem as is. Please, Please! Take this video down and do not encourage any actions that are similar to this. Thank you.

The Story Store features “Naij- A story of Nigeria by Lanre Olarenwaju”

I believe that stories are important. They help us understand our place in the world and remind us of the things that have happened to shape our current world. Through stories, we understand why things are the way they are and why we need to change them; they present to us the root of our problems and perhaps no matter how slowly, guide us into finding solutions to that problem.

Below is a story of Nigeria. I’m proud to be Nigerian; I’m proud of my heritage and my roots. I say this because I have a deep understanding of where I come from and what it means to be who I am. The understanding I have is thanks to my family, who are brave enough to live and experience their country. Through them I have discovered the magic and power of stories.

I hope that when you watch this, you understand the history of Africa and Nigeria in a different way and see the people for who they really are… not victims but a strong and powerful people. No matter where you are from, please understand your history and take pride in it no matter how messy it is.

To Nigerians and Africans everywhere, the people that came before us put a lot of thought in to creating worlds for not just themselves but for us as well. I like to believe that our founding fathers fought for our independence so that we can have a voice in the world. We are not victims! We are a people of pride. Never forget that.

We all have our battles. What makes us human is our ability to navigate those problems in peace, love and harmony. (lol sounds like sunshine and rainbows but even in peace, love and harmony we disagree and agree to live)

REAL  & TRUE NIGERIANS CARE. (everyone should care)