“Canal+ African Stories Only” is a new streaming channel by Canal+, a global media and telecommunications conglomerate, created to ensure a direct route to global visibility for their new African film maker audience. This concept was created in response to concerns that Canal+’s $2 billion acquisition of MultiChoice, South Africa’s leading media group, became the beginning of a reprioritisation taking emphasis away from homegrown content, directly impacting the exposure of African talent across the continent and globally.
WARNING: The video below contains language some may find offensive.
Nigerians living in the UK have gotten used to adapting their Nigerian names to fit into a white British society. They simplify their unique Nigerian names, using nicknames, and avoid sharing them due to awkward interactions with white British people who struggle to pronounce them. This leaves some Nigerians feeling ashamed of their names and identity as Nigerians – “I used to wish I had a simple name like ‘Lauren Jones’ because I got sick of standing out”.
Nigerian names have meaning and tell cultural stories about beliefs, circumstances of birth and can be a hope or prayer for the person’s future. So, when Nigerians shorten or hide their names, they are only telling ‘part of their story’, and hiding part of their identity, all for the sake of fitting in. Nigerians should feel confident and proud of their names and identity as Nigerians.
DuoRoots, a conceptual new feature in Duolingo by Despina Toumazou, which allows users to learn their heritage languages from a very familiar voice close to home. I turned this concept into a video.
