SOTIGUI KOUYATE LE GRAND SAGE MALIEN/BURKINABE

Sotigui Kouyate dans toute son elegance

Le Grand Sage in Action

Very Talented Man!

Merci Allah pour ce don...

If you have never seen Sotigui Kouyate in a movie or in a theatrical piece..you haven't seen a true African actor @ his best yet.

This man is pure genius, def ' a pioneer of the African Movie Mouvement in West Africa.

His roots are Guinean, but he was born in Mali and spent most of his teens and adult life in Burkina Fasso which he calls home.

Mr Kouyate worked for the goverment before making the transition to acting & dancing at the request of a friend of his.
Acting and perfoming came easy to him...For a few years he tried to balance everything, working from 9-5, playing soccer and training every night..

Success came knocking and asked for an audience in France where he played in Mahabarata in 1989 directed by the great director Peter Brook, from that union was born a great complicite between the 2 men who found in each other a similar human sensibility...Some of you may remenber him also in the movie "La Genese" by Cheikh O. Sissokho as well as "Little Senegal" by Rachid Bouchareb..

Sotigui is also not one to shy away from challenges, in fact he adapted as a director this time, classics such as "Oedipus", "Le Grand Combat" by adding to these classics his own African spin to it..interesting....He also played the great Thierno Bokar in the piece

"Vie et l’Enseignement de Tierno Bokar" written by Amadou H. Ba.(which I missed when he came to NY)

Even though Sotigui lives ib btw 2 continents, he hasn't forgotten the cultural needs of Africa, his sons & him opened in Mali the Mandeka Theater in Mali which gives a voice to those African actors back in Mali who may not be able to evolve internationally , in Burkina he also opened a cultural center...great!!

What I also find great in Sotigui' story is that he was able to pass on his love affair with the Arts to his 2 sons, who evolve as directors , actors & storytellers...I find that wownderful to see a family that is so gifted...Machallah!

If you wanna read more about him, here's an interview of him:

http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_10/uk/dires.htm

Djaa les Malien-Burkinabe sont dans le chaud aussi:)

Eyee Wayee:)

SO WHAT HAS OUR BUDDY AKON BEEN UP TO LATELY?

Akon wayee..dans le chaud:)

Akon & his gal Gwen S.on American Idol yesterday...missed it..:(

2 dark chocolate brothas...Tyrese & Akon during the NBA all * weekend last Feb'

Akon @ the Grammys on Feb'11th

Akon on 107 on Feb'8th

Akon & Tyler P.while promoting both of their projects

Well being that there are only a few African Artists who are out there being recognized at an International level, mostly doing R & B, I make it a duty of mine to always check on
Mr Akon..and see what's up with him...
I forgot to watch American Idol yesterday, Akon perfomed with miss white chocolate funcky herself Gwen Stephany....oh well...

Oh & by the way, have u guys seen his V-Cast commercial..oh waouh..

Cute I thought...

Anywhoo...We are so proud of you Mr Alioune Thiam....

Keep doin' you... and putting Africa as a whole on the map..

SENEGAL...SENEGAL..lol

Eyee Wayee:)

WHAT DO AFRICAN BROTHAS WANT IN A WOMAN?

Love is 1 Beautiful Thang hun:)

Zidane & Wifey:)

Abdou Diouf & Wifey :)

Olucci and hubby:)

I just read this article about what men want in a woman that I am going to add to this post, & I thought it was pure genius ...of course that doesn't mean that you'll have "Moctar",or" Pierre",or "Fumi", or "Marko" all wrapped around your finger all at once...let's be real ladizz...it will never happen that way..but @ least you'll have little tips to keep things interesting or at least whenever you slip for a second ,you can always go back and decide to take charge....as much as you can ...of course:) So here are some conclusion of my research..just my personal opinion*..

N0.I: ALWAYS MAINTAIN YOURSELF
...I know ...I know if you are anything like me you'll say... why does it have to always be about looks? Well ladizz after research and "talkin w/men" I've realized that for the most part the first thing that attracts them are our looks, our African curves (cos you know Mother Nature was generous when she made us...lol) "Fatou" may be skinny all she wants, and have a waist a la "Shakira" but trust & believe that she will have some ity bitty ..junk in the trunk!! ..Don't fight it mamas ...it's in the genes...Besides you know how it is in our culture , our men like to show us off, and have their friends drool w/green envy...thinking to themselves why can't be my wifey be like that...lol

Plus I have 2 admit that I wouldn't want "my average Mahmoud" who was looking fly when I first met him ,start gowing a humengous gutt...I'm just saying ...lol

N0 II: KEEP HIM IN CHECK...
He can say whatever he wants to say ..but any African Diva can tell you that

YOU SHOULD NEVER AND I REPEAT NEVER GIVE IT ALL ..

at least all at once to your African Warrior...big mistake ...mm !!Get this they love 1 bit of challenge...remenber the way they used to court us back in the days...okay..aight... of course times have changed & so have our African brothas but I'll say it again they love ...actually they long for a bit of work..he has 2 sweat a bit..so the "I loveee you to death Bachelor style" ain't gonna work for long with the "him " you chose....

So know how to give a bit and take a bit back, for example... he calls, please don't bombard the poor man of 10 phone calls and 50 text messages just to say that your boss is getting on your nerves or that you gained weight...keep that for your chickas , your road-dawgs if you may(plus it will be xtra conversation..lol)....basically what I'm saying is stay subtle , approachable while still needed to be conquered over & over again....

No III: BE HIS NO1 FAN..
Believe it or men are big babies at heart...and just like their mamas did , they want us to cheer them on...tell them sincerly that "yeah that they can reach the sky"..and that yeah "that idea of business that they may have.. may be a great idea but maybe just not right now"(before that fool goes on and spend every last $ that u need for the kids ) ..but w/a bit of saving and more research a bit later..and that yeah even though times are hard..they may be living in the Western World and having to engage in things they may not have wantedto but that yeah "they can do it"..or that being in our lovely Africa,even though times are hard but that they can do it regardless...This brings me to my next point a bit sensitive* but...

No IV: LETTING HIM BELIEVE FOR HIS EGO SAKE THAT HE'S SOMEWHAT IN CONTROL....
y'all know that African men love to feel like they are consulted in every decision making..taking that away from them .. SUICIDE!! surely a lit bit of their manly confidence goes away in smoke...and you don't wanna do that trust..They may stay in the relationship..but trust & believe that they will ressent your a.....('xuse my french)
So I know we're part of a new generation where we feel like we can do it all and not be similar to the women of our mother's generation..but ladizz we are African women so in some way we need to tame it down a bit..or fake it(LOL ..whatever you chose to do.... our African brothas for the most part won't change ...and a relationship is built on compromise...so if in order to have peace in the home we need to loosen a bit the belt "on our superwoman dress"..I guess that'll have 2 do...plus I don't know about y'all but I do love me a man who takes charge...

NO V:DO YOUR OWN THANG LADIZZZ...
Don't live your lives 100% around your men....don't live your lives around their schedules, around their phone calls, actually don't live your lives solely around their dreams..We are all born as individuals, of course when you get married you become 1..but even then, you have to keep a bit of you to you..otherwise you
won't have anything to give anymore..and whether they admit or not, they will take you for granted...can I get an Amen to that? If a man knows that your only objective in life is to sit at home waiting for his call...he won' t be in a rush to get in touch with you because he knows that you ain't going where...NO WHERE...that's just human nature..we're selfish by nature..so school him..show him that he ain't got it all like that..he still has to work for your attention..So if it's hanging out at the African resto, catching a flick, taking a dance class, or even having a girls night out..why not..they do it all the time..of course just as anything in life you have to have balance otherwise...but DO YOU!!
I think that's 1 of the biggest mistakes our elders did, and in some ways now they regret it because they didn't have anything for themselves...even if it's taking 15 minutes in the morning to work out or watch tv, going to the store w/a friend...going to a wedding, ...whatever DO SOMETHING FOR YOU.

VI: RESPECT YOURSELF, HIM , HIS FAMILY...
aight we all have those terrible stories of atrocious African mothers in law, or witches as sisters in law...you know the story..I don't even need to go there..in our African society it's a given you will aways find someone in his family who won't like your gut and will make it his or her mission to destroy your relationship any kind of way possible ...so what do you do? Franckly it's hard to answer..but you try to preserve your cool and your good manners to the maximum...of course do not let abuse it..but try to be polite, be short, stay on your guard, try to be helpful, be never gossip with his family..I don't care what they say, keep it for your damn self or share it w/your chickas once again..but never gossip w/them...keep it short , polite and keep it walking.. I think it's important to maintan family relationship on both sides, if it's just by calling once 1 month, sending a little something...you don't have 2 be 1 millionaire to do so..hello there's 99cents store...lol okay not quite but you get the picture...make some fish patties or something if not for you but for him..of course he has to do the same...of course...but try to make things as smooth as possible....

WE'RE AFRICAN..IT COUNTS..& IT WILL ALWAYS COUNT..

DON'T KID YOURSELVES!

VII/PRESERVE YOUR SEXY...
You have to ladizz.... there's too much temptation out there...(coming from a feminist)and y'all know men are weak..mm I don't care what no one has 2 say...y'all know...I know..It's not an excuse to cheat...I'm not saying that we should wear a shirt saying "MY MAN CHEAT SO I HAVE TO LOOK GOOD"noo...
I'm saying make yourself feel good for you and for him too..bring up those little diali-dialis..(perls...whatever...)
get to know your friend Vickie last Name Secret...get to know those other African lingerie designers Nafytoo and co...u know...get to know your aunty who has the best encess, thiouraye..you know ..keep it up.

VIII/GET TO KNOW YOUR BEST FRIEND..GOD!
Gal your friends can talk all they want, but the ony person who can trully make you feel better is the AllMighthy , when all hell falls on you , they might love you all they want..but there's nothing they can do but say "I feel you" so like our mamas say your truest friend apart from your soul sistas is God ..get to know him and share him w/your dude ..it will always strenghten your relationship and his respect for you...and your own

IX/LAST BUT NOT LEAST RELAX...COS YOU HAVE ...YOU!!
...All these advices are all nice and dandy but they are that..advices!!..real life will take place..so there will be times..where you won't remenber those advices or simply not care about them but that's ok live your life until you get back to that place where you are receptive to them...And remenber if that relationship, that marriage doesn't work out..IT'S OK!!
If you've tried everything, prayed your heart out and still nothing ..
IT'S TRULLY OK..pain..will come...but at some point your fighting spirit will give birth again to hope and another love... God's Willing!

Here's that wonderful piece that inspired me:

http://www.aspirenow.com/smooth_10_00_what_men_want.htm

So brace yourselves, get ready for the roller coaster cos it sure will be one...!!

Eyee Wayee:)

AFRICAN ACADEMY!

I am adding to this post a variety of images of different African leaders working in # industries because I want to show that education doesn't prevent you from following your pasion, you can go to school ....get a great education and become whatever your heart desires, a painter, a lawyer, a singer, a journalist, an activist, a politician...but without education your mind will not be broad enough for you to grasp all of those concepts...my people!




You can become a painter like Augustin K.

You can become an activist like Rabiatou D.& help your people stand up for their rights

You can become a lawyer like Hauwa and help women in the word whose rights are not being respected

You can become a writter like Fatou D.

You can become a star athelte as Didier Drogba

You can become a world leader like Abdou Diouf

You can become a peace warrior like Nelson Mandela

What a wonderful and avant-gardiste concept..
molding the African Leaders of tomorrow!

We will need them because We have to our get our continent to the level that it deserves , and we can do it!!

Just so that you know the African Academy is a boarding school program of 2 years for students aging from 15-18 years old who will be drawn from all over the African continent.

It hasn't been in effect, it supposed to open in 2008... I think it's a great idea .
During those 2 years, the sudents will study the regular, litterature, maths, history, geography...all that stuff but they will also take classes about leadership, meeting w/ African leaders, workshops, having mentors...

They will also learn about entrepeunership, studying business cases, presenting business plans, they will also learn about Africa at its core, knowledge of African history, geography,litterature...

This sounds like just a wonderful , "once in a lifetime " program to get into...of course the competitition will be fierce, but it will solely be based on merit.

WONDERFUL, THAT'S HOW GREAT UNIVERSITIES ARE BORN...HARVARD, YALE, BETTER WATCH OUT!!

Pass the Word, who knows you may have a younger brother, cousin (e), sister, child...u know..!
http://www.africanleadershipacademy.org/index.asp

Djaa We as African Youth Have a Duty toward our Continent..to Lead It:)

Eyee Wayee:)

THE DANGEROUS DJIMON HOUSON!

Djimon & his NAACP Award (go Djimon ..love the suit by the way)

Djimon & his boo Kimora Lee (go ahead gal get u some dark chocolate)

& Now Djimon and Kimora Lee's former hubby

Djimon & Bono

Djimon & Kerry Wash (who needs to stop whatver she's doing 2 her face because she's already gorgeous)

Djimon & the pretty Nia Long (didn't I tell y'all that he was dangerous)

I had to catch up w/our "Mr Debonaire "I call Djimon...this guy is very dangerous ..lol moves slowly but surely...mmm , he's currently dating Miss Kimora Lee (proprio of Baby Phat) ex femme (wifey) of Russell Simons...

But seriously, he won the NAACP Award for best supporting actor ...great..

He's also going to be the face of Calvin Klein!

We're happy for you :)

Djaa les Beninois sont fierce dans Hollywood:)
Eyee Wayee:)

OUSSAMA MELLOULI-THE TUNISIAN TORPEDO!

Oussama @ the 2007 Swimming Championship!

Oh Waouh ....if you haven't noticed it's my expression..brace yourselves...it shall pass!

All Puma attire..hun = $$ endorsement ...that's right

All 6-packing my brotha!

Beautiful shoot...it's almost like he's not even competing but on a vaca'..

Another African brotha excelling in sports...Oussama is a student/athlete for the

USC Trojans..and swimming is his middle name..

Yesterday, Oussama won the silver medal at the 400m Freestyle final during the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships. Born in Marseilles, Ousama started swimming at the age of 3 following his older brother steps. He spent his childood and teens between classes and the water. After high school , he moved to sunny California where he's been seen swimming ever since...lol

Non..... there's more to the pretty boy, let me tell you a bit more about this "thiof"(fine brotha in wollof slang)..ok I'll just give a bit of his resume...he was named

the Most Valuable Swimmer for the USCalifornia for 2 years in a row from 03-04.

In 2005, homeboy was also named the NCAA champion....oh Waouhh...go boy!

And what's a biggest honor than to be Named Tunisian Athlete of the year in 2003...by your people by your people.

This year, O was set to finish his degree in comp sciences, (and he has a brain too ..oh waouh...lol),suprisingly he would like to later on pursue a career in flying....and all of that at the young age of 25...times have really changed!


KEEP UR EYES OPEN FOR HIM AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES OF 2008 , WHERE HE'LL REP FOR TUNISIA..!!

GO BROTHA..SKY'S THE LIMIT!

Djaa Tunisian Brothers are like fish in water hun:)

Eyee Wayee:)

MEET MARIE FUEMA DOIN HER PRETTY THANG !

Marie for Givenchy..work those boots sista:)

Marie for LAMB

Marie for L.Scott ...looking good

Marie for Lacoste..doin the boy look

Marie doin' it for De La Renta

Marie for Verrier , so Joan from Girlfriends

Marie for Adam & Eve...love the dress so sensual without trying

Marie for Lela Rose , love this casual look , nice touch of rose, love the shorts, love the shirt...loove it!!

I've been trying to find out where Marie is from, some people said Senegal but i knew that she just couldn't be...so after a bit of research I'm gonna say Congo, but if someone knows for shizzy, please let 1 sista know..y'all heard:)

Djaa les Femmes Africaines sont just fiyaa :)

Eyee Waye:)

GIVE IT UP FOR FANTA REGINE NACRO!

Movie Poster looks great!

Naky S. Savane lead role, such a beautiful woman

Fanta R. Nacro

Movie Scene!

Le Burkina...Le Burkina (*big up a tous les anciens adeptes du Kili)

Mrs Fanta Regine Nacro is by far the N0.1 female director of her country, the Burkina Fasso.

Influenced as a teenager by her father's great love for the movies, after completion of high school, Fanta went on to study film directing at the prestigious INAFEC of Ouagadougou.

After further studies in France, she moved back to Ouaga where she became the first Burkinabe woman to work on 2 film "Yam Daabo" directed by Idrissa Ouedrago.

In 1992, a star director was born, Fanta tried her hand on her first short film .

"Un Certain Matin" which received an Award. This success was followed by many others, but we'll remenber her masterpiece "Le Truc de Konate" (a piece she made on the topic of AIDS to bring awareness to the rural population).

Couple of years ago, she was finally able to direct her first feature film
"La Nuit de la Verite" ...I really wanna see this piece it's about two ethnical groups who in the space of 1 night come face to face to either forgive one another atrocities, misunderstanding, suffering ect..or dive further into hate & madeness.

I love the fact that she uses metaphors to illustrate this unfortunate
African Society plague & flaw...(through the character of the mother of the son of 1 of the 2 kings who are fighting for superficial ethnical superority)......interesting...interesting!!

Fanta also owns her own production company ...(that's what I am talking about--the liberty to take some of your decisions ...important) called "Les Films du Defi"!!

Anywhoo wanna more about her:

http://www.fanta-nacro.com/index.html

Djaa les Femmes du Fasso sont Talentueuse:)

Eyee Wayee:)