The Genesis

Finally...finally. I'm trying out this blog business. I'm pretty sure that I've thought about "doing" a blog since I was about thirteen years old. Pretty long time ago, I think.

So why am I attempting such an endeavor, now? Especially at a moment when the blogosphere is incompletely saturated---quite possibly over-saturated---with content and opinion from every nook and cranny of the world? Well, quite frankly, it would help me professionally. As a Gen Yer, naturally, my life on the internet began at a young age. I've explored everything from the virtual NeoPets world to Photoshop colorization challenges and the more recent realms of social networking---MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and of course Tumblr. Without a doubt, internet spaces have shaped the way I receive information. They have challenged by perspective on issues. They have helped me with homework assignments. They have honed by sense of creativity for the artful.  And most importantly, for quite awhile, they have revealed to me the perspectives facing my identity and has given me a basis for pride.

I'm "African". Not black, not brown, not just the immigrant's kid with the funny last name. I'm African. Congolese descent. What could this quite possibly mean for my life? What does this mean to others? How could something I see as being so beautiful, be constantly damaged and misconstrued as barbaric and primitive by so many half-peering eyes? No one cares to acknowledge the history, I complain to myself. They can't imagine that Africa has beaches and tourism. Cinema and music. Landscape and potential. Potential. Potential of landscape.

Mixed media piece by artist Maurice Mbikayi; from ARTBoom

What I am to do here with Maison Nyota is seek out potential landscapes. Landscapes never discovered. Landscapes, that despite these turbulent times have seen the growth of the "economic underdogs". The power is no longer in one set of hands. It is a perfect environment for potential African landscapes to fester. How do we return to the essence of African cultures while capitalizing on the strength of modern technologies? What ways can Africans around the globe take advantage of the ruins of colonialism for our own benefit? Can art undermine perception? Can socially-beneficial business undermine government corruption? Where are the youth?

In french, maison means "house". In swahili, nyota means "star". Everyday within AFRICA, a Maison Nyota is being built. Not by vulture capitalists. Not just by foreign institutions and NGOs, nonprofits. But by Africans themselves. Whether it is the woman working hard in Great Britain to support her family's endeavors in Nigeria or a farmers using mobile money to maintain his business in rural Kenya. Protestors using social media to show their dissent for the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Wildlife Conservation designed by Namibians. Social art collectives by students in the diaspora.

Now is the time more than ever for Africans to realize their potential to truly build new landscapes. The future is just beginning. I hope you'll take this long journey with me. I'm learning new things everyday!

Welcome!

-Rachelle Nyota Mulumba