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CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE’S BOOK ‘AMERICANAH’ RECOMMENDED AS ONE OF ‘THE BEST LOVE STORIES IN LITERATURE’ ON TODAY SHOW

Buzzfeed Books‘ founding editor, Isaac Fitzgerald has recommended Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book, Americanah as one of “the best love stories in literature”.

Fitzgerald, who appeared recently on Today Show alongside author Jasmine Guillory, nominated Adichie’s work while selecting his four picks.

Each of the show’s attendees selected four books apiece, while presenter Savannah Guthrie added extra three picks.

Adichie’s work was recommended alongside Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte amongst others.

 

Credit: Bella Naija

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JAPANESE WOMEN REBEL AGAINST OLD VALENTINE’S DAY TRADITION THAT MANDATES THEM TO GIVE CHOCOLATES TO MEN

Japanese women are rebelling against a decades-old Valentine’s Day tradition that mandates them to give chocolates to men.

According to the tradition, on February 14, the nation’s female workers are expected to give “giri choco,” or obligation chocolates, to their male colleagues. Women are also expected to buy heartfelt chocolates, “honmei choco,” for their crushes or loved one.

“Valentine’s Day (in Japan) got turned upside down to become a symbol of the Japanese patriarchy,” said Jeff Kingston, a Japan expert at Temple University in Tokyo. But this year, women are calling time on the financially draining practice.

A recent survey by a Tokyo department store found about 60 per cent of women will instead buy chocolates for themselves on Valentine’s Day. Only 35 per cent planned to offer chocolates to their male colleagues.

Japan began celebrating Valentine’s Day in 1958, after Japanese confectionery firm Mary Chocolate ran a campaign suggesting that women give men chocolates. In the 1980s, chocolate companies attempted to redress the chocolate buying balance.

 

Women in Japan are rebelling against a decades-old Valentine

 

White Day was introduced on March 14 as a date for men to return the favor although Kingston says that women often ended up gifting more chocolates than they received. Both dates turned out to be a boon for the chocolate industry. Valentine’s Day now accounts for a quarter of Japan’s yearly chocolate sales, according to the Nagoya International Center.

Last Saturday, the Revolutionary Alliance of Unpopular People (RAUP) staged its 12th annual protest against “romantic capitalism” in Tokyo.

“We’re against companies exploiting events like Valentine’s Day to push excessive consumer culture and guilt-trip people who aren’t in relationships,” said Takeshi Akimoto, a member of the tiny fringe group, comprised of nine students and workers. One of the group’s complaints is that Valentine’s Day chocolates in the workplace can make some employees feel that their value is determined by how much confectionery they receive.

Credit: LIB

 

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“YOU WILL NOT HEAL BY GOING BACK TO WHAT BROKE YOU” -DABOTA LAWSON

Beauty entrepreneur, Dabota Lawson in a post shared on her Instagram page, advised people with broken relationships not force it because of the pressures which Valentine’s day brings.

She wrote;

You will not heal by going back to what broke you . Don’t send that text and don’t make that call ,Love yourself and Ignore the pressure of today. Happy Valentine’s day

See more photos below.

 

 

 

Credit: LIB
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FROM MAKING BEATS IN HER DORM ROOM TO WRITING GRAMMY AWARD WINNING SONGS FOR CARDI B AND BEYONCE, 21-YEAR-OLD NIJA CHARLES INSPIRES

From being a fan at the stands, to having a seat at the table 21-year-old two-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter,  Nija Charles inspires.

The 2015 Union Township High School graduate wrote the hooks for several Cardi B hits, including“Ring” with Kehlani, and equally wrote two songs for Jay Z and Beyonce’s Grammy-winning album“Everything Is Love”

Nija Charles, was born on October 20, 1997. She began her professional music career in 2017 writing songs for Beyonce and Jay-Z, Cardi B and Kehlani, Jason Derulo and Chris Brown.

She is signed to Universal Music Publishing Group of Music at NYU, producers were sending her music to write to.

Nija started out making beats from her dorm room and has written for Beyoncé and Cardi B and works with some of the top producers in the game.

Watch her share her story below:

Credit: fabwoman.ng

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RARE LEOPARD – ‘BLACK PANTHER’ – SPOTTED IN AFRICA FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 100 YEARS

A team of biologists have released photos of a rare melanistic leopard, also called the Black Panther, which was shot in the  bushlands of Loisaba Conservancy in Laikipia County in Kenya.

Nick Pilfold and his team, after hearing that there’s a black wildcat lurking in the are, deployed remote cameras to capture the big cat.

According to National Geographic, the juvenile female was spotted traveling with a larger, normally coloured leopard, presumed to be her mother.

There is a mild controversy as to whether it’s the first time the cat is being seen since a 1909 photograph taken in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper said a similar photograph was taken in 2013 byPhoebe Okall, but Pilfold and his team say otherwise.

These new photos were captured by wildlife photographer Will Burrard Lucas.

Pilford told CNN that he’s “aware of a few different photos taken over the years, but most of them are taken from a distance and could not be used as confirmatory evidence.”

According to Pilford, Okall’s photo “is a captive black leopard that was brought from America as a kitten to Kenya, not wild.”

The photos were published in January in the African Journal of Ecology.

Speaking on why the leopard is black, Lucas told BBC:

The term that makes them black is called melanism and it’s the same thing that makes a house cat black, or any other cat species.

It’s kind of like albino but the other way.

A black panther is basically a melanistic big cat. Typically in Africa and Asia that would mean a melanistic leopard – a black leopard.

In South America it would be a melanistic jaguar – a black jaguar.

Black panther is a looser term.

See more photos below:

Photo Credit: San Diego Zoo

 

Credit: Bella Naija

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“A LOT OF RELATIONSHIPS HAVE DIED BECAUSE WE NOW HAVE BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR PHONES THAN WITH PEOPLE” -TOYIN ABRAHAM

Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham described people in this century as a generation that don’t want a real relationship, in a thought provoking IG post.

According to her, social media has taken over true bonding and it has caused a lack of sincerity, betrayals and depressions.

She posted this picture below to emphasize her point, in which she wrote:

“21st Century, the generation that doesn’t want real relationship. We want that social media relationship that everyone can like and comment on. True bonding are very hard now because, we now converse via DM, Ping, WhatsApp etc and epistle is our new way of expressing our feelings or appreciating people.

A lot of relationship has died because we now have better relationship with our phones than with people. We invest more time into our Instagram profile than we do with our lives. We celebrate our friends/family’s birthdays without knowing how the 365 days that lead up to them was.

Family meetings are now been held via Video calls and WhatsApp group conversations. People come to social media to write a long epistle for eachother, claiming WORLD’S BEST for them. When in actual sense, they know they are nothing close to COMMUNITY’S BEST and their intentions are not to filter them as good, but to impress social media audience.

There’s no relationship without social media anymore and that’s why relationships are no longer sincere; everything is now for the gram😥. We’ve forgotten that, the best thing to hold on to in life is eachother👭 and that’s one of the reasons why depression is getting common☹️.

We’ve built a wall around ourselves against our family and love ones. We share our burdens with riddles on social media instead of talking it out with someone. It has worsen to the extent that, someone about to commit suicide will take to Instagram story to write their suicide note.

I understand it’s hard to find a trustworthy person these days but you still have to trust someone! If you trust them and they betrayed your trust, then it’s not your problem anymore it’s theirs. Let them live the rest of their life with the burden of betrayal.

The best place to lean on is eachother’s shoulders. Don’t let social media steal your love ones from you cuz NOTHING CAN SAVE US FROM DEATH BUT LOVE COULD AT LEAST SAVE US FROM LIFE”.

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LOLO CYNTHIA: BATTLE OF THE INNER VOICES

4:35 AM- Almost time for Lolo’s 5 am run. She is awake but still laying in bed; her body aches from the workout of last night but she knows she has to run to also release her muscles.

 

Lolo Cynthia Is a public health specialist, sexuality educator and founder of the social enterprise LoloTalks, that employs all forms of media (online and offline) to create awareness and sustainable solutions to our contemporary social and health issues in Africa.  She also doubles as a documentary and talk show producer and lends her voice on issues regarding interpersonal relationships, sexuality, gender, and social issues through her YouTube channel LoloTalks and her blog.

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VETERAN NOLLYWOOD ACTRESS, JOKE SILVA TO ATTEND THE 2019 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL TO DISCUSS WOMEN IN FILM

 

Veteran Nollywood actress, Joke Silva will be joining a long list of Nollywood practitioners at the Cannes International film festival 2019.

The veteran actress will be attending the film festival as a Nigerian ambassador and panellist. She made the announcement via her Instagram page.

57-year-old Silva will be joining panellists at the film festival for two sessions to discuss women in the business of film and introduce herself to the world as one of the legends from the African cinema.

The veteran actress will be attending the festival in association with Pavillon Afriques, a business platform dedicated to Pan-African film industry professionals & financiers@ Marché du Film at the Cannes International Film Festival 2019.

 

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HOW TO THINK POSITIVE EVERYDAY

Many of us may have heard of the importance of positivity but few can really tell why it’s important. When we are trapped with a reduced number of choices as a result of emotions coming into play, we make wrong regretful decisions.

So it’s really important to think positive.But… how?

Thousands of articles online teach us how to think positive in the most clichéd ways possible. You should cheer up, crack a smile, look on the bright side of life…blah…blah..blah…

Don’t worry! The tips you are going to see below are nothing like those. We aim to offer some practical and specific tips for you to start making REAL changes.

Start with your posture: sit up straight! It’s more than etiquette

While one may think cultivation of positivity always requires conscious effort, indeed it doesn’t.

Sitting up straight may appear irrelevant to positivity. But a study reveals the association between posture and positive thoughts.

The result shows that people are more likely to generate positive thoughts and recall positive memories when they are sitting up straight.[2]

So, sit up straight right now! Sometimes tiny things in life all contribute to our well-being without us noticing.

Have a teaspoon in your pocket

What else can a teaspoon do other than stirring our refreshing cup of coffee? Well, a Quora user, William Peynsaert, thinks of a brilliant idea to use a teaspoon for our evasion from negativity. [3]

All we need is a teaspoon. Nothing more.

Well, technically, we also need a pair of pants with pockets. In case we are not wearing any.

What we do is to put the teaspoon into either one side of the pocket. Whenever we feel like formulating a negative thought, put the teaspoon into another pocket. Just that simple.

The principle behind is that the action occupies our brains so we don’t have spare resources to bring up any negative thoughts. Usually we are quite impulsive to have negative thoughts and by the time we finished transferring the teaspoon, the urge is long gone and SNAP! We successfully stop a negative thought.

At first we may find ourselves doing it over and over again. But eventually, we will do this less and less.

After all, we can choose whatever utensils or stationery or anything that fit us. It’s just a medium.

It may sound silly but it does work.

Instead of news, read something uplifting in the morning

It is common to watch morning news reports. For the sake of keeping abreast of the latest news. This is definitely good not to block ourselves off the outside world. But, what news is mostly about?

Car crash. Terrorist attack. Natural disaster. All sorts of disheartening incidents.

I am not suggesting us not read any news but a trade off. Devote part of your morning on something more uplifting.

Start our daily confidence programming habit. Instead of news update, begin our day by reading a chapter of an empowering book. We can also go for our favorite spiritually boosting and inspirational materials.

 

List 3 things you’re grateful for every day

It is simple and easy to do. Try to list at least 3 things we are grateful for every day. In the end, we won’t realize how much it helps us.

Researches [4] reveal a multitude of benefits in expressing gratitude on a daily basis. Being grateful is associated with our well-being. It can also improve relationships and help with emotional maturity. Gratitude can simply promote happiness.

It’s true that we can always find dissatisfaction in life. Same to satisfaction. Half-filled and half-empty glass.

It’s actually a piece of cake to find things we can express gratitude on.

Start of weekend. Cats and dogs outside. Hiking trip cancelled. Meh!

Well, at least we have a home sheltering us. We even have Netflix to entertain ourselves.

Or, year review.. NO pay raise. Can it be worse?

You are not sacked, aren’t you? You still have a stable job.

Or even, back to very basic. We are still alive, right? We are still living in this world of mystery and amazement. We still have lots to explore. There’s nothing to mourn on.

There are always angels and devils in our brains. While we are usually the devil’s advocate, try to stand on the angel’s side now.

Use the app “Happify” to cultivate positivity scientifically

Ever imagined an app to ‘happify’ ourselves. An app to delight ourselves and brighten our day?

Then try Happify, an app designed specially for us to handle our negative emotions. It provides us with scientifically-proven tools and techniques to promote our emotional well-being.

It consists of short activities and games for us to relearn situations and be more aware of the subtle little things we should be grateful for.

While we usually the gadgets are taking a toll out of us, it is now possible to cultivate positivity right back from it.

Celebrate your small wins every day

One easy way to start cultivating our positivity is to write down our small wins on a daily basis. And research has reassured the potential benefits of doing so.

Progress is a lot more than just a step closer to success, as Amabile and Kramer suggest. In fact, if we properly record our progress, no matter how small it is, we instantly receive a confidence boost!

Teresa Amabile from Harvard Business School and Steven Kramer read through approximately 12,000 diary entries written by 238 individuals from 7 different companies. The employees were asked to write about their emotions and moods, motivation levels, and perceptions of the work environment as well as what work they did and what events stood out in their minds on a daily basis for 4 months. [5]

The result showed that any accomplishment, regardless of its size, activates the reward circuitry of our brains. Once activated, a chemical dopamine is released and this chemical is associated to the feeling of pride and achievement.

More importantly, the chemical also motivates us to continue on with the taking challenges and to attempt to repeat the same achievement next time. This forms a positive reinforcement loop that makes us more likely to be successful.

So pay close attention to what you achieved. Ran for 400m? Got up 10 minutes earlier? Mark these down and recognize yourself! It’s never too much.

By: Jefferey Lau

For: Lifehack.org

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CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE HONORED WITH 2019 EVERETT M. ROGERS AWARD FOR REFRAMING THE DISCOURSE ON RACE, GENDER & IDENTITY

It was announced in 2018 that Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had been named the winner of the 2019 Everett M. Rogers Award. She was honored for reframing the discourse on race, gender & identity.

The award has been presented every year since 2005 in honor of Everett M. Rogers, whose “Diffusion of Innovation” is the second-most cited book in the social sciences.

The event was held on the 7th of February and the writer repped Nigerian design brands by wearing a piece from Fia Factory.

Dean Willow Bay and Marty Kaplan of the Norman Lear Center provide opening remarks, followed by Danai Gurira, actor on Walking Dead and Black Panther.

Watch the award show below.

See photos below.

Credit: Bella Naija
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