The Majlis Hotel, a luxury beach hotel on Lamu Island, off Kenya’s Northern Coast, with stylish accommodations and breathtaking views of the bay, is Kenya’s #1 Beach Hotel. From the pictures, I fell in love right away with it’s tropical elegance and African roots.
Established in 2009, the boutique hotel has 25 rooms divided into 3 villas. Each villa was constructed with natural resources to enhance and preserve the beauty of the local surroundings. Intricately decorated and tailored, all rooms showcase East African heritage with doors and furniture hand-crafted locally.
The Majlis Restaurant offers a diverse set of cuisines, including international, Italian, and Swahili dishes. The set menu is changed everyday by the Restaurant chef to feature the best in local produce and fresh seasonal ingredients. The decor for their restaurant reminds me of the film Casablanca with a contemporary twist. I love how they incorporate African wood carvings in the pillars.
In addition to beach games and a jungle gym, their “Kid’s club” includes sailing an authentic Arabian Dhow vessel, learning how to make your own bow and arrow on the Massai Warrior Experience, and Swahili cooking classes. They also offer boat and mainland safaris, fishing, and cultural excursions. With all of those adventures, I would probably spend the majority of my time lounging at one of their two very inviting pools.
Fun fact: The resort participates in community work in the area and uses a hybrid energy power system. Just sharing an example to show that Africa, in luxury and regular business, is already taking care of their own.
I am a big fan of music (and used to be a radio DJ) and am always searching for something to expose people to. I thought this song would be perfect to start a laid-back pool party at the Majlis Resort.
This is Liz Ogumbo from Kenya. She is a performing artist and fashion designer.
Looking slightly away from the camera with tears in his eyes, the middle-aged man said, “I had a lot of anger because he wasn’t there and I didn’t know why but I didn’t think he cared.” That was the main quote for an advertisement on the OWN channel to announce Oprah’s upcoming “lifeclass” episode titled “Oprah’s Lifeclass on Fatherless Sons.” This aired during the season premiere episode of “Iyanla Fix My Life,” which also focused on an allegedly absent father. I know both Oprah and Iyanla are trying to shed light on an issue that has plagued society for years, but I have a problem with how they portray it.
About a week or so ago I watched the last 30 minutes of Iyanla Vansant’s “Fix My Life” episode with DMX and his son Xavier. From what I could gather, Xavier wanted his father to apologize for taking him to the music studio as a child and apparently kissing and hugging women who were there and for speaking to him as if he was angry. DMX, who is not in a good mood and feels he is being humiliated on live television, snaps back asking his son to give him an example of what he told him as a boy that made him feel bad. Xavier couldn’t come up with an example. Every time DMX tries to continue talking, Iyanla interrupts telling DMX to listen to his son. DMX fires back stating that everyone continuously interrupts him whenever he tries to speak to his son. This back forth non-dialogue and rising tempers continue for most of the episode. Finally, DMX apologizes to his son and they hug. Xavier plays a song for him and DMX tearfully responds, “That’s my son. So proud.” Then Iyanla tells Xavier that he can ask for what he wants of his Dad now. Xavier explains he wants a relationship with his Dad, but his Dad must give up drugs. DMX states that he has never put any conditions over the love for his son and refuses to change for anyone. The episode ends with Iyanala congratulating Xavier for standing up to his father and disclaimer text stating that the father and son have yet to speak to each other since the filming of that episode.
I had difficulty watching this program as well as feeling sympathy for the son because I felt it was driving to the wrong point. The characters in this type of story are always written the same and I think this could be considered a factor that is continuing the problem.
Why is the father always written as the villain? We seem to like to tell a one-size-fits-all story to explain why “Dad” is not around, even though there are a variety of reasons – work, illness, abandonment, death – that cause the absence of a father. Most of these reasons were not premeditated, but just came about due to life’s circumstances. I don’t believe this should be used as an excuse to avoid responsibility, but I do think it warrants reevaluation when planning to gang-up on someone. Regarding DMX and his son’s situation, DMX was not only around at home when his son was younger but also paid for his son to attend a good quality school, live in a comfortable home, and live a content life. None of this is mentioned in the story. Instead, we are made to believe that this man did not treat his son appropriately and now must be humiliated in public.
My next question is regarding the son. Why are the offspring of these so-called absent fathers always portrayed as victims when they are adults? I am not too convinced by the notion that an absent parent causes overwhelming psychological trauma that remains throughout a persons life. I would understand if they were interviewing an 8 year-old boy about how he feels not having one of his parents, but for an adult, the reaction should be different. In this episode, Xavier was painted as a weak character in my opinion. I know many people, men and women, who grew up with a single parent and were still able to become independent adults…and never blamed their absent parent for anything.
Essentially, I feel this storyline needs to be re-evaluated and re-written. It supports a continuous cycle to produce an image of weak minority men. The absence of a parent requires the child to grow up faster, take more responsibility, and become independent sooner. At times, depending on the circumstances for the absence, the child might feel sad, angry, hopeless, but in the long run they learn how to live with it. Instead of telling stories about how all of these adults still feel unloved and angry, why can’t we see how they worked to never be like their absent parent? Or how they made every effort to be there for their own kids? Or how they decided to dedicate their lives to help other single parents and orphans? If we could build a supportive community that took responsibility for all of its children, the number of parents one has wouldn’t be such a major factor. Just a thought.
Digital art is being pushed to new heights with the advances in technology and the way in which we can distribute our work via the internet. I am hopeful that the internet will continue to provide an equal level playing field to enable everyone to showcase their story and be exposed to other cultures. With this in mind, I was very happy to find African Digital Art.
An online network that serves as a collective creative space, African Digital Art provides digital artists, enthusiasts, and professionals a place to showcase their work and connect with emerging artists.
They have such so much information, artwork, music, film, and everything in between. They organize the work and clips by project, artist, and country of origin. They also interview artists as well as give the back story for photography sessions, paintings, and films. You should definitely take your time to sift through all of it. Here are two posts that sparked my interest:
Spider Stories – a pan-African inspired fantasy adventure series that takes our beloved Anansi to another level and a story I would love to see on TV.
Solus – A CG animated short film that really plays with your imagination.
Her voice is laid back, sultry, and soulful. Her genre is defined as Indie Rock, but you can hear the influences of folk, electronica, and R&B. I also love her unique style.
Yuna is an independent singer and song-writer from Kedah, Malaysia. She started writing her own songs when she was 14 years-old and later learned how to play the guitar. She has been performing in acoustic shows since 2006. While participating in the music scene, she was studying law at Universiti Teknologi and graduated with a Bachelors of Legal Studies in 2009. Her crossover to the US music scene happened in 2011 when she signed with the FADER label. Her US debut album, self-titled Yuna, was released in 2012 with the single “Live Your Life,” produced by Pharrell. She is now signed with Verve Music Group and planning new music for 2013.
I stumbled upon her album while sampling music from around the world…a habit I picked up from my DJ college days and have yet to drop. Every track on this album has a different character. You can tell the lyrics took a lot of time and feeling to compose. The melodies are light-hearted, fun, and refreshing at the same time.
I think her style is worth noting as well. I like to see people use their style as part of their personality. I love the way she incorporates the hijab with her outfits to have that casual chic look. She is also a lover of color, like me, which I think she plays with very well.
Her recent album is beautiful. It is one of those you can enjoy the entire album without skipping any tracks. My top favorites are “Live Your Life” and “See You Go.” I highly recommend you check her music out.
Regardless of who is hosting and who is nominated, the Academy Awards always has something entertaining and glamorous to enjoy. I thought this years Oscars had some high points. Below is a list of my favorite moments.
The Captain Kirk introduction and back-and-forth banter about the future was neat, but went a little long. My favorite part of the opening number was the dance routine with Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum. It brought back the Hollywood glamour of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Did any of you know that Charlize Theron could dance?
The stage design was magnificent. The screens, the lighting, the movement…just beautiful.
I saw Paperman for the first time a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. I am very glad they won Best Animated Short Film. It showcases a breakthrough in animation that merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques. I also love the music…I am a big fan of scores that are composed for films.
One of the high points for me was the James Bond tribute. Dame Shirley Bassey is still and always will be the epitome of class and talent. She performed “Goldfinger,” the ultimate James Bond theme song that made her the ultimate Bond girl. Thanks to my mother, I have been listening to Shirley Bassey’s greatest hits since I was in middle school. I think I will dedicate a post to her in a few weeks.
I also enjoyed Barbara Streisand’s performance. She has such a rich and classic voice.
Her voice is laid back, sultry, and soulful. Her genre is defined as Indie Rock, but you can hear the influences of folk, electronica, and R&B. I also love her unique style.
Dagny Zenovia 