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Welcome to the I Am African podcast by Verastic! On this podcast, we will authentically share our stories, and we will celebrate, inspire, and demand excellence. We will ask the difficult questions, start the uncomfortable conversations, and propose the outside-the-box solutions. Why? Because it's like our parents used to tell us when we were kids: those that are doing it don't have two heads. Get comfortable.Let's connect:Instagram: @iamafricanpodcast | Twitter: @iamafricanpod | Facebook: I Am African Podcast | E-mail: iamafrican@verastic.com
31 Episodes
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The world is still learning about autism. And I, Vera Ezimora, know even less about autism. My first "real" experience with autism was when I got my first professional job after I graduated college. It was as a Service Coordinator, and I walked with individuals with intellectual disabilities. It seems like such a lifetime ago now. I learned so much from that job.When I came across today's guest, Lola Dada-Olley on Facebook (through her husband), I just knew I had to bring her on because she h...
This pandemic needs to just go away. Am I right? Or am I right? A lot of things have changed permanently, thanks to the pandemic. For example, remote work, when possible, will probably always be the norm. Another thing is money: how much of it we wake, how much of it we have saved for a rainy day, etc.In today's episode, we have Ronke Adewumi, a finance expert, teaching us creative ways to save money and stop wasting it. Yes, even when you think you don't even have money or don't have enough ...
Infertility is one of the many taboo conversations in the African community. In the Christian African community, it's even worse. For starters, the bible says that there will be barrenness in the land, so both preachers and the congregation they're preaching to are quick to remind women who are trying to conceive of this verse. It's almost as if the infertility is thereby invalidated and denied. The problem is that it's usually still there. And what about the fact that altar calls in church o...
Recently, a Nigerian woman, Dr Ikea Bello, went viral for doing what we (Nigerians/Africans) would consider the unimaginable. Not only did she file for divorce, but she also dared to celebrate it --- and she did it publicly. On social media. With pictures. And videos. So, naturally, the African internet streets are offended. And also naturally, I was there to remind everyone that the divorce and the party are both hers. Read my post here.A lot of brands and publications have been reaching out...
My people! I am here to prove to you that divorced dads who are dating do exist! It took me so long to find a divorced dad willing to speak to me about his dating life. But then Goziem happened. He was introduced to me by a mutual friend, Eloka, and the rest is history.As a divorced mom, I know what dating is like. But I did not know and what I wanted to know was how it was for a divorced dad. While I know that Goziem does not speak for every divorced dad who is dating, I know that there are ...
Conversations are important, especially with people who are different from you. As a Christian girl, it was important for me to have this conversation with Ruth Marimo, an African Atheist - because at the end of the day, no matter who we serve (or don't serve), we are still humans with blood running through our veins.Today's guest, Ruth Marimo, isn't new to the podcast. She first came on the podcast in episode 18 where she talked about emotional resilience. It. Was. So. Powerful! Check that e...
Divorce is like an onion; it has so many layers that need to be peeled, one after another. First, there's the layer where you realize you need to get divorced, and there are all the emotions that come with it. Then there's the layer where you go through the actual divorce. Then, finally, the layer after the divorce. Now what?What happens after the divorce? How do you heal? How do you move on? How do you meet good men? How do you remarry - if you so desire? These are the questions that Sade Cu...
I used to not wear shorts. Wait, let's rewind. When I was younger, maybe between 12 and 17 or something like that, I loved my legs, and I remember how it started. I had heard my mom in a conversation with her friend who kept complimenting my legs, saying how nice they were. And that was how I started suddenly thinking my legs were the best.But at some point, I started thinking that my legs were not so great anymore, specifically, my thighs. I thought they were too big and did not deserv...
This is one of the first topics I wrote down when I was dreaming about starting my podcast: why Africans don't have the African American perspective. From the moment I finally began to understand my African privilege and the struggles of my African-American brothers and sisters that I previously did not know of, I have tried to use my platform to tell all my fellow Africans.African privilege is a thing that a lot of us, Africans, don't even know that we have. For us, we think that coming from...
Before I filed for divorce - in fact, before I even walked away from my marriage - I had never given a moment's thought to sex (or lack of it) during a divorce. I also did not know that the legal laws for sexing while divorcing varied from State to State. In my State, Maryland, for example, it is illegal to have sex with someone who is not your spouse, until your divorce is final. It does not matter if you are legally separated.It was only when I separated from The Boy that I started receivin...
My Sweet Potatoes!Season two is upon us! Need I say more? The real question is are you ready? Or ARE YOU READY?BEFORE YOU GO, PLEASE RATE AND LEAVE A WRITTEN REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS. THANK YOU!Let's connect:I Am African on InstagramI Am African on TwitterI Am African on FacebookVera Ezimora on InstagramVera Ezimora on TwitterVera Ezimora on FacebookSubscribe to my monthly emailsWeb: www.verastic.comEmail: iamafrican@verastic.com
Can women actually be divorced and happy? For some reason, being divorced and happy, especially for a woman, seems like it's mutually exclusive. I will not make the claim that all women are divorced and happy, but I can confidently say that any woman who gets divorced for the right reasons can be - and most likely is - divorced and happy.Our culture abhors divorce. Our culture also abhors a free-thinking, independent woman because she is seen as rebellious and unsubmissive. You already know m...
"Vera, you're so strong!"I've practically heard this for as long as I can remember. I heard it most when I left my marriage. People congratulated me for being so strong, for having the audacity to walk out of a marriage that was trampling me and robbing me of my peace. I did not understand why I was being congratulated. Should one not always leave a situation that is bad for them? But that's by the way.To be strong, one has to be emotionally resilient. Some people are strong because the...
"I believe in asking the difficult questions, starting the uncomfortable conversations, proposing outside-the-box solutions, and of course, shaking tables. No, breaking tables." Verbatim, these words are in the intro of the I Am African Podcast because they are exactly why I started this podcast.And today, I had the pleasure of speaking with Edafe Okporo about his life as an openly-gay Nigerian man. Make no mistake, Edafe is not a gay rights activist, although he is understandably outspoken o...
Even now, I'm wondering if How Not To Say Yes When You Really Mean No is the appropriate title for this. But it's too late to change it. The podcast has been recorded, edited, and published. Perhaps, what I really should have named it is How Not To Spend Your Energy On Things You Really Don't Want. Either way, I suppose there's still an element of saying yes or no to something.Listen and tell me your thoughts! BEFORE YOU GO, PLEASE RATE AND LEAVE A WRITTEN REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS. THANK...
I played a game of Never Have I Ever on Zoom for Uju's birthday in April, and it got me thinking about a whole lot. Although I knew it before, this game became living proof that indeed I need to stop being so safe and live already. There is so much I still have not experienced. Half the year is already gone, but it does not mean I can't start where I am right now, right? The past three weeks have been very dark - and that's putting it mildly - so I deliberately chose this topic for this week'...
Sweet Potatoes,So much is going on in the world right now. And I'm tired of starting sentences like this, but how can I be tired when some people have a worse fate? My fellow Nigerian women have been raped and killed with no repercussions to the rapist because of the rape culture in Nigeria.In today's episode, I have the very smart and outspoken table-shaker, Omolara Oriya, an activist, human rights lawyer. We had a raw and authentic conversation about the rape culture in Nigeria, about the l...
Today's episode is not a regular episode, and I am not a regular Vera today either. I was so angry recording this episode. When I was listening back to it, I felt bad for the Vera who recorded it. I was angry that some Africans still don't know that they're Black in America, but I was angrier at the situation that calls for Africans to be reminded that they're Black too.Some days ago, I did not go to bed till about 4AM because I was watching the news, watching buildings burn, and watching my ...
The longer I live, the more I learn. When I was a child, there were so many things that were normal to me. Now that I'm older and wiser, I know myself a lot better, and I realize that some of the things I thought were normal were actually patriarchal cultural norms that don't serve women. I'd admit that I fell for some of them, and as I live and learn, I will continue to unlearn every norm that inhibits me.For this episode, my guest is Olabisi Ajai Layode. Do you know her? Let me tell you a l...
Mercedes Okwukogu is a woman to be admired. In the past three weeks, Nigerian Facebook has been greatly shaken. On Ola Bisi's Facebook wall, she started sharing stories of women who are divorced. She used the hashtag, #DivorceNotStigma, and I was one of the women whose stories got shared. She reached out to me to share my story, and even before she reached out, I was planning on doing so anyway. Of course, my own story was already very public, so sharing a summary of it on Facebook was ...
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