Chika Oduah

After more than twenty years of reporting for mainstream news organizations, including The New York Times, CNN, Al Jazeera, VICE, The Atlantic, Voice of America, France24 and other platforms, I realized that traditional journalism as we know it has severe limitations when it comes to creating the African societies that Africans want. This is because traditional journalism still operates with the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality, therefore, stories of terrorism, famine, conflict and corruption in Africa were asked of me by editors, much more often than stories of innovation and achievement. In fact, my story pitches on the latter were typically rejected, yet, I usually stubbornly went ahead to report on them anyway. I strived to bring nuance in my reporting. In 2023, I experienced a profound awakening that confirmed my rising discontentment with traditional mainstream journalism. That transformative series of revelations reminded me that I was first, and will always be, an artist. My background in dance and poetry needed to be repositioned to the foreground. African artists, storytellers and creatives must be at the forefront of shaping the nations and societies that we want. We must have a seat at the table in the decision rooms because it is with stories that civilizations shape their realities and futures. This has always been so. Hollywood is a multibillion-dollar storytelling machine that churns out a compellingly aspirational image of the USA seen by people all over the world. Its reach is vast and powerful. It drives people to swim, trek and migrate to its shores. Indeed, it drove my own father, who grew up consuming American entertainment like his peers back home in Nigeria. As a soft power tool, Hollywood has played a fundamental role in sustaining America’s political and cultural dominance in the world. Understanding this, we, as Africans, must tell the stories of the places we come from and of ourselves, with intention and purpose, with the goal of giving Africa a stronger positioning in the geopolitical arena so that Africans can not only live a better quality of life, but thrive in our African-ness. My journalism career prepared me for this work. This is what ZIKORA Media & Arts African Cultural Heritage Organization is all about. It’s about being Unapologetically African in those corridors of power where the world’s most influential leaders gather to make decisions that affect all of us. It’s about being Unapologetically African in our personal and professional lives. It’s about being Unapologetically African and channeling that energy to create the Africa that nurtures our communities, enrichens our humanity and nourishes our souls.