i read an interesting conversation online that got me thinking about what african love is and is not. i am not an expert on the matter, nor am i entirely certain that i know what it means, which renders me somewhat tongue tied. having struggled for days to write a blog on this, i have decided to post an open thread so you may leave a comment and say whatever you like. perhaps we can define it together? i am certainly not the only one searching for the words to say it.

i am appropriating a quote from a book about love in africa that was edited, oddly enough, by two white women. as does the book, i also 'seek both to understand this [collective] failure to consider love and to begin to correct it...argu[ing] for the importance of paying attention to the many different cultural and historical strands that constitute love in africa.'

i do so not only through loving others directly, but through my writing that, as brenda ueland puts it, is an act of supreme generosity and love. i would add that writing is far more straightforward than love itself. it is safe. it gives you back what you give it. in this way, love sometimes appears more dangerous, courageous. --AL.

p.s. when i first started this blog, i was determined never to write about such things here. in my opinion, the messiness of love and relationships need not be aired. it is a given. because of and in spite of this, i have migrated some of my posts and started a new blog, the african muse. my hands will be less tied there. you may also contribute to that if you wish, just e-mail me at theafricanmuse [at] gmail [dot] com.