Nigerian-American singer, Jidenna has debunked claims that homosexuality is alien to the African culture and was imported from Europe.
The singer blamed misinformation and homophobia for limited ideas about homosexuality which has a place in African history.
Jidenna made the assertion during his visit to Sway Universe. He also criticized African leaders who always pick the ‘It’s not part of our culture’ line while they wear three-piece suits and own iPhones which are all imported.
In his words,
“The whole idea that Black people, and our tradition to be Black… You hear these African leaders who are dressed in three-piece suits, got an iPhone, speaking in English and not their native tongue are saying, ‘it’s unafrican to be homosexual, it’s unafrican… we don’t have it. That was brought as a European import.’ It’s not true. It’s not true at all,” said Jidenna, a Stanford graduate who spent the first ten years of his life in Nigeria.
“You got Uganda, the kingdom of Buganda at the time… Before Uganda, there was an openly gay king. If you go to Zimbabwe… the bushmen as they call them, you’ll see homosexual acts in the Cape paintings. If you go to different communities in Africa, there was different rights of passage where if a woman was with a woman, or a man was with a man, they were thought to be more powerful.
“There was never a time where this didn’t exist. Or where it was just hands down that homosexuals were wrong. That’s not actual an African thing, which means it’s not a Black thing” he added.
Watch the video below.
