블랙 판터| The One with Chinwe - On Social Justice and Christianity: Episode 20 (2018)

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The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: The One with Chinwe

One of the arguments against mainstream social justice warriors (SJWs) is that they reject the concept of sin and hold the belief that humans are inherently good by nature. As a result, in the face of evil, the society is largely blamed instead of upholding individual personal responsibility. In this episode, I chatted with Chinwe Oriji, a scholar and a PhD candidate in African and African Diaspora studies, on whether Christians should be involved in social justice or even identify as social justice warriors (SJWs)?

We also talked a bit about an article she wrote on Wakanda's Black Panther as a place that shows that post-independence Africans in and outside of African are not exempt from a diasporic reality of loss, longing, and resistance. We also explored the Biafra war and her identity as an American born to first generation Igbo immigrant.

PS: As at the time this episode was taped in April, I had not watched Black Panther then. Talk about not knowing the old days were good and blissful #teehee.

Fun facts about Chinwe

In high school, she would draw the Nigerian flag every single day in class to the point that her Spanish teacher had to get her a real one which she pinned on the blackboard permanently.
She’s got suave and sleek ‘fro for days (I touched them, so I know).
She was teased because of her name growing up and wished she had an English name. Kids called her chicken wings and chinchilla instead of Chinwe.
She once gave a presentation at The Igbo Conference in London where Chimamanda Adichie gave a talk too.

Takeaway Points:

Being banned from and punished for speaking any of the Nigerian native tongues in Nigerian schools is a second-wave of colonization and racialization.
Christians, especially those with power, can fight societal justice while still acknowledging individual responsibility.