Stories That Made Our Week: Free Girls And Awards

It has been quite an eventful week for us all, with rapists being called out, awards being won, women finally able to speak up and speak against all forms of violence and Nigeria qualifying for the World Cup finals. Here are the stories that made our week.

Awards gotten and records broken

Cardi B

Davido took home the most awards at AFRIMMA, including the artist and song of the year awards, dedicating them both to the two friends he lost: Dj Olu and Tagbo. Cardi B, the Bodak Yellow rapper, also carted away six awards, more than anyone else at the BET HipHop Awards. This came after she had hit double platinum, sitting pretty at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for over two weeks, the first time a female has done that with a single since Lauryn Hill. Rihanna, the Fenty Beauty queen, also broke the record as the first person to hit five number one spots in a year on the Dance Club Songs chart.

Freedom for all girls

In commemoration of the Day of the Girl Child, which was last Wednesday, a video went round in which little girls were dancing to Beyonce’s song Freedom. In case you didn’t know, every five minutes a girl dies as a result of violence, one in four girls gets married as a child, 71 percent of human trafficking victims are female, 63 million girls have undergone female genital mutilation, 130 million girls are out of school and girls are twice more likely to become infected with HIV. If we work together against these inhumane treatments, we can end all this and achieve our global goals by 2030.

Nigeria is in the finals!!!

Alex Iwobi

We cannot get enough of the fact that Nigeria is in their sixth World Cup finals. Alex Iwobi scored the qualifying goal against Zambia. This victory happened almost a quarter of a century after Jay Jay Okocha, in 1993, took Nigeria to our first ever FIFA World Cup. And the best thing? Okocha is Iwobi’s uncle. Iwobi was only a few years younger than his uncle was back then when he scored the crucial qualifying goal and sent the Super Eagles soaring to the world stage. You’re doing amazing, sweetie!

Black or White

Eminem

Eminem, the top-selling rapper of all time, made a shocking appearance in a recorded video at the BET HipHip Awards premiere show where he dragged Donald Trump for being a racist and warned fans not to support the US president. Earlier in the week, Khloe Kardashian was labelled racist for a campaign photo she posted on her Instagram where black model Slick Woods appeared to be kneeling while the reality star stood. Unilever beauty brand Dove also apologised for the “racist” ad that was released where a black woman took off a nude shirt and transformed into a white woman, who also took off her nude shirt and was “orange”.

Stop raping people!

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 22, 2015 shows<br />US producer Harvey Weinstein arriving for the screening of the film “The Little Prince” at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.<br />Weinstein was fired from his film studio the Weinstein Company on October 8, 2017, following reports that he sexually harassed women over several decades, according to US media. / AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCE

Just stop! 65-year-old Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was accused openly of rape by women who had reported that they had been harassed or assaulted by him. The movie mogul, whose rape scandal has grown as more women have come forward and opened up concerning the issue, has denied all rape allegations. Hollywood actor Terry Crews also came out to talk about being sexually assaulted by a Hollywood executive, who he refused to name, and explained why sexual assault survivors don’t come forward, especially when such allegations are raised against powerful men like Weinstein.