iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A n’a ɲada bileni, literally “with his red face” (red face is used for someone who is light skinned)

Dr Kambon states: In these types of constructions, clauses after resumptive with […] contain information that may not contribute to the truth value of the statement in the matrix clause. (Kambon, Africanisms in Contemporary English, 2015)

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 15h

Bamanankan in Ebonics Why do African americans say “witcho”? Retention of Bamanankan. Both languages feature the resumptive with. #Africanism #Africanisms #Bamanankan #Ebonics #BlackAmericans #AfricanAmericans #BlackSky #BlackAtlantic #AfricanDiaspora #WitchoLavender #CulturalContinunity

Background: map of Mali and surrounding countries in Kuluba
Title: Bamanankan in Ebonics

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 16/10/2026

Across the Atlantic, snapping fingers also conveys praise and appreciation for one's look, performance, read ... #Ballroom #Vogue #SpokenWord

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 16/10/2026

When I showed this clip from "Ceddo", I was told that many people do this in mosques in The Gambia when the Imam makes a powerful or salient point. Snapping fingers expresses agreement and audience engagement.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 14/10/2026

Resharing this 2024 piece: Response to “The Fire Next Time – My Dungeon Shook Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation” #Africanism #Africanisms #JamesBaldwin #Emancipation #AncestralMemory #AfricanWriters #BlackWriters farafinna.wordpress.com/2024/11/21/r...

Top: James Baldwin, A Response.
Middle: picture of me wearing a black headwrap, black earring and black long-sleeved shirt with a colourful Zulu necklace.
Bottom: Curated by Corine Dhondee in collaboration with Tomorrow's Warriors and Sink and sponsors' logos

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 08/10/2026

Why do Bajans say “he cute”? Absence of the copula be. In African languages like Wolof, the verb “to be” doesn’t necessarily exist and can be contained in the pronoun. Dafa rafet = he/she cute

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 06/10/2026

Muna an tɛ Farafinkanw fɔ kalankɛyɔrɔ la? - Why don't we speak African languages in school? #Bamanankan #Mali #TheGambia #Senegal #Mandinka #Wolof #AfricanLanguages

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 05/10/2026

Anyway, admire my artistic choice in the photo. A broken watch to signify the African's relentless struggle to free ourselves from the entrapment of western time *snap fingers*. Ugh, my brain 😂😂

Title - 1 January: Time is a suggestion

Photo of a broken watch screen on a wrist

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 04/10/2026

Why do Haitians say “ak”? Retention of Wolof. In both languages ak means “and” or “with”. It is one of the rare occasions where a continental African word is also retained in form and not only in meaning and utilisation

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 04/10/2026

Ne: N bɛ fɛ ka n'farikolo ɲɛnajɛ ka taa bori la San:

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026

African americans do the same for they/their and, as taught by Dr. G., forms like “he book” and “she house” used to exist in the early formations of Ebonics.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026

Why do Trinis say “we staff”? Retention of Bamanankan. In it, subject pronouns (I, you, she) can be used as possessive adjectives (my, your, her).

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 25/09/2026

Retention of Wolof. The Wolof word for “understand” or “hear” is degg. Degg nga? = You dig? #AfricanDiaspora #BlackAtlantic #BlackPanther

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 25/09/2026

Why do African americans say "dig"?

Picture of a yellow and blue boat on a beach in The Gambia. The background shows palm tree and a blue sky with a few clouds. Title says: Wolof in Ebonics: 2

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 23/09/2026

P. S. Showing off the new words I learned since I'm studying Wolof 😁

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 23/09/2026

A plausible reason is Ebonics retaining the Wolof suffix kat. It is used to nominalise verbs and stands for person or someone (who does an action or activity).

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 23/09/2026

Why do African americans say "cat"?

Renaissance statue in Dakar, Senegal from below. Title says: Wolof in Ebonics

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 18/09/2026

Me coming up with the most revolutionary and illest piece of knowledge creation literature known to humankind for my three (3) readers.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 05/09/2026

Ah muru y'i ban, Tiramagan t'i ban. SUNSARE JƆN TIRAMAGAN

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 04/09/2026

In April 2026 I gathered scholars, professors, activists, writers, artists, educators and creatives from across the Black Atlantic to The Gambia.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 14/08/2026

These are Maroon/Bushinenge people of Suriname. When the song started, I thought I was hearing Bamanankan but the first verses were not in that idiom. Sure enough though, as the song progresses, I picked up two sentences in Bamanankan: a ka den ɲuman kɛ and a ka den ɲuman di.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 07/08/2026

Love my man, but a suit in the desert is wild (spoken like a true Sahelian)

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 06/08/2026

My auntie got my 4-year-old cousin to send a voice note and she said she misses me. But I can't go back to that crazy family. You see how much I have to suffer?!?!

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 01/08/2026

Calling upon the root workers, herbalists, botanists and subaga. What are some of the plants you know can heal uterus-related illnesses like ovarian cysts and fibroids?

Me holding a filen with ɲamaku (ginger), 4 côtés, cloves, long black pepper

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 01/08/2026

Me, Maninka and Bamana. But also Yoruba, Hausa, Wolof and Mandinka because, as Chaka Zulu said, I'm every African.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 29/07/2026

All my anemic girlies, RIIIISSSEE (slowly). Moringa seeds are truly what's doing it for me. What are your natural remedies?

Holding 3 shelled Moringa seeds in my right hand. Hand is beautified with jabi (henna) and shows an orange circle in the middle of my palm. My fingertips are also orange.

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 25/07/2026

Attempted negative space fudden

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 23/07/2026

Language and status open.substack.com/pub/farafinm...

Language and status. My 1st article on Substack

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 21/07/2026

Is Badawi referring to Soninke and Malinke as places and conflating ethnicities (Malinke and Mandinka, which are different) with the region and then Empire (Mande)? I'm so confused

Page 190 of Zeinab Badawi's "An African history of Africa". The highlightes part states, "the chiefs of Southern Soninke and Malinke (also known as Mande or Mandinka)"

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 09/07/2026

HE WALKED ON WATER AND I DIDN'T DROWN

3-pièce Black hijab-friendly swimsuit with white Bɔgɔlan-like patterns

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 02/07/2026

Me: *apply for job, move to the next phase, interview with an AI* Me:

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 13/06/2026

Ni ye kalo duuru ne be Farafinna na (been on the continent for 5 months). Last month, I was grinding chickpeas like this. I don't know what level of Africanness I reached, but it's only up from here 😂 #SoAfricanAndBold

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 13/06/2026

Sisan, n'bena dumuni bila filen kɔnɔ ka dumuni kɛ tan

Filen, kini ani tigadɛgɛna be ni jaata la

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 10/05/2026

N'ye ni fini san bi san saba. Finally, n'y'a don

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 29/12/2025

On January 5, "Bridging Worlds: The Power of Heritage Languages in Social Cohesion" will be officially published. This marks the second book I have contributed to. You can pre-order a copy at the link below and read my essay Home is a language: Building Diaspora Belonging Through Heritage Tongues.

Cover by Raymond Verdaguer showing three black figures playing horn instruments standing on tree trunks that have been cut. They're surrounded by a tree that frames them. Abstract and colourful (blue, green, yellow) motif as background

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Deby @farafinmuso.blacksky.app · 22/11/2025

Sona Jobarteh's Legacy Concert

Me from my waist up, wearing a blue dulokiba with a black kala tied at the back

Me (full figure), wearing a blue dulokiba with golden flower designs on the front with a black kala tied at the back

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