Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-Chief
Last Modified: 17:50 p.m. EDT, 29 December 2009
“Gele” is a Yoruba word for a female head wrap. The Yoruba people live in Southern Nigeria and are the largest ethnic group south of the Sahara. Yoruba women are known for wearing the impossibly intricate Gele head dresses, and although head dressing can be found in almost every African culture, the Gele is more than just head covering, it is an art form.
I was a child living in Nigeria, I often marveled at the tall, elegant and exotic head wraps that were so artfully constructed, it seemed hard to believe they were made out of cloth. The type of cloth best suited for the Gele is the Aso Oke and Ankara. These fabrics are traditionally Yoruba, but are now worn all over the country. For more information about the history of these fabrics and where they can be purchased, visit the Ladybrille Blogazine.
- To learn how to tie a Gele view the tutorial video here.
- Watch the video “African Queen” which celebrates beautiful African women and the Gele.
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![Rehtaeh Parsons, a teen from Nova Scotia, was a gorgeous, kind, straight-A student with her whole life ahead of her. On Thursday, she hung herself in her bathroom. On Sunday night, her family took her off life-support. Approximately a year and a half earlier, in November 2011, when Rehtaeh was 15 years old, she was reportedly gang-raped by four boys, classmates of hers. The trauma did not end there. One of the boys reportedly took a photo of the act and circulated it among Rehtaeh’s school and community where, as noted, by Rehtaeh’s mother, “it quickly went viral.” Authorities reportedly investigated the sexual assault but claimed there was insufficient evidence to make formal charges. Rehtaeh’s mother recalls the investigation: They didn’t even interview the boys until much, much later. To me, I’d think you’d get the boys right away, separate them…. Nothing was done about [the photos] because they couldn’t prove who had pressed the photo button on the phone. [She was told that the distribution of the photos is] not really a criminal issue, it’s more of a community issue. Even though she was 15 at the time, which is child pornography…. The whole case was full of things like that. We didn’t have a rape kit done because we didn’t even know (anything had happened) until several days later when she had a breakdown in my kitchen. She was trying to keep it to herself. Tormented and bullied, Rehtaeh was forced to leave her school and tried to start fresh in a new community. Despite efforts, she continued to struggle, at one point checking into a hospital to cope with suicidal thoughts, anger, and depression. In an extensive post on a Facebook memorial page, her mother Leah Parsons described how the straight-A high school student became depressed and suicidal after the incident. “The person Rehtaeh once was all changed one dreaded night in November 2011. She went with a friend to another’s home. In that home she was raped by four young boys . . . one of those boys took a photo of her being raped and decided it would be fun to distribute the photo to everyone in Rehtaeh’s school and community where it quickly went viral,” Leah Parsons wrote. “Because the boys already had a ‘slut’ story, the victim of the rape Rehtaeh was considered a slut. “This day changed the lives of our family forever.” Rehtaeh, who was a 15-year-old high school student in Cole Harbour at the time, was repeatedly bullied at school and “suddenly shunned by almost everyone she knew.” “She was never left alone. She had to leave the community. Her friends turned against her. People harassed her. Boys she didn’t know started texting her and Facebooking her asking her to have sex with them. It just never stopped,” her mother told CBC.](http://ayannanahmias.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/rehtaeh-parsons-17-canadian-rape-victim-commits-suicide-3.jpg?w=45&h=45&crop=1){kind=small}
02/05/2012 at 18:55
I was in Lagos and Benin in 1992 and I tell you I had a great time there with my Nigerian friends. I had the opportunity to bring back some Nigerian art but I hated that i did not bring back more clothing. This is a great blog! God Bless!
12/04/2012 at 07:37
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and for following. You have deep and poignant stuff on here. Thanks for opening our eyes, and hearts to the many atrocities and injustices of our world. Job well done