Latrese's Yoruba Study Abroad Experience: Linking the past, present, and future

By Latrese Johnson, Undergraduate Student, Africana Studies major; Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Minor 
Yoruba Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad - Summer 2024 

Greetings! My name is Latrese Johnson and I am an undergraduate Afro-American Studies major, Women, Gender, and Sexualities minor. This summer, I was a participant of the Fulbright-Hays Yoruba Group Project Abroad in Nigeria. I spent eight weeks living with a host family, attending classes at the University of Ibadan, and visiting neighboring states and cities in Nigeria. I began the program at a novice level. Now, I have an intermediate level understanding of Yoruba!  

Traveling to Africa was an important opportunity for me. I know myself to be an African person who has been displaced from the continent because of slavery and colonialism. It is very likely that some of my ancestors lived in Yoruba land and spoke the language. Returning to the land and cultural practices felt like a way of healing those ancestors that were taken away.

Studying Yoruba was, for me, a reminder of the deep tradition and history that connects all Africans together. It was a chance for me to participate more fully in African culture and create memory and links from the past, present, and future in my own mind. I ruminated deeply on the causes of the economic, social, and political condition of Nigeria, and discussed with local Yorubas about these causes. I am appreciative that I can bring these insights and knowledge with me as I continue to be in community with Africans from the continent and the diaspora.