Ijakadi — The Wrestle is an intimate work-in-progress performance exploring colourism, identity, masculinity and the struggle to understand your own worth when other people have repeatedly attempted to define it for you.
Created by Julius Obende and Joshua Alabi, the production combines spoken word, movement, live African percussion and visual storytelling.
The Yoruba word ijakadi evokes wrestling or struggle, and the title becomes a fitting metaphor for an internal battle: the difficult process of separating your own identity from the judgements imposed upon you.
The production examines how colourism and prejudice can become internalised, affecting confidence, masculinity, relationships and a person’s sense of belonging.
It also asks what is required to unlearn those messages and begin developing a healthier relationship with yourself.
Taking place during Black History Month, Ijakadi creates space for an important conversation about colourism within and beyond Black communities — a subject that can sometimes receive less attention than other forms of racial prejudice.
Please note that the performance contains themes of colourism, prejudice, discrimination, identity, rejection, emotional trauma, bullying and internalised shame.
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