Lupita Nyong’o condemns deadly crackdown on Kenya protests

Nyong’o detailed her father’s ordeal in the latest episode of her storytelling podcast, Mind Your Own.

In it, Nyong’o and other African contributors tell entertaining real-life tales in order to explore what it means to be from the continent.

So far in the series, accounts have hailed from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and the diaspora.

Nyong’o tells her dad’s story in an episode named The Freedom Fathers – the only one so far where politics and oppression are mentioned.

This is intentional – the actress said she wanted to focus on “quirky”, “peculiar” tales rather than well-trodden subjects such as conflict, disaster and poverty.

“I think that all too often we can be narrow about our idea of what is African… I wanted to stay away from the hot button issues that are in the news, that are making it across the globe, because those already exist,” she said.

“What are the stories that we don’t know about – an ordinary person going through an extraordinary situation?”

Although Mind Your Own was produced by American company Snap Studios, numerous African creatives were hired to work behind the scenes.

For example, the podcast’s cover art was made by Mateus Sithole, an artist Nyong’o met in Mozambique, while Nigerian-American musician Sandra Lawson-Ndu did the theme song.

“I really wanted to have as many African hands touch this project as possible. I wanted to send a message, a clear message… this is by and for Africans, without it being exclusionary of anybody else,” Nyong’o said.

However, she acknowledges that it is not possible to encapsulate the entire continent, comprising 54 countries, in one podcast.

“There’s absolutely no way that I would task myself in trying to give the ultimate or comprehensive thesis of Africa – that’s crazy!” she said.

“Africa is going to be as as malleable and as changeable as the people who come from there.

“So we’re never going to be done telling our own stories.”