Book Review: Fela - This Bitch of a Life

This is the first book I read on my Amazon Kindle, so I guess you can say this autobiography "broke my ebook cherry"... and what a fitting choice to do so!

The life of "The Black President" in his own words, as well as the words and perspectives of his wives and close friends, weaves an interesting and spellbinding story of this Nigerian revolutionary. Fela's charisma flows from his unrelenting and uncompromising defiance and assault, not only on neo-colonialism in Africa, but more importantly and dangerously, on the corrupt government officials in his home country. In his words and music, he championed the causes for the poor, oppressed and dispossessed of Nigeria and Africa as a whole.

Like Bob Marley, another musical visionary, Fela's weapon for illumination was his music. He went further by naming names and detailing events within his compositions. The more the elites attacked him, the more defiant he became. The depiction of how he took his mother's coffin and drove it through army roadblocks while under gunfire, then dropped it at the front gate of their barracks as a protest for their part in her death, highlights his revolutionary spirit. He composed a song, "Coffin for Head of State" to further condemn the actions of the government.

The portrayal of Fela's sexual flamboyance is also underscored by a certain misogyny, but his attitudes in regards to women, like politics and spirituality, can't be so simply defined. Like all geniuses before and after him, he was a paradoxical figure who saw the simplistic truths of the world he encountered, but had complex ideas which were revolutionary at the time, some of which were also destructive to himself and those around him. These complexities in his relationships are revealed in the first hand accounts of his wives, as they describe the dynamics of their experiences with him.  

Sadly, the book reveals that after years of government attacks and beatings, physical and emotional self abuse, a descent into spiritual absurdity, as well as the ravages of AIDS, Fela died a broken down figure in 1997. However, the impact of his life brought out over a million Nigerians to line the streets of Lagos on the day of his funeral, defying a government ban on public gatherings.

Due to this book, I now have a new found appreciation and insight into his music, as well as a much better understanding and respect for his legacy.