Petition Against UK Author, Lorenz Over Book ‘Soro Soke’ Garners Over 7,000 SignatoriesOver 7,000 Nigerians have signed a petition seeking the recall of a book titled, ‘Soro Soke' by a United Kingdom author, Trish Lorenz.
The petition which was started some days ago on online petition aggregator, change.org demanded that the author tender a public apology and that the interview be taken down.
The title of the book, ‘Soro Soke' is a phrase word of Yoruba origin meaning 'speak out' or 'speak louder'. It stood out during the #EndSARS protest against police brutality in 2020.
However, Lorenz, during an interview claimed she was the one who named the protesters “Soro Soke generation.”
"This cohort exhibits a confident outspokenness and a tendency for creative disruption, leading me to name them the Soro Soke generation,” she had said.
Aggrieved Nigerian youths took to social media to lash out at the author, stating that she 'is not allowed to rename Nigerians'.
A petition titled, ‘Recall "Soro Soke" from Publication- Author cannot CO-OPT and steal a Nigerian Movement!' was started to this effect and as of the time of filing this report, it had 7,013 signatories.
The petition reads, "Sóró Sóké is a Nigerian movement. One that came with our blood, sweat and tears. We are yet to recover from the aftermath.
“Sóró Sóké means Speak Up/ Do not be Silent in the Yoruba language of West Africa. It was a cry, a battle chant, a movement used in the #EndSARS campaign by Nigerian protesters fighting against police brutality from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in October of 2020.
“The phrase indicated that the Nigerian people would no longer put up with bad governance and they would speak out boldly. Protests and community gatherings were held to ‘Sóró Sóké’ (Speak out)
“Unfortunately, in the course of the protests, the authorities responded with the military and over 50 Nigerians' lives were lost. Many protesters and activists are still in jail, some in exile. Nigerians have not recovered from the aftermath.
“In all of this, Trish Lorenz, a white woman from Germany, decides to expropriate and abuse the name of the struggle reminiscent of the actions of her ancestors in the Berlin conference of 1884/5.
“She has also expropriated Sóró Sóké which is a work product and symbol taken from the Yoruba nation/tribe of Nigeria and its indigenes.
“In an interview with Crassh, she provides false claims, stating: ‘This cohort exhibits a confident outspokenness and a tendency for creative disruption, leading me to name them the Soro Soke generation’- Trish Lorenz
Link here: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/blog/soro-soke-the-young-disruptors-of-an-african-megacity-5-questions-to-trish-lorenz/
“How can you name our struggle? How can you name and claim what was already existing?
“She has no connection to the struggle yet she capitalizes, benefits and profits off the trauma of Nigerians. This is evidenced by her winnings from TheNineDotsPrize which comes with a remuneration of about $100,000
“She has also received book deals with Cambridge university press and has her books in global bookstores and universities such as Harvard University library.
“This is a Nigerian story to tell and we have Nigerians who are qualified to tell it. We have already told it without support or visibility. African stories must be told by African people.
“This is not the colonial era. we have our voice, our language, and our words and we will use it to Sóró Sóké!
“Our Ask: 1. This book is intellectual property theft and gross disrespect to Nigerians. It is pouring salt on our open wound. Therefore, publishing must be halted and it should be pulled from all bookstores. (This has been done before when the book “Bad and Boujee: Toward a Trap Feminist Theology written by Jennifer M Buck, was pulled for cultural appropriation and intellectual property theft.)
Details here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/arts/jennifer-buck-bad-and-boujee-book-pulled.html
“2. Public and written apology to Nigerians from Trish Lorenz./This is the right and responsible thing to do. Anything less is complicity in theft erasure and racialized neocolonial violence.
“3. The Crassh publication should be taken down or should carry a clarification, retracting her false statements in the interview referenced above.
“Important: Please "soro soke" by dropping a comment below, to share your reasons for signing the petition.
“Also, leave a review for Trish Lorenz book on google book review so that people know not to support this violence and intellectual property theft.https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Soro_Soke.html?id=8NZuEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y”
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: saharareporters, new york
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Petition Against UK Author, Lorenz Over Book ‘Soro Soke’ Garners Over 7,000 Signatories
January 03, 2017, 01:03:11 PM