By Minkail Olaitan

There is a Yoruba proverb that says, “Àwọn ìtàn tí a bá ń sọ ni ó ń ṣe àgbékalẹ̀ ayé tí a wà yìí,” meaning “the stories we tell shape the reality we live in.” I have carried that truth with me from the bustling city of Lagos to the words I now share with you.

My name is Minkail Olaitan Ganiyu. Professionally, I go by Minkail Olaitan. I am a Nigerian poet, screenwriter, author, brand strategist, and unapologetic storyteller based in Lagos. I serve as Chief Content Writer at Gift of Chess, where we champion bold histories and social impact through the game of chess. My writing has appeared in Brittle Paper, Afapinen, The Nigerian Tribune, and other platforms. I am the author of poetry collections including Blindspot, All Arrant Verses, and Heresy Is A City On My Tongue.

Growing up, my life took a reclusive direction due to my early exposure to the complexities around me, particularly family challenges. During those impressionable years, I developed a keen ear for stories and an eye for details. Although I was sometimes unable to fully understand the meaning behind everything I witnessed, there were writers whose works were presented with such clarity and passion that I began to see the world through their lenses.

I would sit somewhere, marveling at the worlds they created with cultural significance, historical relevance, and emotional depth. Sometimes I found myself at the crossroads. Sometimes I was the character. Sometimes I was the overlooked element of the story. Sometimes, like the author, I stood on a pedestal, curating the affairs of human lives.

Authors such as Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, D.O. Fagunwa, and many others awakened my imagination and expanded my understanding of what storytelling could accomplish.

This inspired my profound interest in storytelling that does real work in the world. I believe narratives—whether through poetry, film, branding, or community spaces—have the power to preserve culture, challenge injustice, spark joy, and build bridges.

I am fiercely committed to cultural authenticity: honoring the specificity of my Yoruba heritage while discovering the universal threads that connect us all. For years, I have engaged deeply with the history and works of Harlem’s greatest minds, especially James Baldwin’s unflinching clarity, Marcus Garvey’s call to collective dignity, W.E.B. Du Bois’s profound meditations on identity and double consciousness, and countless others whose voices continue to resonate across continents and generations.

I am also deeply passionate about youth empowerment, community building, and creating work that bridges the sacred and the everyday.

From Lagos to Harlem

What inspired me to step into this role with Mood Magazine and Harlem Collective Opera?

For years, I have been fascinated by how James Baldwin placed Harlem at the center of his storytelling. His portrayal of the community sparked many emotions within me—sometimes uplifting, sometimes painful, sometimes filled with the overwhelming energy of life itself.

For me, Harlem has long felt like a spiritual and creative cousin to Lagos. Both are places where emotions move like freight trains and culture is not performed for outsiders but lived through resistance, celebration, reinvention, and survival.

Both communities serve as mirrors of themselves—places where history, identity, and creativity constantly collide.

The Harlem Renaissance did not simply echo across the Atlantic; it conversed with African artistic movements in real time. When I encountered Harlem Collective Opera’s mission to make opera, classical music, and choral arts accessible, tangible, and woven into everyday community life, I felt an immediate connection.

Opera, after all, is communal storytelling on the grandest scale, much like the griot traditions and festival dramas of my own heritage.

Joining this collective as a Global Culture & Community Correspondent felt like answering a call to weave threads between continents.

I am especially moved by the opportunity to craft stories that amplify cultural consciousness and awaken a deep sense of belonging—a communion with the forces that connect identity, history, and community.

Through storytelling, I hope to help awaken the history and personalities behind opera and the arts so they can create a lasting mood: one of recognition, pride, connection, and possibility.

These are the stories that remind us we are not alone in our struggles or our celebrations.

Exploring the Global Connection

I look forward to exploring the living connections between African and diaspora cultures:

How Yoruba rhythms and philosophies pulse beneath Harlem’s jazz, gospel, and emerging opera scenes.

How artists on both sides of the Atlantic are transforming heritage into bold new expressions.

How communities worldwide are using creativity to navigate change, celebrate identity, and build futures.

Readers can expect intimate profiles of cultural ambassadors and unsung heroes, deep dives into traditions that continue to speak powerfully today, and narratives of resilience and joy from communities that mirror Harlem’s own story.

I am drawn to stories that awaken cultural consciousness and foster belonging—stories that make readers feel seen, rooted, and connected to something larger than themselves.

You can expect thoughtful dispatches that feel like conversations across borders. I will bring to every piece the same care I give to screenwriting and brand strategy: research, empathy, curiosity, and craft.

Look for immersive cultural features, community spotlights, personal essays, and a recurring series I am calling “The Global Wrestle”—explorations of how we navigate identity, legacy, belonging, and progress.

My aim is simple: to make you feel more connected to your own community, to distant communities, and to the shared human story we are all writing together.

Whether you are reading from Harlem, Lagos, or anywhere else in the world, these stories are meant to inform, move, and inspire while curating a lasting mood of hope, pride, and communion.

I am deeply grateful to the Mood Magazine family and Harlem Collective Opera for this opportunity. Thank you for welcoming me into your pages and your community.

I look forward to walking this journey with you—telling stories that matter, building bridges that last, and celebrating the beauty and resilience that define us all.

Can you see it already? The journey ahead is fascinating.

Let us explore the blind spots and experience the events together.

Minkail Olaitan
Global Culture & Community Correspondent
Mood Magazine / Harlem Collective Opera

Let Us Curate Your Mood.