Anok Yai Claims Her Crown, Uzo Njoku Reinvents Ankara, Burna Goes Cinematic

Uzo Njoku reinvents Ankara with an Owambe twist, while African designers make Paris their runway. Plus, Burna Boy backs a bold Pan-African thriller, Amoako Boafo builds a tennis court, Amaarae steps into her spotlight, and Anok Yai claims her crown.

Mary Obiri-Ibe November 10, 2025 — 4 minutes read

Anok Yai Claims Her Crown, Uzo Njoku Reinvents Ankara, Burna Goes Cinematic — *Image via @anokyai.brasil*

Welcome to Vol 160 of the Spread!

Hello and welcome back to the Spread, your weekly edit of all the best stories and global news about Africans shaping mainstream culture.

Happy to be back in your inbox! So, last week was interesting, and by interesting, I mean I'm pretty sure I aged five years just sitting in traffic. At this point, I'm fully convinced we all need flying cars.

But even with all that bumper-to-bumper drama, some really beautiful things caught my attention. Like Uzo Njoku’s refreshing Owambe exhibition, Burna Boy taking his genius into African cinema, and Anok Yai finallyyyy getting her flowers.

And speaking of beautiful things, remember how I promised we'd celebrate the month with our member’s stories? Well, the time has come! Keep reading to find out who our first feature is (ps: you're going to love their story).

Mary x,

Now on to the real peel 👇