On June 13, 1985, Nigerian playwright and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka gave a lecture in Oslo emphasizing the moral obligations of artists in confronting tyranny. Though his Nobel Prize would come the following year, this speech electrified human rights circles. Soyinka criticized military dictatorship in Nigeria and apartheid in South Africa, linking both to global systems of injustice. His address inspired artists across Africa and the diaspora to use their craft for social critique. The event elevated Soyinka as a global conscience and strengthened the connection between Black literature and political resistance.
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