LOLA ADESIOYE
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lola Adesioye is a social and political writer, commentator, broadcaster, musician and singer-songwriter (performing under the name Lola Vista) with a unique and multi-faceted global perspective.
Born and raised in London, England, to Nigerian parents Lola lives in New York City. She is an alumna of Cambridge University, holding a BA and an honorary Masters in Social and Political Science (with Italian and Spanish).
Lola’s opinion, commentary and analysis of UK, African and American race relations, current affairs, society, politics and culture have been published in a number of international publications including The Guardian, the Economist, CNN.com, The New Statesman, the Huffington Post, the Sunday Times, Forbes Africa, The Independent, The Atlantic and many others.
Over the years, she has provided opinion and commentary for American and international TV and Radio networks such as the BBC, Sky News, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post Live, CNN, BET and WBLS 107.5 Radio and MSNBC.
Lola was formerly the founding Deputy Editor of NBC’s African-American news site, TheGrio.com, and was previously Contributing Editor at AOL Black Voices (now part of the Huff Post). She has been described as “one of Nigeria’s top 10 wordsmiths” and “one of 11 sharp black commentators in America”.
Lola was a music scholar at James Allen’s Girl’s School – the oldest independent girls’ school in England and one of the country’s top 10 schools – as well as the Head Girl both there and at Rosemead Prep School, a top prep school in London.
After graduating from Cambridge – where she was deeply involved in student politics and was elected twice to the Cambridge University Student Union as Anti-Racism Officer, as well as representing her college as Ethnic Minorities Officer – Lola worked in the music industry at Warner Music and Ministry of Sound and put on large scale international concerts for brands including Nokia.
She comes from a long line of change-makers and trailblazers including being the great-granddaughter of Wurola Esan – a prominent feminist and activist, the first female senator in Nigeria, a pioneer of women’s education in Nigeria and the ‘Iyalode of Ibadan’, the highest chieftaincy and traditional aristocratic title open to women – and continues to carry the torch of their legacy. Her great-grandfather, also a Chief, was one of the first Nigerian lawyers while her paternal grandfather was the Managing Editor of the Nigerian Daily Times, wrote for the New York Times, and started the PR industry in Nigeria.
She has also lived in South Africa and is passionate about the continent’s future.
Lola is dedicated to using her voice, words, skills and gifts through various forms of media as an advocate for progressive social, political and cultural change in the UK, US and Africa.
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.