Nigerians are the originators of "cool"?
I was checking out Jamel Shabazz’s “Back in the Day” photography book and the introduction section talked about the origin of “cool”:
What is cool? Robert Farris Thompson writes in his 1983 book Flash Of The Spirit that cool originated in Nigeria in the first half of the 15th century. Ewure was the name given to a ruler crowned king of the Nigerian Empire of Benin. At the time, the word literally meant, “it is cool”. Thompson writes that Nigerian civilisation was impressive not only for its urban density, refinement and complexity, but also for the inner momentum of conviction and poise they maintained in the face of ongoing political oppression. Other leaders followed suit. Later in that century, a Yoruba leader from Ilobi (an area that is now southern Egabado) decided on the name Oba tio tutubi asum, which means “Cool-and-peaceful-as-the-native-Herb-Osub.” Thompson discovers cool in these different black civilizations and attributes them to a special inner drive and confidence that kept these civilizations going…
So apparently, Nigerians “created” cool? Or the idea of it was first distinguished by them. This could explain a lot…
