Teaching Yaa Gyasi's "Homegoing"

On June 4, here at St. Olaf College, I started teaching a summer course on African Literature, which I have taught several times before. Following my introduction to the course, we started reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, a young Ghanaian writer raised in the USA. I met her on March 2 at the Hemingway Festival in Moscow, Idaho, where she was the guest of honour as winner of the prestigious PEN/Hemingway Award for 2017. She gave a magnificent reading and signed copies of her book.

Homegoing takes us several centuries back to the country known today as Ghana and portrays the life of the people then. Apart from themes such as marriage, the family, and the customs associated with them, as well as racial and ethnic relations and consciousness, the novel delves into the issue of slavery and the slave trade. The characters--African and European--who ran the slave trade describe it as a business.

The novel depicts life in the Cape Coast Castle, with Europeans and their families living quite comfortably while beneath them, in the dungeons, the enslaved Africans endure abominable conditions. Seamlessly, the novel transports us to the United States, where we witness the lives of the African slaves and the slave owners on the plantations. From the Castle to the plantations, we witness a continuation of the monstrous tale of human suffering wrought by human beings.

My students and I are still reading the novel, but I think it would be a great idea to read it alongside Ama Ata Aidoo's The Dilemma of a Ghost, first performed in 1964 and published in 1965. A comparative study of the two works would be rewarding. Apart from their common preoccupation with the African and African American experience, and the theme of slavery, both draw inspiration from African folklore in significant ways.

African Americans We Met at Afrifest 2015

I want to continue sharing my memories of Afrifest 2015, which was held yesterday at Northview Junior High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. As I mentioned on this blog, stories of that festival will continue to be told, and I want to focus on one aspect: encounters with African Americans.

I was at the festival as an educator, writer, and cultural consultant, with two of my daughters--Assumpta and Zawadi. Several African Americans came to our table and we had a chance to chat with them.

The first to come, soon after the festival started, was a gentleman who appeared to be of my age. As soon as we had greeted each other, he looked at my books and asked if I knew Professor Mahmoud el Kati.

Incidentally, I have known Professor Mahmoud el Kati for almost a decade. He and I have met at events involving Africans and African Americans, and have even featured on panels at such gatherings. This visitor to our table recalled having met me at one such events. He summoned his wife who was standing nearby, and she joined us, as a witness to our conversation, which revolved around Professor el Kati and the events I have alluded to.

At some point during the festival, three young black ladies came to our table, and we immediately got into a lively conversation. With obvious delight, they told us they were traveling to Accra. I could tell, from their accents that they were African American, and when I asked where they were from, they affirmed they were African American. They had not been to Africa before, and they were excited about their forthcoming trip. I told them how Americans who have been to Ghana rave about it, as do those who have been to Senegal, another West African country.

I seized the opportunity, however, to entice them, partly in jest, but also sincerely, with the idea that their next destination should be Tanzania. I also told them what I tell every American traveling to Africa how touched and pleased I am that they are going to my continent, to see and experience it for themselves. I wished them well and they moved on, exploring the exhibits.

Later, out of the blue, we saw a beaming Adrian, an African American friend of mine, coming to our table. As soon as we saw each other, we started waving and shouting our greetings. He and I have known each other for years, and my daughters know him from last year's Afrifest. He and I have some common interests in community engagement to promote Pan African education and solidarity. He is a great fan of my writings. Needless to say, our meeting yesterday was a major highlight of the festival for both of us. We made sure to take the photo seen above.

I have written about these encounters with African Americans because they exemplify the dream of Afrifest, which is to connect Africans and the African Diaspora in order to pursue common goals, such as self enlightenment on historical, socio-political and cultural matters. Despite its Afrocentric name, however, Afrifest embraces the human family.

Cannon River Conference, Zumbrota, 11 April

On April 11, 2015, I attended the Cannon River Conference held at Lands Lutheran Church in Zumbrota, a town in southeastern Minnesota. The Cannon River Conference is an annual event organized by churches of the Southeastern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The meeting started at 9am and included reports, songs and a narrative of the history of the church in this area. I learned about Project Neighbor, a program of the Cannon River Conference of the ELCA which assists people in need of such essentials as food, shelter, and clothing, regardless of creed, sex or race, who cannot find such assistance elsewhere.

I learned about a non-profit called ABAN that works with girls and young mothers in Ghana, empowering them by helping them with skills training that lead to employment. They produce handmade products from recycled materials, which ABAN sells here in the USA. Some of the products were available, for conference participants to see and buy.

After these and other reports, I was introduced. In my talk, I highlighted the fact that as the world changes becoming a global village, every community will, sooner or later, find itself having to deal with people of different cultures.

This can be challenging, as exemplified by the experiences of the Minnesota cities of Faribault and Brooklyn Park, which have become in recent years increasingly diverse. Instead of trying to cling to our old, familiar ways and habits, the new world requires us to learn about our cultural differences and learn to accept the fact that no matter how different our cultures are, we share a common humanity.

Mindful that this was a gathering of Christians, I said that all this is a test of how true we are to our Christian faith. I invoked Jesus and his story of the Good Samaritan, which he told to an audience which saw the Samaritans as bad people. I said that if Jesus were here today, talking to Americans, he would look around and see the negative media images of Muslims, for example, and would not talk about the Good Samaritan, but most certainly the Good Muslim.

That was the orientation of my talk, but I also said that cultural differences represent and offer opportunities as well. In our colleges, for example, we try to help our students develop a global perspective through such programs as study abroad. Since foreigners are increasingly coming into the USA, students who want to study foreign cultures can gain much of that understanding through interacting with the immigrants.

Even business owners and entrepreneurs interested in expanding their operations abroad can benefit by connecting with immigrants in order to learn about foreign countries and cultures before taking their enterprises abroad. Some of these immigrants are well connected in the countries they come from, which could benefit the Americans.

I had more to say, but I did not want to spend more time than was allocated to me. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed, as I always do, having an audience. Since the issues require much more than a single talk, we had copies of my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, available for people who needed them with a view to gaining a fuller view of my perspective and hopefully continuing the conversation.

This was a memorable and useful event. I learned much and greatly enjoyed the opportunity to share my ideas and perspectives on the dilemma of cultural differences in our increasingly interconnected world.

Peace Corps and Africa Conference

I am a great fan of the Peace Corps, and have been for many years. So, when I learned that there was going to be a Peace Corps and Africa Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, I decided to go.

The conference, held March 24-27, brought together returned Peace Corps volunteers who had served in various countries as well as prospective volunteers, and, of course, fans of the Peace Corps like me.

This is the 50th year of the Peace Corps, and the Madison conference was one of the commemorative events taking place in different parts of the USA.

I learned a great deal from the speeches and other presentations, about the beginnings of the Peace Corps and the work of Peace Corps volunteers all over Africa. We heard tales about President John Kennedy who inspired Americans with the idea of service, and we heard about Sargent Shriver, the visionary and charismatic founder of the Peace Corps.

We heard about Kwame Nkrumah, and how he got Sargent Shriver to send the first batch of Peace Corps volunteers to Ghana in 1961. The name of Julius Nyerere came up as well and the story of how he welcomed Peace Corps volunteers to Tanganyika in those early days.

There were many people in this meeting, including ambassadors, educators, business people, writers, and students.

I got to meet some of the people who had been Peace Corps volunteers in my own country, such as Ernie Zaremba, who served in 1964-66 and appears with me in the photo on the left. Now he enjoys recording stories of former Peace Corps volunteers and visiting Tanzania to meet people who knew or benefited from Peace Corps volunteers.

I met Mark Green, who had been the U.S. Ambassador in Tanzania, 2007-2009. I met several University of Wisconsin-Madison professors I had known from my days as a graduate student, including Professor Harold Scheub, who had been my main dissertation advisor.

On the left I am standing with Wade DallaGrana, whom I got to know when I arrived in Madison in 1980. He had returned from serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, and we used to meet often and chat. The Peace Corps meeting in Madison was a big event for us, since we got to see each other after about thirty years.

I have much to say about the Peace Corps conference, and I plan to write more about it, if only as a tribute to these amazing volunteers, whose dreams, thoughts, and feelings are squarely focused on service to others and building a better world. Being around such people is truly inspiring.

Pan African Organization Meeting

We had another Pan African Organization meeting today, at the Center for Families. As in the past, today's meeting brought together Africans and African Americans, sharing ideas and experiences. Edmund Ocansey had sent our announcements stating that the focus of this meeting would be African politics and culture. That theme appears to have touched people, as it became clear during the meeting.

We did not get to this topic right away. First we had lunch, in the course of which we started talking about ourselves, introducing ourselves to the rest of the group and talking about why we are in this group.





That was Edmund's way of starting the meeting. It got people talking about their experiences, concerns and dreams in relation to Pan Africanism.

People shared inspiring experiences and ideas, and I can only mention a few. We talked about the need to educate ourselves, learn about people, understand them, truly understand them.

The gentleman on the left said he feels he has a lot in his spirit to give to others. He wants to make a positive difference in people's lives, in someone's life, without judging that person.

This sister, originally from Togo, said she was keen to learn about the African heritage and Pan Africanism. She talked about her association with the Pan-African Women's Philanthropy Network and announced that this organization will host a conference in August.


The brother on the left, in the black shirt, talked about his visits to Ghana, a country which is very special to him. He shared a delightful personal story: how he found out, through DNA testing, that he has Igbo ancestry.

He encourages African Americans to venture out as he is doing, and explore Africa, because of the opportunities there.

At that point I shared some thoughts I have gained from my friend Professor Baruti Katembo about the need for African Americans and Africans to come together in order to explore and utilize the resources each group possesses and represents, for mutual benefit.

The gentleman seen writing on the left spoke about the need for African Americans to learn about their history in order to correct the narrow perspective that focuses solely or predominantly on the experience of slavery.

Telling African Americans only that they were slaves limits their perspective and conditions them to behave in certain ways. A broader view of their history will help them to acquire more positive self-concepts and assume new roles which will earn them respect.


The two ladies seen here are members of the board of the Pan African Organization. They came on board recently, bringing fresh energy and perspectives. On the right is Shatona Kilgore-Groves, founder of the Black Parent Group, and author of A Black Parent's Memoir, Vol 1.

As I have noted, this is only a sampling of what people shared. After all this, we got to the main item of the agenda. Edmund Ocansey gave a talk highlighting aspects of Ghana from independence to the present day. He focused on the political and cultural landscape.

I talked about cultural issues affecting Africans in the diaspora. I gave the example of Faribault, where long term residents and Somali immigrants are struggling with cultural challenges. I mentioned my presentations on cultural diversity to companies, churches, schools, colleges, and community groups.

Mindful of what everyone has said about the need to learn about ourselves, I mentioned that I record folklore and interpret it, to reveal the thoughts and values of our people. I showed my two books, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences and Matengo Folktales.

Whenever I attend the meetings of the Pan African Organization, I feel I am in a classroom where I broaden my horizons. I appreciate the opportunity to extend my social network.

Memories of Augustana College

Yesterday I returned from a memorable visit to Augustana College, Illinois. The main purpose of my visit was to talk with students going on a study trip to Ghana and Senegal. This is part of the work and vision of the Africana Studies program.

In the evening of January 30, I spoke with a group of professors on cultural issues in the global village and related topics. We dwelt in particular on preparing students for life in the world they will live in.Professor John Tawiah Boateng, standing with me above, on the right, had communicated with me over a two year period about plans at Augustana College to develop the African Studies program. He has said that my visit would help that process. On January 31, I spoke with the people going to Ghana and Senegal, about 40 of them. They had all read my Africans and Americans book, and I had been invited to talk about it.
Above, Dr. Tawiah Boateng, the director of the Africana Studies program is seen introducing me to the audience, flanked by Dr. Kim Tunicliff director of International Studies. Dr. Tunicliff and I had worked together for some years in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). While he was the ACM Vice President, I was a member of the board for the Zimbabwe and Tanzania progams. I am still a member of the ACM board dealing with the Tanzania and Botswana programs. It was good to be with Dr. Tunicliff again. It was during Dr. Tunicliff's tenure as ACM Vice President that I wrote my Africans and Americans book, to help us in offering cultural orientation for students and faculty going to Africa. I have mentioned this in the book. Introducing me, Dr. Tawiah Boateng described my work in teaching, research, writing, and study abroad programs. I spoke about my experience of preparing students for study in Africa, with a focus on the cultural dimension. I described my own experience with American culture, growing as person as I went along. I explained how writing my book made me discover my own biases and how, subsequently, I fought against those biases in order to produce the book they were reading. The greatest challenge, I said, is to overcome the idea that the norms of our culture are the standard other people should follow. That bias is like a trap into which we all fall, more or less. An hour and a half later, our session ended and we went out for dinner and still continued our conversations
It is certainly gratifying for a writer to know that people are actually reading his or her writings. I was touched, as usual, to be in a room with over forty people who had read my book asking incisive questions.

A small band of students stayed on, after dinner, to continue the conversation. I signed copies of the book and we took one more photo, which reflects the strength of the human spirit in the face of the kind of rigours we had put ourselves through.