My Talk at Winona State University

On 27 June, I visited Winona State University, to give a talk I had mentioned on this blog. I spoke about Africans and African Americans, highlighting issues and challenges that have faced them historically, and which continue to influence their relationships.

I started with a discussion of the centrality of Africa as the cradle of the human race, the place where language, technology, and literature originated and evolved. The current division between Africans and African Americans did not exist then. It was brought about, primarily, by the Atlantic slave trade, which resulted in the two populations undergoing separate histories. That is the origin of the vexed relationship we witness today between Africans and African Americans.

Fortunately, I have learned about these problems over the years through my involvement with Pan African organizations in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. During my talk, I referred to what I wrote in a blog post regarding misconceptions and stereotypes that Africans and African Americans hold about one another.

I emphasized that Africans and African Americans need to learn about each other's history. Africans need to learn about the African American experience, from the time of slavery, through the civil rights era, to the present time. Likewise, African Americans need to learn about the experience of Africans especially regarding the slave trade, colonialism and the struggle against it, and neo-colonialism.

Africans and African Americans need to learn about the struggles that have defined the black experience in Africa and in the Diaspora, manifested in movements such as Pan-Africanism, anti-colonialism, and the civil rights movement. Without this serious and enduring effort, the relations between Africans and African Americans will continue to be unnecessarily problematical.

An Invitation to Winona State University

In early March, this year, I received a message from Mr. Alexander Hines, director of Inclusion and Diversity at Winona State University, asking whether I would be willing to go and give a presentation on Africans and African Americans, with a focus on the cultural dimension.

Mr. Hines and I have known each other for about fifteen years, and I am both humbled and gratified by how much he appreciates my work. I accepted the invitation and will be speaking tomorrow, June 27. My talk will be part of the annual HOPE Academy program held in the summer.

This is the third time Mr. Hines has invited me. The first time, I discussed my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences. The second time, I dwelt on the educational function of African folktales, focusing on Matengo Folktales, as I reported on my Swahili blog.

The topic for tomorrow's talk--the relationship between Africans and African Americans--is vexed, intriguing, and frustrating, not only to me but to others across the ages. It is problematical and lends itself to responses ranging from romantic illusions to blatant stereotypes.

In my book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, I make some remarks highlighting the differences between Africans and African Americans. I hope to do the same during my talk tomorrow. If I can inspire critical reflection on both the illusions and the stereotypes, I will be pleased.

A Note on Leila Aboulela's "Minaret"

One of the works we read in my Post-colonial Literature course this Spring was Leila Aboulela's Minaret. I planned to focus on two areas of the Post-colonial world: Africa and South Asia. We started with Athol Fugard's Sorrows and Rejoicings, read  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, and then Minaret, before venturing into South Asia.
 

Minaret explores the lives of Sudanese Muslims in Sudan--especially Khartoum--and in England. It unfolds initially at the University of Khartoum, where we encounter Najwa, the main character. We see how she relates to the community around her, especially fellow students, whose adherence to Islamic principles--such as praying five times a day--she observes with a certain aloofness.

Mostly middle or upper class, the characters in Minaret are a diverse community in terms of their political beliefs and their degrees of attachment to Islam. Cosmopolitan in outlook, they embrace, or easily coexist with, foreign, especially Western, influences. They communicate with friends and relatives abroad, and are able to travel abroad themselves.

Following a coup in Sudan, and the execution of her father by the new regime, Najwa finds herself in exile in England, together with her brother. Though she had not been particularly religious back in Khartoum, after arriving in England and experiencing alienation and other social problems, she embraces Islam, finding meaning and comfort in being a pious Muslim woman. Leila Aboulela presents this transformation in a seamless, persuasive manner.

Minaret offers a refreshing image of Islamic Sudan, a place which many associate with a rigid, conservative society. In contrast to conventional negative stereotypes, Minaret humanizes the Muslims, showing them as people like any other. My students and I liked this novel, and I plan to teach it again this summer.