Marcus Garvey: What Does it Mean to be a Man?

Today marks the 127^th birthday of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the first National Hero of Jamaica, and one of my spiritual ancestors.

Marcus Garvey through his life and work helped me to understand a question that has haunted me and many other Africans at home and abroad: What does it mean to be a man?

After travelling through the Americas and into the center of colonial power in the West Indies, Garvey realized that Africans at home and abroad in order to survive the brutalities of slavery had been reduced to a childish state in which they had relinquished personal and collective power. Cowed into submission, Africans at home and abroad lived in fear of outside forces over which they had no control, and even after gaining “freedom,” their existence was based on the level of servility to their former masters.

As Garvey saw it, Africans at home and abroad could either live in a reactionary state in which they only responded to crises (and once the crisis was over resume a passive, dormant existence) or take control of their lives by assuming personal and collective responsibility.

“A race without authority and power, is a race without respect,” said Garvey, and to remedy the situation, he created the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, which is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.

Men and nations assume responsibility for their lives. Personal and collective responsibility guided Garvey’s philosophy of manhood and nationhood, which were organized around these principles:

Redemption of Africans at home and abroad
Education
Self-Respect

Purpose
Economics
Community

Tradition

Garvey set a challenge before Africans at home and abroad when he wrote in the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey: "The greatest weapon used against the Negro is disorganization.”

In the midst of Ferguson and other daily insults to Africans at home and abroad, either we can continue living in a childish, reactionary state where we do not assume responsibility for our lives or we can organize and plan accordingly.

The choice, as it was then and now, is ours.

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The Coalition for the Exoneration of Marcus Garvey is petitioning President Barack Obama to exonerate Marcus Garvey:

https://www.causes.com/campaigns/71936-urge-president-obama-to-exonerate-marcus-garvey

Thank you for your support.

We're the Survivors!

June 16^th is a special day for people of African descent:

Marcus Garvey

The anniversary of a petition to release Marcus Garvey from prison sent by D.P.S. Adams of the Universal African Missionary Convention from Cape Town, South Africa, to US President Calvin Coolidge.

Birthday of Leonard Percival Howell

Soweto Youth Uprising

Celebration of International Day of the African Child by the African Union.

I'll be playing Survival by Bob Marley all day .
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Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.






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Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Marcus and the Amazons in Kenya!

A deep joy comes into my heart when I see children enjoying my books. I had an even greater joy when I saw children at the G-Rockers Center in Kawangware, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Kenya, reading from Marcus and the Amazons.

I hope the teachers will take the time to teach the children about the namesake of the hero, Marcus Garvey, whose life was livicated, according to his son, Dr. Julius Garvey to these principles: "A sense of identity, self-reliance, unity/nationhood, entrepreneurship, education in the physical and psychological sciences, and spirituality based on the Father/Motherhood of God and the brother/sisterhood of woman/man. The principles that Garvey outlined in was a philosophy, theology, psychology and social action plan that could be applied by all people in any location." 


Marcus Garvey understood poverty and worked his whole life to eradicate this evil from the lives of Africans and New World Africans. His writings in "African Fundamentalism," Course of African Philosophy, and The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey as Mwariama Kamau has stated, "through reasoned arguments and a methodical examination of our condition, offers an inspiring worldview and compelling prescription for empowerment."

Give thanks to the organizers of the Anancy Festival, Andrea Shaw and Xavier Murphy, and especially to Zubair Mohammed of G-Rockers Center for bringing not only Anancy, but also Marcus, home.

"Never let the children cry, or you got to tell Jah-Jah why"~Bob Marley,"Trench Town Rock."

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Blog Disclosure Policy


Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.









***

Disclaimer of Endorsement


The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.


Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Poéfrika Review: "Marcus and the Amazons" by Geoffrey Philp

 "I could hang tens of other names on the character of Marcus, in Geoffrey Philp's book, Marcus and the Amazons, but Marcus is perhaps the better fit after all. He reminds me of people that have in some way or another crossed and influenced my life, in Africa and on every other continent. If my children have not lived through what people of my generation lived through, I'd be happy if they lived through this book."

Read more of Rethabile Masilo's review of Marcus and the Amazons over at his blog. As a poet and scientist who studied insects, Rethabile brings an added dimension to the critique of the book.

Poéfrika: "Marcus and the Amazons", by Geoffrey Philp:

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Writer-in-residence Chenjerai Hove for Two Upcoming Special Events

Zimbabwean author Chenjerai Hove, theMiami: City of Refugewriter-in-residence at the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at MDC, will hold two presentations, “The Beautiful African Mother” on March 10 at the Pinecrest Library and “The Experience of Exile” on March 11 at Temple Israel of Greater Miami.

For “The Beautiful African Mother,” Hove will read from his politically conscious and heart-wrenching work, with a particular focus on the women who inspired him. The discussion and reading will also center around a greater understanding of women in African politics with a focus on Zimbabwe. Hove will speak about social justice and share his story of exile at his presentation on the 11th.

As a Miami: City of Refugewriter-in-residence since January 2010, Hove brings his politically and culturally rich stories of exile, injustice and ultimate hope to MDC students and the Miami community. He has been well received speaking at several events and publishing several columns in the Miami Herald.

The government of Zimbabwe first noticed Hove for his political novel Masimba Avanhu? (Is This the People’s Power?) and for his play Sister Sing Again Someday, which both address the situation of women in Zimbabwe. Hove’s home was subsequently burglarized and his unpublished writings were stolen by the national police. After constant surveillance and threats to his family, he left Zimbabwe in 2001 leaving his wife and youngest child behind. Most recently, he has lived in exile in Stavanger, Norway.

Mr. Hove’s visit is made possible by the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College promotes reading and writing throughout the year by consistently presenting high-quality literary activities open to all in South Florida. Programs and activities include hosting visiting writers; classroom collaborations; public reading series; creative writing courses; the Center’s literacy-focused initiatives – Storytime, One Picture Book, One Community, Spanish Authors in America, and the Big Read in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts; and Miami Book Fair International – the nation’s largest and finest literary gathering every November at MDC. The Center also manages the college’s acclaimed Spanish-language theatre program, Prometeo, which is its dramatic arts component. For more information, please visit www.flcenterlitarts.com.

FCLA at MDC presents Chenjerai Hove: “The Beautiful African Mother”

WHEN: Thursday, Mar. 10, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
WHERE: Miami Dade Public Library System, Pinecrest Branch, 5835 SW 111 St.
COST: Free
FCLA at MDC presents Chenjerai Hove: “The Experience of Exile”

WHEN: Friday, Mar. 11, 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
WHERE: Temple Israel of Greater Miami, 137 NE 19 St.
COST: Free
For more information regarding the program and Mr. Hove, please visit www.miamicityofrefuge.org.

Media-only contacts:
Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu, MDC communications director
Tere Estorino, 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu, MDC media relations director
Tarnell Carroll, 305-237-3359, tcarroll@mdc.edu, media specialist
Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, media specialist

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Kadija George @ BBC

The Ballad Of Africa

Saturday 9 October and Monday 11 October

9 & 11 October 2010 between 0300 GMT - 0600 GMT 4pm-5pm

SABLE Publisher Kadija George will be one of the guests on BBC World Service Radio talking about 50 years of independence since Nigeria's independence - and the countries that followed.


'The Ballad of Africa' is a compelling and thought-provoking examination of of the highs and lows of the continent's post-independence history through the eyes of Africans. In a specially commissioned programme marking the 50th anniversary of the independence of many African countries, this extraordinary self-narrating Ballad explores through words and music issues that have dominated African mindsets for the past half-century.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/2010/10/101007_ballad_of_africa_tx.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/2010/wk41/sat.shtml



About Kadija George:


Kadija George is a literary activist, editor and publisher. Of Sierra Leonean descent, she read West African studies at Birmingham University, then became a freelance journalist, specialising in black arts, black British Literature and women's issues. In the mid-1990s, she worked for the Centreprise Literature Development Project as the Black Literature Development Co-ordinator, and set up the newspaper, Calabash. She left there in 1998. In 2001, she became founder and managing editor of Sable magazine.

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Chenjerai Hove @ Books & Books Tonight

In anticipation of Banned Books Week, Miami City of Refuge writer-in-residence, Chenjerai Hove will read entries from his book of poetry, Blind Moon (Michigan State, $22.95), and speak of his plight as a censored writer in Zimbabwe. Presented in collaboration with Florida Center for the Literary Arts. 

September 15, 2010

8:00pm

Books & Books

265 Aragon Ave.

Coral Gables, FL 33134

Mr. Chenjerai Hove (pronounced chen-jeh-rye  hoe-veh) is a Zimbabwean author, poet, essayist, playwright, and human rights activist.  He has a Bachelor’s degree in Education and holds an equivalent to a Master of Arts with specializations in African Literature, Socio-Linguistics and Literary Theory. For over thirty years, Hove wrote from his native country unafraid of the risks involved in writing and teaching about the ugliness of his government. As time went on, his work became an increasingly political target of attack and so, after endless bribes and countless death threats, Hove finally fled to exile in 2001

Hove is the founder of the Zimbabwe Writers Union and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (Zimrights).  He has lectured on the craft of writing as well as social justice at major universities across the globe. He has received the highest prize in literature given on the African Continent (the NOMA award) for his novel Bones in 1988, and his essays on social justice entitled Palaver Finish earned him the German-Africa prize in 2001.

CHENJERAI HOVE

Notable Books with Descriptions-

Bones
Publisher: Baobab Books (January 1, 1988)  
ISBN-10: 0908311036  

This proclaimed novel, and Zimbabwean classic, won both the Zimbabwe Book Publishers' Association first prize for literature, and the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1989. The jury citation described the novel as 'a powerful, moving, and ambitious novel, written with exceptional linguistic control, plumbing the depths of human suffering but having the wisdom to hope'. The story is the sensitive evocation of Marita, a farm- worker, whose only son joined the freedom fighters in Zimbabwe's war of liberation. The poetic language is rich in Shona idiom.

Blind Moon
Publisher: Weaver Press; illustrated edition (December 29, 2003)  
ISBN-10: 1779220197  

A new collection of evocative and defiant poetry, the poems reflect on the plight of the individual citizen and the state of Zimbabwe, the poet's birthplace and spiritual home. They convey empathy for those who suffer anonymous deaths at the expense of tyrannical power, and yearning for a more peaceful world and spirit of common destiny; their intention being in his words' to persuade the heart and the soul and human body to be together and to gently cry out to the world'.

Palaver Finish
Publisher: Weaver Press Ltd (January 1, 2004)  
ISBN-10: 1779220014  

This volume brings together a series of articles, which have previously appeared in his weekly column in The Zimbabwe Standard. Hove, publishing in Zimbabwe, believes the voices of the nation's politically engaged writers - in tune with the mood of the people and the times - are crucial in the current climate of political violence and censorship. To outside media and observers trying to ascertain the truths of the political situation, his writings offer insights from a black Zimbabwean writer and critic. Hove writes for and about Zimbabwe from a perspective that acknowledges recent history, and debates around culture, tradition, and democracy. His case is that Zimbabwe is a police state, which has inherited pre-independence totalitarianism; members of the Government are in politics for reasons of personal gain - they are unsophisticated, poorly educated and have no notion of public office. He believes that the army and police - whom he compares with those of apartheid South Africa, are the politicians' personal weapons, committing acts of crime and terrorism in the President's name and in their own.

Ancestors
Publisher: Picador (November 22, 1996)
ISBN-10: 0330344900

This novel traces African national history and identity from the turn of the 19th century to the eve of Zimbabwe's independence.

Writers, Writing on Conflicts and Wars in Africa
Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd (July 31, 2009)  
ISBN-10: 190670452X  

NOTE: This volume of essays was co-written with his colleague Okey Ndibe who teaches at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. This work could be presented in a public discussion as a dialogue between both authors articulating the political experience of writers from Africa.

The book is divided into two broad categories: in one, several writers speak directly, and with rich anecdotal details about the impact wars and conflicts have had in the formation of their experience and work; in the second, a number of scholars articulate how particular writers have assimilated the horrors of wars and conflicts in their literary creations. The result is an invaluable harvest of reflections and perspectives that open the window into an essential, but until now sadly unexplored, facet of the cultural and political experience of African writers. The broad scope of this collection-covering Darfur, the Congolese crisis, Biafra, Zimbabwe, South Africa, among others-is complemented by a certain buoyancy of spirit that runs through most of the essays and anecdotes.  

Shebeen Tales
Publisher: Serif Publishing (October 1997)
ISBN-10: 189795932X 

In Shebeen Tales, Chenjerai offers a view of his country not from the privileged and insulated perspective of the foreign correspondent of well-heeled visitor, but that of the ordinary person who, with the help of dry wit and illegal beer, pokes fun at the rich and mighty. Struggling against drivers, pompous bureaucrats and the other woes of life in the city, the man in the shebeen sees modern Africa as it really is, not as press releases or tourist brochures would have us believe.  

Shadows  
Publisher: Heinemann (October 1992)  
ISBN-10: 0435905910  

The novel was inspired when the author witnessed two young lovers who opted for death instead of life. The two lovers are innocents in a world where people have little control over their lives, struggling to survive in a barren land.

Up in Arms
Publisher: Zimbabwe Pub. House (1982)  
ISBN-10: 0949932175  

In the late 1970s, Hove taught at rural schools and witnessed horrific aspects of the war of liberation, an experience registered in the anger and compassion pervading Up in Arms (1982), his first collection of poetry.

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Miami: City of Refuge is a project of the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College, which is made possible by the generous financial support of the Knight Foundation. The projects mission is to provide a safe haven for persecuted writers for a period of two years. In January of 2010, the Center welcomed its inaugural Miami: City of Refuge writer-in-residence,  

The Center is a member of an international organization called ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network) which identifies persecuted writers and aids their safe transition to member cities around the world. The goal is to afford writers a place to live and work free of oppression and share their unique stories with their adopted communities.

Mr. Hove is here in Miami until December 2011 and will share in solidarity his story of exile with students and the community and will write about the issues of political repression and social justice in his native Zimbabwe.

For more information about Hove, please visit http://www.flcenterlitarts.com/mcor/index.htm. and www.miamicityofrefuge.org

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Book Review: Goree: Point of Departure by Angela Barry

Unresolved traumas always come back to haunt us. From hidden infidelities to atrocities on the ocean, they linger in the private and collective consciousness like a tumor that can become malignant in a second. Or they grow undetected, their poison infecting the vulnerable members of our families and communities. In Goree: Point of Departure, Angela Barry muses on the enormity of the Atlantic holocaust through the fractured relationship of Magdalene Joseph, a St. Lucian filmmaker, and Saliou Wade, a Senegalese doctor, and their children, Khadi and Maimouna.


Although the plot unfurls inauspiciously, a “chance” meeting of Magdalene and Saliou—coincidence is the bane of fiction—what kept me reading was the vitality of the main characters and the beautifully shaped language:

“A tender grey light lifted the blackness from the waves. All was tranquil, the silence disturbed only by the quiet swishing of the surf, the gurgling of water in hidden caves and the first fluttering of early swallows. Between the darkness and the light, the sea and the land, there was a whisper of benediction” (22).

By the second chapter, however, the tumultuous relationship between Magdalene and Saliou, who suspects that his wife has had an affair with his best friend, takes center stage and the effects on the children, Khadi and Maimouna, become evident. Khadi, the rootless daughter, is at first wary to return to Senegal because her first memories of Senegal/Africa are of victimization:

“I’m just little. Four. I’m asleep under my mosquito net as usual and I wake up to find that I’ve wet the bed. I start to cry…Finally Mum comes. She’s in a hurry and throws a blanket over my wet nightdress…There’s a car waiting outside our gate and as soon as we get in, the car moves off” (35).

The trauma of Khadi’s abduction by her mother and her Saliou’s best friend, Antoine, affects her relationships and she seeks refuge in therapy: “The doctor’s voice was smooth. “You’ve told me the facts. What you haven’t told me is your experience of that memory which has become a recurring dream” (35).


Maimouna, on the other hand, has grown up in a stable environment with her mother, Ndeye, Saliou’s second wife, and a family that notices her special talents:

“she progressed around the yard, inhaling rosemary and thyme hiding from the sun on a window sill, crying out in delight when she discovered a couple of crusty turtles slowly digging their way into a spot of deepest shadow, stroking the vivid flowers tumbling over the fences, taking care to avoid their sharp thorns” (40).

It’s hard not to miss the metaphorical implications. And when the two sisters meet, there is an instant bond, blood to blood, that takes a fateful turn when they visit the island of Goree: the point of separation for Africans and New World Africans. Berry’s handling of the imagery surrounding the incident on this landmark that has become an icon in the memory of people of African descent is masterful and should not be trivialized by précis.


There are few physical monuments to the Atlantic holocaust. The literary memorials such as Zong! by M. Nourbese Philip and Feeding the Ghosts by Fred D’Aguiar are two of the more recent contributions. Goree joins this list. But Goree is more than a memorial—although that in itself would be an accomplishment. It is a story of bridging distances, both physical and psychic, between Africa and the Caribbean, London and St. Lucia, damnation and redemption in the lives families torn apart by an estranging ocean.

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Interview : Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’ @ BBC World Service: Arts and Culture:

Listen to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’ speaking about his  family, work, education, and the effects of British colonialism on his life.

BBC World Service: Arts and Culture:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/2010/04/100401_strand_ngugi_special.shtml

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Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Chenjerai Hove – Dreams in a Time of War

April 14, 2010

 7:00 p.m.

Books and Books

265 Aragon Avenue,

Coral Gables, FL 33134
Tel: (305) 442-4408

This event is presented in collaboration with the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami-Dade College and the University of Miami.

Photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9_wa_Thiong%27o

FLIFF: Visit 20 African Countries on a 3 day FREE Cinematic excursion

10pm - AFRICA UNITE
(Concert Film - Tribute to Bob Marley)
(89 min Ethiopia)

In commemoration of Bob’s 60th birthday, Africa Unite is centered on the Marleys’ first-time-ever family trip to Ethiopia in 2005. In the capital Addis Ababa, three generations of Marleys take part in a landmark one week event like no other, with the ultimate purpose of inspiring the young generations of Africa to unite for the future of their continent. The culminating 12-hour concert, attended by 350,000 includes electrifying on-stage performances by the Marley Brothers and a soundtrack brimming with Bob Marley studio classics.

This is one of the many FREE films  @ the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival: Around the World in 80 Nights African Experience:Visit 20 African Countries on a 3 day FREE Cinematic excursion.

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
October 22 - November 11 2010

Cinema Paradiso
503 SE 6th ST.
Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301

(954) 525-FILM

The 25TH Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) takes you on a vacation from ordinary film October 22 - November 11, 2010, as the fest reels out over 100 entertaining new features, documentaries, and shorts from around the globe. Filmmakers and celebrities create an aura of excitement around the cinematic event as they walk the red carpet at Hollywood style premieres, chat with audiences at screenings and attend parties and gatherings, along with free seminars, outdoor screenings, and films for kids.

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Book Review: Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs

One of the tragedies of the Middle Passage is that much of the wisdom of African cultures was lost on the Atlantic bed. Complicating this loss was the privileging of a Western worldview over the African genius. As a result, much of the “playful wisdom that is characteristically African” has not been passed on to generations of New World Africans. In Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs, Askhari Johnson Hodari (USA) and Yvonne McCalla Sobers (Jamaica) have set themselves the task of recovering some of that wisdom.

Unlike the usual arrangement of proverbs by themes, Lifelines follows the pattern of human generational challenges: 

Birth (Pregnancy and Childbirth): “A fire and a pregnancy cannot be kept secret.” –Rwanda.

Childhood (Parents and Parenting): “A mother never bites her child to the bone.”—Haiti.

 Adolescence, Initiation, and Rites of Passage (Identity and Individuality): “Cutting the ears of a mule will not make him a horse.”—United States (Louisiana Creole).

 Love, Marriage, and Intimacy (Friendship): “Good friend better than pocket money.”—Belize, Jamaica.

 Challenge (Hypocrisy): “Beware of the herbalist whose wife sells coffins.”—Africa.

 Ethics and Values (Debt): “Going to bed without dinner better than waking up in debt.”—Jamaica.

 Elderhood (Age, Elders, and Experience): ”Every time an old man dies, it is as if a library has burned down.”—West Africa.

 Death and Afterlife (Ancestors): “A person who gives to the ancestors eats with them.”—Tanzania.

By using a chronological pattern, Lifelines provides wisdom for each stage of life and the generational challenges that acompany human growth and development.

Of course, some may argue that similar information could be found in books of Euro-American proverbs, so Lifelines, in a sense, would be superfluous. That would only be partially true. Such criticism would miss a point that the authors acknowledge: “Messages may be similar, but the wisdom of proverbs is often based on setting and experience” (xv). In other words, context is essential. As Marshall McLuhan once said, “The medium is the message.”

And this perhaps highlights the importance of Lifelines because it preserves an often denigrated African worldview. For example, the widely quoted English proverb that conveys change, “You’ve got to crack a few eggs to make an omelet,” is similar to its African counterpart, “No rain, no rainbow” (102). But I prefer the African, which is gentler, but no less wise.

Lifelines, then,goes beyond the practicality of offering kernels of wisdom for facing life challenges. It is engaged in the recovery of an African worldview that can only be kept alive on the tongues of the inheritors. This can be done in a variety of ways. As a writer, I can imagine a mentor saying to a young apprentice, “Is heart, not horn that make ram goat brave” (182). Or as a teacher of composition, I could even assign a writing prompt based on the proverb, “Bats who think they are birds are in for a great surprise” (30).

Wisdom may be gained either through contemplating personal experiences or the experiences of others. Some lessons, however, may be too costly to be learned from personal experience: “He who digs a grave for his enemy may be digging it for himself” (151). In this respect, Lifelines is not a book to be left on the shelf to be consulted as if it were an arcane Book of Dreams or literary self-help in times of trouble. Rather as the cover blurb states: “The proverbs found in Lifelines offer the guidance and wisdom of a lifetime.”

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Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of the Single Story

"I realized that people like me, girls with the skin color of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form ponytails, could also exist in literature."

More at Ted.com: Talks Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

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I was fascinated with Chimamanda Adichie’s lecture, which led me to ask these questions:

Does the Caribbean have a “single story”?

If the Caribbean has a “single story,”

What is it?

When did this “single story” begin? With whom?

Who are the writers who continue to tell this “single story”?

Why does the “single story,” continue to be told?

Who benefits from the telling of the “single story”? Who doesn’t?

How does the “single story” continue to be told? Who tells it? Why?

Do we want to hear these other stories? Why? Why not?

Do we want to hear anything else but the “single story”? Why? Why not?

What would a story that deviated from the “single story” sound like? Do other stories exist?

Why? Why not? Who is telling them?

What are the implications of this “single story” on Caribbean culture(s)?

 Do trade publishers (Caribbean and non-Caribbean) continue to tell this” single story”? Why?

If a writer or publisher refused to tell this single story, would she be rewarded or punished?

What are the advantages of continuing to tell the” single story”? What are the disadvantages?

Do textbook publishers and schools continue to tell this “single story”? Why?

Do we tell this story to ourselves? Why?

If the story is disadvantageous, why do we continue to tell it?

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