Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Even as one who has spent considerable time in Africa, “in the trenches,” so to speak, one who has many African friends, I cannot say that I truly understand Africans. Their different ways of thinking, their cultures, their perceptions, often leave me, a white Western woman, bewildered and exasperated. Should I spend the remainder of my life among them, I believe I would always be aware of the vast gulf of understanding that stands between us and my own ingrained and presumptive Western ideologies. That’s why it’s invaluable to run across a book that helps me to understand, as much as I am able, the African social and familial ideologies that so fundamentally differ from my own.
SAY YOU’RE ONE OF THEM by Uwem Akpan is a collection of five short stories, each written through the point-of-view of an African child. From the genocide in Rwanda to the epidemic of violence in Nigeria, the children narrate the events of their lives — the prejudices and fears, the joys and the horrors, through writing that is both vivid and stark. Born and raised in Nigeria, Akpan has truly captured the voice and heart of Africa’s children. Through their chatter, their confusion, their longings, and their grief, the children communicate universal needs: to be loved, to be secure, and to be happy.
When we allow ourselves to be as children, willing to give love and be loved unconditionally, then we embrace these universal needs as fundamental human rights. And when we do that, all ideologies that before stood like fortressed walls between us, crumble into dust.
Michele Torrey
www.orphansafrica.com
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