My African Sister

An excerpt from 'It’s All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family, & Friends.'

By: Faith Adiele | Posted: February 13, 2009 at 6:00 AM

Excerpted from It's All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family, and Friends
Edited and with an Introduction by Marita Golden
"My African Sister" by Faith Adiele
© January 2009

THE FIRST TIME I VISIT my father’s bungalow at the University of Nigeria, I perch on a vinyl settee in the parlor and drink milky tea while my father rambles on about the student riots, the military government’s Structural Adjustment Program, his college years with my mother, what he recalls her saying about the family farm in Washington State—never a pause for me or anyone else to speak.

Meanwhile my stepmother, another stranger, flits about the room, dipping forward with Black Market sugar and tins of Danish biscuits, slipping coasters under our cups the instant we lift to sip. From the darkened hallway come the slap of flip-flops and giggles.

“You have children?” I ask politely, as if this were a question for a daughter to be asking her father, casually, as if it were not the question I’ve traveled halfway around the globe to ask. My bag bulges with shiny American goods: books and toys, watches and Walkmans, scarves and perfume. No matter their age or gender, I’ve got it covered.

WHEN I WAS NOT QUITE TWO, my father, a graduate student from Nigeria, received an urgent summons to return home. He left the forty-eight hours later, clothes and books scattered across the floor of his rented room. He was to attend to family business, scout out job prospects, and come back. Though my parents had split, and my mother was raising me alone—her Scandinavian immigrant family having thrown her out for bearing a Black child—in Seattle, they maintained relations for my sake.

“I want you to know that this is not a good-bye,” he wrote to us from a ship in the middle of the Atlantic, nervous about reports of ethnic and religious tensions awaiting him. “I shall look forward to our meeting so long as we are all alive.”

My mother never saw him again.

MY STEPMOTHER NODS at my question, glances at my father. She is light-skinned and solicitous, with a wide nose and a voice like the breeze of the fans she angles at me.

“Yes, yes.” My father waves his hands. “You’ll meet them later.”

He is short like me, his weathered skin dark as plums. A strip of wiry black hair encircles the back of his head. There’s a space in his mouth where a tooth should be. I don’t see the broad-shoulder rugby player who stared out from my wall all those years. The only feature I recognize is that round nose.

A blur flashes tan and red in the hallway. I glance up to see a velvety-brown girl in a scarlet school uniform receding into the dimness, familiar eyes stunned wide. A face I could swear is mine.

It’s not possible, I tell myself. Even if the girl in the hall is my sister, we have different mothers of different races. How can we look alike? For twenty-six years I have been an only child, the only child. The only New World African among Scandinavian Americans. The only Black member of our family, our town.

My father is explaining that during Christmas we’ll travel to our ancestral village, where I will be formally presented to the extended family and clan elders.

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7 Comments

great share kenali dan

budunk

Posted: Tuesday, October 20, 2009

dona

sayangku33

Posted: Saturday, October 10, 2009

My mother never saw him

murat145304

My mother never saw him again. online games

Posted: Friday, October 09, 2009

fashion jewelry

Briace

Posted: Monday, September 14, 2009

ثيمات نغمات رسائل جوال برامج

omar7

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شات شهد
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شات سكر

Posted: Saturday, September 05, 2009

You wont feel strange when

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You wont feel strange when you heard the name louis vuitton.The first meet with Louis Vuitton Watercolor Speedy 35 Suit Summer Dayis at my age of 4,My mother back from Tokyo and a friend there present her a travel bag by Louis Vuitton Store. Many people do not like 09 New Arrivalsstyle or some love it just for its price.I bagan to love this brand after I read a story of a bag of LV.The year 1997,Lots of thing from the wreckage of Titanic.including a Tiffany Coark.When the ark up and people open it,How magically in it,To everyones surprise,There is no more than a drop of water in it.exactly,Quality is out of question to Gucci.the classical,original figure of Burberrynamed Monogram.I love Chanel.Search google ,I find a store sell Mont Blanc,The UGGThey sell is good , such as Swarovski Mirror.Louis Vuitton.Louis Vuitton Cruise .Louis Vuitton Damier Azur .Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas .Louis Vuitton SPEEDY 30.Louis Vuitton Pochette Accessoires.Louis Vuitton Zippy Coin Purse.Louis Vuitton Zippy Coin Purse .Louis Vuitton Le Fabuleux.Louis Vuitton Le Fabuleux.Louis Vuitton Huron Briefcase.Louis Vuitton Huron Briefcase.Louis Vuitton Ludlow Orange Sunset.Louis Vuitton Ludlow Vert Tonic.Louis Vuitton HEART TAG Toggle Bracelet.Louis Vuitton LOCK Bracelet.Louis Vuitton Mini Starfish Earrings.Louis Vuitton ETERNAL CIRCLE Earrings.Louis Vuitton LINK Necklace with Heart Clasp.Louis Vuitton Engraved HEART TAG Choker. This website (http://www.gifico.com) It sales bags and wallets as well.

Posted: Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Africa, My Valentine

MinneAfrica

A great list of African-themed Valentine movies was posted on MinneAfrica that I thought I should share.

Carmen in Khayelitsha, (South Africa (2004))
This is a South African movie by the director Mark Dornford-May that surprisingly won the Golden Bear award at the annual film festival in Berlin. The film starring Pauline Malefane in the title role is a new version of the Carmen story which has already made it into film more than 30 times. This time it is different though, as the passionate loves story takes place in the South African township Khayelitsha -and all words are spoken and sung in the clicking Xhosa language.

Karmen GeÏ, (Senegal (2001))
African musical version of the Carmen drama directed by Joseph Gaï Ramaka. Great images and editing and the film is easy to access if you are a “beginner” to African cinema. There are a few holes in the story-telling, but the film is generally very entertaining. Musically the film uses both traditional Senegalese singing, griot choirs and jazz -and it works very well. The Karmen character is played by the long-legged and very beautiful Djeïnaba Diop.

Mama Africa: Growing Up Urban, (Africa (2002))
Mama Africa consists of three such films–all directed by women–and actress-musician Queen Latifah introduces each one. The first, Bridget Pickering’s “Uno’s World,” is from Namibia and centers around Uno (Sophie David), a 25-year-old party girl who falls for a commitment-shy criminal and gives birth to his child. Ngozi Onwurah’s “Hang Time” is from Nigeria and concerns poor but promising basketball player Kwami (Brian Birogi), who makes a faustian deal for a new pair of sneakers. Lastly, Zulfah Otto-Sullies’s “Raya,” from South Africa, portrays the difficulties facing a single mother attempting to go straight after a stint in prison. All three films present universally difficult moral quandaries that aren’t always satisfactorily resolved, but are well acted by talented performers. It includes three bonus short films: Bintou (by Fanta Nacro, 2001), Riches (by Ingrid Sinclair, 2001), One Evening in July (by Raja Amari, 2001)

Jit, (Zimbabwe (1990))
Directed by Michael Raeburn, this romantic comedy is about a young African man fighting to get the beautiful girl. JIT is the name for the pop-music of Zimbabwe. The main character is a young boy called UK. People have always said he will go far -maybe as far as the United Kingdom. UK is ambitious, but he has not plans of leaving Zimbabwe - All he wants is to marry the beautiful Sofi. That is not easy when you are without money and too clumsy to keep a job. One point in the story is that UK has to combine his new modern money-seeking life with the traditions.

Life Is Rosy (La Vie Est Belle) (Belgium, France, Zaire (DR Congo)(1987)) Directed by Benoît Lamy and Mweze Ngangura, this is a musical story about a man coming to Kinshasa in search of love and music, starring Congolese singer Papa Wemba.

Maangamizi - The Ancient One, (Tanzania/USA (2000)) This is a Film by Martin Mhando and Ron Mulvihill that tells a story about three women; a doctor, her patient and the ancient and mysterious ancestor who brings them together. It is a tale of healing through love, compassion and forgiveness. It is the spiritual journey of the soul. It is a story that seeks to reclaim the connection between Africa and her Diaspora. It is a story that dares to represent the histories of two continents as it peels away layers upon layers of pain and ultimately brings healing of the soul.

Posted: Sunday, February 15, 2009

My African Sister

An excerpt from 'It’s All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family, & Friends.'

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My African Sister

An excerpt from 'It’s All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family, & Friends.'

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Comments

Slate

The Big Money

Double X

Foreign Policy

Washington Post

Newsweek