Have you ever read a book- a work of fiction- that reminds you so starkly of the world around you that you sit up straight, as though your improved posture will somehow further push you into the narrative? Well, that’s Welcome to Braggsville for you. This novel, written by T. Geronimo Johnson, presents to us a world of race relations, of cultural naivety, and of the repercussions of the realisation that you can live the same life as your peers, your colleagues and your confidantes, but that doesn’t mean that you’re all navigating through that same life in the same way.
Dambisa Moyo. Isabel Dos Santos. Vera Songwe. Alengot Oromait. Lupita Nyong’o. These women are just some of the offerings from the second largest Continent on earth, Africa. Over the short few decades of post-colonial Africa, women from all reaches of the Continent have become just as highly valued a commodity as the land’s gold, oil and cocoa. Moreover, if we expand our understanding of what it means to ‘be African’ – that is, to trace back ones descendants to the land (though let’s not go too far back) the 54 glorious nations give you Condoleezza Rice, Zadie Smith, Dr Aileen Alleyne, Oprah, Beyoncé. These women are no small gifts. Read more…
