Oburoni symbolises the sense of individuality, of being different, and yet warmly accepted. So it is for John in a land far away from home. This sense of change pervades Brian and Pat’s new home, Trish’s search for a job, and Tom’s purchase, while John’s reflections on his life are echoed by Sonia on her long journey and the students’ first assignment. Life involves family, whether watching a favourite TV program, welcoming long-lost relatives, or seeking a beloved son. All of which form the ingredients of these tales, with their different themes and backgrounds, peaking in the joy of New Year celebrations.

"With Learning to Relearn, Sarfo-Mensah has written himself into the canon of scholars who boldly advocate for social justice in schools." —From the foreword by Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz Kwame Sarfo-Mensah’s latest book, Learning to Relearn, challenges educators to embark on a transformative journey toward creating classrooms that embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion. Rooted in the principles of antibias, antiracist (ABAR) education, this book offers a dynamic roadmap for teachers seeking to dismantle systemic biases and foster inclusive spaces that honor intersectional student identities. Sarfo-Mensah skillfully weaves together theory and practice, providing accessible strategies for cultivating antibias, antiracist pedagogies that address the unique experiences of students navigating multiple layers of identity. From inclusive curriculum development to fostering empathetic classroom discussions, this book empowers educators to navigate the nuanced landscape of supporting identities with intentionality and sensitivity. Learning to Relearn is not just a call for change; it's a call for unlearning and relearning, encouraging teachers to continually evolve their practices to meet the diverse needs of their students. Through compelling first-person narratives and actionable insights, this book equips educators with the tools to create culturally-affirming classrooms where every student's identity is not just acknowledged but celebrated. This is an indispensable resource for educators committed to shaping classrooms that reflect the true richness of human experiences.

While living in West Africa in the 1970s, John Chernoff recorded the stories of "Hawa," a spirited and brilliant but uneducated woman whose insistence on being respected and treated fairly propelled her, ironically, into a life of marginality and luck as an "ashawo," or bar girl. Rejecting traditional marriage options and cut off from family support, she is like many women in Africa who come to depend on the help they receive from one another, from boyfriends, and from the men they meet in bars and nightclubs. Refusing to see herself as a victim, Hawa embraces the freedom her lifestyle permits and seeks the broadest experience available to her. In Exchange Is Not Robbery and its predecessor, Hustling Is Not Stealing, a chronicle of exploitation is transformed by verbal art into an ebullient comedy. In Hustling Is Not Stealing, Hawa is a playful warrior struggling against circumstances in Ghana and Togo. In Exchange Is Not Robbery, Hawa returns to her native Burkina Faso, where she achieves greater control over her life but faces new difficulties. As a woman making sacrifices to live independently, Hawa sees her own situation become more complex as she confronts an atmosphere in Burkina Faso that is in some ways more challenging than the one she left behind, and the moral ambiguities of her life begin to intensify. Combining elements of folklore and memoir, Hawa's stories portray the diverse social landscape of West Africa. Individually the anecdotes can be funny, shocking, or poignant; assembled together they offer a sweeping critical and satirical vision.

In this epochal historical novel, Professor Modey takes another look at both the European slave trade to Africa and plantation slavery in the New World, both are old subjects. He dramatizes an imaginary journey of apology and shows how a delegation from fundamentalist groups from the former Old South traveled to Africa to show genuine remorse, make atonement and ask for reconciliation from the chiefs. He points out how the Europeans and Americans, who had the lions share of the trade and made tons of wealth from it, must go past the sugar coated words of apology---make atonement for the profane past and ask for final reconciliation. He points out in the book that regardless of what people think, Africans did not invite the Europeans to their shores to buy their blood brothers and sisters. The Oburonis just showed up in Africa, but claimed that they just stumbled upon the continent. They imposed the slave trade on the African people using their guns and cannons to force the chiefs to exchange prisoners of war for guns, broadcloth and rum. So he said Africans are the victims and should not be going around doing all the apologizing and performing atonement rituals. The opposition to the slave trade from the African chiefs and kings is well-dramatized in the historical novel. He discusses the physical and demographic effects of the mfecane in detail. He demonstrated that the most lasting impacts are the psychological scars---inferiority complex in Africans everywhere and institutionalized racism across the globe. Hence the struggles to overcome the forces---betrayal, disunity, distrust and, unlike the recent economic success of Asian nations, the African leaders inability to experience similar success in the modern global economy effectively, he blames on the Americans and Europeans because of the stigma. He discusses efforts to apologize for the slave trade---the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Southern Baptists, the USA Congress and Senate, several American states such as Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey. But Professor Modey points out that, instead of sweet sugar-coated words of apologies, the African leaders need atonement---help for Africa to heal from the lingering effects of the notorious slave trade. But he wants the Europeans and Americans to put Africa back where it once was before their ancestors came and decimated the continent with the wicked trade and destroyed the continent at iconoclastic proportions. Though the setting of the book is the Panfest festival at Cape Coast, Ghana, highlighting the dungeons, the Palaver Hall, the Portuguese chapels, the cannons, the lighthouse and the Shrine of Music, the author uses Memphis, Tennessee to demonstrate the lingering impact of plantation slavery on the Africans in the Diaspora. The author dramatizes how time is running out for atonement and present scenarios of remarkable disastrous consequences if the descendants of the former slave trades and plantation slave owners refuse to atone for the profane past. In spite of his drama of disasters and turmoil emanating from the restless souls of the dearly departed, the book, however, ends on a note of optimism about the future---Africa shall rise and the world would eventual emerge from the ashes of the greatest calamity in global history.

Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize • Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize • Nominated for the Edinburgh First Book Award • One of The Observer's "New Faces of Fiction" • One of The Millions' "Most Anticipated Books of the Year" • One of The Guardian's "Best Summer Books" (Selected by Kayo Chingonyi and Joe Dunthorne) • One of Library Journal's "Most Anticipated Fall Debuts" • One of The Observer's Best Books of the Year • An NPR "Staff Pick" and One of the NPR Book Concierge's "Best Books of the Year" A Go On Girl! Book Club Selection "Immensely readable...A refreshing story about coming of age in spite of conflicting ideas of what 'growing up' means."—Buzzfeed (The Best Books of Fall) A moving and unexpectedly funny exploration of friendship and family, shame and forgiveness, Michael Donkor's debut novel follows three adolescent girls grappling with a shared experience: the joys and sorrows of growing up. Belinda knows how to follow the rules. As a housegirl, she has learned the right way to polish water glasses, to wash and fold a hundred handkerchiefs, and to keep a tight lid on memories of the village she left behind when she came to Kumasi. Mary is still learning the rules. Eleven-years-old and irrepressible, the young housegirl-in-training is the little sister Belinda never had. Amma has had enough of the rules. A straight-A student at her exclusive London school, she has always been the pride of her Ghanaian parents—until now. Watching their once-confident teenager grow sullen and wayward, they decide that sensible Belinda is the shining example Amma needs. So Belinda must leave Mary behind as she is summoned from Ghana to London, where she tries to impose order on her unsettling new world. As summer turns to autumn, Belinda and Amma are surprised to discover common ground. But when the cracks in their defenses open up, the secrets they have both been holding tightly threaten to seep out.

It was in the middle of the harmattan season, and the weather was hot and humid. The scorching rays of the sun had sucked the moisture out of every plant in the land and had turned the green leaves into dark yellow in color. Many of the leaves had fallen to the ground and had begun to decompose into dark loamy soil--rich, fertile land, innocent and untouched. And that was the way it was in ancient times. That was the way it was until the Oburoni slave traders arrived on the continent and changed everything, imposing their greed and guns on the inhabitants. The dry, humid air left many people panting for breath and sweating profusely. The women complained bitterly, the children suppressed their discomfort, but the men simply ignored the weather because they had bigger problems on their minds. They'd been thinking about the death and the devastation that the Oburoni intruders, these uninvited aliens, had unleashed on the land.