International reactions against police shootings of Africans, Israeli terror against Palestinians, and other forms of injustice against humanity, have elevated anti-racism work to unprecedented levels. I can’t think of a better time for my latest novel – The Courage Equation - to be released. Since this literary fiction manuscript is a story of anti-racism work, there are some people who will undoubtedly raise an eyebrow to the fact this story is told through the eyes of a white female. I can hear it now…Why and how will a white woman effectively tell a story about working against racism? Having spent my entire adult life involved in the struggle against racism, the choice to write the book this way came easy for me. I know many African activists will nod their head when I say that I am forced to spend an inordinate amount of my time working around, thru, and against white people who claim to be friends of oppressed peoples. As a result, I wanted to tell a story about how to be an effective ally to our struggle. So, although this book is told through the eyes of a white woman, the story doesn’t cater to her and in many ways is about something much more important than any one person. This lead character lives in Africa and is the lone white member of a community of African revolutionaries who rely on the consultation of an elder African female Griot for guidance. The primary white character is also the friend and understudy of a strong African sister – Adwoa Kaakyire, who helps lead the group while supporting, yet directing, the white character personally in everything she does. The primary character has even taken the step of changing her name from Ashley to Boahinmaa (Bwa-hen-maa). Her name was given to her by the children in Ghana where she lives and it (ironically) means “one who has left her community” in Akan.
This book is important for Africans because it reflects African people building institutions and providing leadership to African people through strong African cultural lenses. It also shows those African cultural lenses as the framework for leadership for white people by demonstrating how a white person; Boahinmaa, enthusiastically accepts that leadership with humility and respect, something often missing from our real world. The story is relevant for white allies because it shows white people truly interested in doing ally work how to carry out that work in a healthy way (in our humble opinion) without compromising/diminishing your worth as a human being. The story also has several examples of Boahinmaa working/struggling to understand and accept a world shaped through those African lenses, something African and other people of color have to do daily in order to function within white supremacist structures. These types of issues along with others, like addressing white privilege in Africa and the U.S., and productive ways in which white people should address those issues, are demonstrated repeatedly through Boahinmaa’s behavior, interactions, and work throughout this book.
My sincere hope is that this story will help spur discussions around these topics. I’m confident that this story, although fictitious, will contribute towards advancing people’s consciousness around these concepts. Of course, in order for any of this to happen, people have to know about the book. This is a difficult task for an unknown activist writer such as myself and that’s where I need your help. My objective is to talk to as many people as I possibly can about the concepts carried in this story. I know that when I do that the people I talk to will read the book and talk to people about it. Those people will in turn read the book and continue the process. This will contribute to this consciousness phenomenon in a way that I think will assist genuine work designed to advance human society against backward concepts of racism, patriarchy (also addressed significantly in the book), and other ills that prohibit us from reaching our full potential as human beings. I know that there are some people who will read this statement and say “he just wants people to buy his book.” You are correct, I do want people to buy the book, but if you know even the slightest thing about the publishing industry, then you know that it is probably easier to find a needle in a haystack than it is for an unknown writer to get his/her book on bookstore shelves (no retailer wants to buy books they aren’t convinced will sell). So, if my focus was on getting rich, I wouldn’t have written this type of story. Instead, my objective is to inspire people to reflect on what type of people we need to become in order to solve these problems we face. Talking about these issues is the key to making that happen and that’s my focus; being able to talk to as many people as possible about the book and the concepts contained within it; e.g. independent African organizations, true white allies, strong, anti-patriarchal African and white women, women’s solidarity, building and respecting African unity, and a focused and militant effort to stamp out white supremacy. These concepts are often things most people cannot imagine existing together, yet this story/book shows us how this can happen and why it should happen. I’m excited and ready to come to your book club, church, school, organization, conference, training, campfire, radio program, television program, whatever, to inspire discussion about all these things. Then, may these discussions spread like wildfire.
This book is important for Africans because it reflects African people building institutions and providing leadership to African people through strong African cultural lenses. It also shows those African cultural lenses as the framework for leadership for white people by demonstrating how a white person; Boahinmaa, enthusiastically accepts that leadership with humility and respect, something often missing from our real world. The story is relevant for white allies because it shows white people truly interested in doing ally work how to carry out that work in a healthy way (in our humble opinion) without compromising/diminishing your worth as a human being. The story also has several examples of Boahinmaa working/struggling to understand and accept a world shaped through those African lenses, something African and other people of color have to do daily in order to function within white supremacist structures. These types of issues along with others, like addressing white privilege in Africa and the U.S., and productive ways in which white people should address those issues, are demonstrated repeatedly through Boahinmaa’s behavior, interactions, and work throughout this book.
My sincere hope is that this story will help spur discussions around these topics. I’m confident that this story, although fictitious, will contribute towards advancing people’s consciousness around these concepts. Of course, in order for any of this to happen, people have to know about the book. This is a difficult task for an unknown activist writer such as myself and that’s where I need your help. My objective is to talk to as many people as I possibly can about the concepts carried in this story. I know that when I do that the people I talk to will read the book and talk to people about it. Those people will in turn read the book and continue the process. This will contribute to this consciousness phenomenon in a way that I think will assist genuine work designed to advance human society against backward concepts of racism, patriarchy (also addressed significantly in the book), and other ills that prohibit us from reaching our full potential as human beings. I know that there are some people who will read this statement and say “he just wants people to buy his book.” You are correct, I do want people to buy the book, but if you know even the slightest thing about the publishing industry, then you know that it is probably easier to find a needle in a haystack than it is for an unknown writer to get his/her book on bookstore shelves (no retailer wants to buy books they aren’t convinced will sell). So, if my focus was on getting rich, I wouldn’t have written this type of story. Instead, my objective is to inspire people to reflect on what type of people we need to become in order to solve these problems we face. Talking about these issues is the key to making that happen and that’s my focus; being able to talk to as many people as possible about the book and the concepts contained within it; e.g. independent African organizations, true white allies, strong, anti-patriarchal African and white women, women’s solidarity, building and respecting African unity, and a focused and militant effort to stamp out white supremacy. These concepts are often things most people cannot imagine existing together, yet this story/book shows us how this can happen and why it should happen. I’m excited and ready to come to your book club, church, school, organization, conference, training, campfire, radio program, television program, whatever, to inspire discussion about all these things. Then, may these discussions spread like wildfire.
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