African Voices Matter In Children’s Literature

My Nunu is growing up fast and the older she gets the more I realise how Black and Brown children are unrepresented in literature, it’s shocking. If anything I hope this blog post encourages more authors to include BIPOC characters in literature (especially children’s literature) and write in our mother languages.

According to a 2018 study in the US, only 23% of all children’s books depicted characters from diverse backgrounds (10% were African/ African-American 318 books, 7% were Asian Pacific Islander/ Asian Pacific American 218 books, 5% were Latinix 170 books and 1% were American Indians/ First Nations 23 books) compared to the 50% that depicted white children and 27% that depicted animals.

This means my daughter (and others like her) do not see themselves in literature which impacts their view on beauty, self worth and other perceptual views they may have of themselves. To change the notions of “white” being better and “colour” being inferior we need to change perceptions. This starts at with what we consume from a young age especially in the media. This is why we need more more inclusivity.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

According to the Publishers Association of South Africa (PASA), 65% of children’s books published between 2000 and 2015 were produced in English and Afrikaans, and just 7% in South Africa’s most widely spoken language, isiZulu. This is ridiculous in a country that has 11 official languages.

This is more than true for other African countries as well. Less and less of our languages are being recorded in literature which in part is perpetuating the extinction of African languages. We to keep our stories, folklores, cultures and traditions alive. The only vehicle we have to do this with is language. We need to keep these languages going for us to preserve who we are as people. This is why we need more representation.

Photo by Skylar Kang on Pexels.com

Let me quote Pastor J Maponga who said ‘If we strive to become like the white man, we deny the white man an opportunity to experience the black man’. Our languages are who we are, by producing literature that shows characters that look like us and literature that is written in our languages we give other the opportunity to indulge in our ways, to learn and understand who we are and where we come from. By so doing we create empathy for all. This is why we need more diversity.

Joburg Noir: A Book Review

I fell in love with contemporary African literature a long time ago. Literature I could envision myself in, literature that told my story better than I could imagine myself doing. I found slice in it. It cried for me, celebrated on my behalf, embraced me and screamed to world who I was when I could not.

I fell in love with African literature a long time ago. When I saw it open doors of my imagination I never knew were there. To see mirrors, people like me in these books. Things I never saw growing up and it warms my heart. This book was no different.

I saw myself or someone I knew in a lot of the stories. I recognised stories we were told growing up even though these were set in Joburg. To me it said we are all one and the same. It told stories I am at times scared to articulate, it humanised me and my people. It told of relationships, friendships that some may not understand.

Like any city, Joburg is bright and vibrant but Joburg also devours and destroys.

Things I Liked About The Book:

1. I liked how reading this book felt. It tells raw stories that could be anywhere in Africa and still be true.

2. I loved the diversity of authors chosen for the compilation. I recognised a few names but most were new to me. It’s great when you meet a new writer and their writing is great!

3. This was such an easy read for me. It took me 4 days with everything else still going on as usual for me to finish it. Super quick read.

P.s. on the down side I really didn’t like how almost unfinished most of the stories felt. I really didn’t like how I would feel like I was left hanging just before the climax of the story after the last sentence.

An overall great read!

Reading Is Back In Style!

Well it has always been, lol!

Despite my resolution to read 50 books this year after I fell in love with reading again last year (thanks to Anci), life happened and I couldn’t! For the most part of the year I didn’t read until now.

Life has calmed a bit and allowed me to read again. If I could I would be screaming right now, ‘I AM READING AGAIN’! In celebration I decided to do a round up of my reads so far.

1. Raybearer

This book! OK, if you know anything about my reading habits you will know that I have been in love with African fantasy (is that what it’s even called?). I love fantasy on a normal day but this genre allows me to see myself in a world full of magic! Me!

So you can imagine my excitement when I opened this book and found the main character’s name is a Shona name! If excitement was a person it would definately be me. Like what a wow!

Goodreads

OK, I know I am supposed to be writing about the book so let me move on.

This book kept me awake at night, depriving me of sleep into wee hours of the night. It was such an easy read and a great way for me to get back into my reading habit. The story has a way of gripping you in a non thriller way. Keeping you wanting more to the very end.

I love how Jordan ended the book as well. An end that wasn’t really an end, giving enough closure for me to put the book down but leaving it enough for me to want to pick up the sequel. I kind of wondered how she would take the story a notch higher in the sequel.

2. Redemptor

Tarisai is the female I always told myself I would be!

Like the first book, this was such an easy flowing read. So much so it occupied my mind every inch while I read it and a while after I didn’t want to pick up another book because it was THAT good!

Goodreads

This girl is the girl I wanted to read about as I grew up one that would tell me that I do anything, I can be anything. She is such a force. And an inspiration to every girl of colour out there. I applaud Jordan for the work she did with both books.

This time around she included LGBTQI characters which also goes a long way in accepting diversity.

What’s on your TBR?

The Death Talk – A Guide

We all dread death.

My husband recently said something to me. On a normal day I wouldn’t know how to react but after the year we have had as a family I totally understand why he said it. He said tell your family where you want to be buried while you are alive so everyone is on the same page if anything happens.

Firstly, we need to be more open about these things in our communities. We treat death as if it is Voldemolt (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named). This is the primary reason families fight and can not come to a consensus after a death. So i decided to write a quick guide to debriefing your family on your posthumous wishes.

1. If you ask me, this mystery we associate with death is the exact reasons why Wills & Testaments are disputed in high numbers, no one wants to accept that you wrote a will to begin with so make sure everyone knows there is one and where (lawyer in charge or executor) it is before you go.

2. Let someone know what to claim where if there is. This one is in case of life and/or funeral policies, provident funds and other compensations. In most cases this safeguards the future of your offspring and needs to be acted on quickly.

3. Next, let it be know where your desired resting place is! Do you wanna be buried, cremated (taboo as it maybe in some societies) and in the case of the diaspora – shipped back home?

Let’s be the change we want to see. It starts with us!

Did I leave something out? Leave a note in the comments with your tip.

Idia of the Benin Kingdom : A Book Review

Firstly, can I just say I am loving the African Renaissance happening at the moment? As a parent to a young child, it is definitely happening at the right time for me! My child can see characters that look like her, realistic versions too. Girls doing the most in these books and for the most part and girls that existed. Real life women and took the world by its horns.

Idia’s story is such a magnificent one. The story takes us through Idia’s life while validating professions such as dance (and having parents that support their child in these creative spaces that aren’t considered careers such a long time ago), showing the importance of our African healing methods and that women can be warriors too.

Things I loved about the story:

1. Idia’s father – he is the perfect example of what a father should be to a daughter.

2. Idia’s mother – for being patient with her curious nature and teaching her what she wanted to know.

3. Idia – as a reminder that dreams do come true both figuratively and physically.

4. The fun facts about Idia at the back of the book.

BONUS: It comes with a link to an activity book!

Idia of the Benin Kingdom is a book by Ekiuwa Aire who wrote with hopes that her books will help kids develop an appreciation for African history, and to value the wisdom and pride that will come from this knowledge.

Ekiuwe also wrote Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba which I reviewed a while back, check out that review here.

Beauty of the Mother Tongue

Zuva ranhasi ndasarudza kunyora zvinyorwa zvangu mururimi rwamai nokuda kwekuti ndimi dzedu, kunyanya-nyanya isu zvizvarwa zve Africa, dziri kufa.

For my non-Shona readers jump to the bottom for the translated version of this post.

Chaita ndizvipire kunyora muChiShona nhasi kunyangwe vazhinji vevanhu vanoverenga zvinyorwa zvangu vasiri vanhu vanonzwisira rurimi urwu ndechekuti ini semubereki ndinoda kuti mwana wangu, vana vake uye vana vevana vake vakwanise kushanyira nzvimbo ino painternet nerimwe gore vagoyeuka kuti rurimi rwavo nderwupi uye rwakaita sei.

Chimwe chikuru chandisunda kuti ndide kunyora zvinyorwa zvangu zvanhasi muChiShona ipfungwa yandirikuda kukurudzira kuvamwe vezera rangu neavo vachatevera yekuti ndimi dzedu dzakakosha uye dzinodadisa. Zvinofadza kuziva kuti nekutaura rurimi rwangu nguva dzose uye nekudzidzisa mwana wangu rurimi urwu ndiri kubatsirwa kuchengetedza tsika nemagariro zvendudzi yeChiShona.

Zvirinyore kudakufanana nevamwe, kuita zvavanoita uye kutevedzera tsika dzavo asi mukudaro tsika dzedu dziri kurasika. Dzedu tsika dzichamiririrwa nani tikasazviita isu? Ndakanyora nezvekukosha kwekuchengetedza tsika, magariro nendimi apa, ndikanyorazve zvirikuitwa nevamwe kuti vazvichengetedze apa.

Ndinovimba kuti nezvishoma zvandanyora izvi ndine umwe zvake wandakurudzira kuti arambe achitaura nekuchengetedza ndimi, tsika nemagariro munoAfrica.

English Translation

Today I have chosen to write my post in my mother tongue because our languages , especially in Africa, are dying.

What gave me the courage to do this even though most of my readers may not understand my language is that, as a parent I want my child, her children and her grandchildren to have a place to visit on the internet one day where they can see a piece of their language.

I also wrote my post in Shona today to showcase my language to my peers and generations to come. Our languages are important and they are something to be proud of. It is an honor to be able to speak my language and to be able to teach it to my child. Just by that simple act I am preserving my language, my culture and my heritage.

It’s easy to want to fit into other cultures and to do what they do but in so doing we lose ourselves and our own cultures. Who will defend and preserve our cultures? I wrote on why it is important to preserve our cultures here and wrote on what some creatives are doing to preserve cultures here.

I hope with the little I wrote I was able to convince at least one person to keep speaking their language as well as preserve their culture.