Dear Non-american Black, When You Make The

If I Were Not African, I Wonder Whether It Would Be Clear To Me That Africa Is A Place Where The People Do Not Need Limp Gifts Of Fish But Sturdy Fishing Rods And Fair Access To The Pond. I Wonder Whether I Would Realize That While African Nations Have A Failure Of Leadership, They Also Have Dynamic People With Agency And Voices.

People Have Crushes On Priests All The Time, You Know. It’s Exciting To Have To Deal With God As A Rival.

This Was Love: A String Of Coincidences That Gathered Significance And Became Miracles.

I Think My First General Rule Is That Most Of My Experiences Are Not That Interesting. It's Usually Other People's Experiences. It's Not That Entirely Conscious. Somebody Tells Me A Story Or, You Know, Repeats An Anecdote That Somebody Else Told Them And I Just Feel Like I Have To Write It Down So I Don't Forget - That Means For Me, Something Made It Fiction-worthy. Interesting Things Never Happen To Me, So Maybe Two Or Three Times When They Do, I Have To Use Them, So I Write Them Down.

We Teach Girls To Shrink Themselves, To Make Themselves Smaller. We Say To Girls: 'you Can Have Ambition, But Not Too Much. You Should Aim To Be Successful, But Not Too Successful. Otherwise, You Will Threaten The Man.' Because I Am Female, I Am Expected To Aspire To Marriage. I Am Expected To Make My Life Choices, Always Keeping In Mind That Marriage Is The Most Important. Now, Marriage Can Be A Source Of Joy And Love And Mutual Support, But Why Do We Teach Girls To Aspire To Marriage And We Don't Teach Boys The Same?