Call Me American

Call Me American
Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0525433023

Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop and watching action films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies. Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. Eventually, though, Abdi was forced to flee to Kenya. In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily. Parts of his story were first heard on the BBC World Service and This American Life. Now a proud resident of Maine, on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin's dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why America still beckons to those looking to make a better life.

They Call Me Africa

They Call Me Africa
Author: Nadine Luke
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020-09-23
Genre:
ISBN: 9781735063553

Amiri loves school and can't wait for the first day of third grade. However, when he arrives, he finds himself the target of racism and bullying at the hands of his classmates. The constant taunts about his dark brown skin and locked hair leave him feeling heartbroken and helpless. Amiri has a choice to make-allow the bullying to continue, or handle the situation in a different way. His decision surprises everyone in the class, including his teacher. Explore Amiri's journey as he discovers the truth about his identity.

Call Me Woman

Call Me Woman
Author: Ellen Kuzwayo
Publisher: Pan Macmillan South africa
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2018-08-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1770106189

Like millions of black South Africans made strangers in the land of their birth, Ellen Kuzwayo lost a great deal in her lifetime: the farm in the Orange Free State that had belonged to her family for nearly a hundred years; her hopes for a full and peaceful life for her children; and even her freedom, when, at the age of 63, she found herself detained under the so-called Terrorism Act for an offence never specified. But she never lost her courage. This remarkable autobiography refuses to focus only on the author, for it draws on the unrecorded history of a whole people. In telling her own personal and political story over 70 years. Ellen Kuzwayo speaks for, and with, the women among whom she worked and lived. Their courage and dignity remain a source of wonder and inspiration.

They Called Me Mama

They Called Me Mama
Author: Margaret Nicholl Laird
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1975
Genre: Missions
ISBN:

For over fifty years Margaret Laird has served her Lord in the heart of Africa. She entered French Equatorial Africa in 1922 and recounts in the book some of her many experiences in the school of faith. The stories are unforgettable and, in fact, you will find yourself repeating them to others. While this book is not a biography in the usual sense, it does permit us to look at missionary life through the windows of her experience. You will realize that miracles do happen in this generation and that we have a God who hears and answers prayer. - Foreword.

Call Me Not a Man

Call Me Not a Man
Author: Mtutuzeli Matshoba
Publisher: Longman Publishing Group
Total Pages: 216
Release: 1987
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Call Me Steve

Call Me Steve
Author: Les O'Brien
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2018-04-18
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1525517929

“Lengang’arangetengop. At no time in human history has a book started with that name, I bet.” And so begins the true story of a Calgary man’s life-changing journey to Africa and the start of his life-long friendship with a Samburu warrior with an impossibly long name. On his first day at a Kenyan nature reserve, elephant expert Les O’Brien finds himself sought out by a park guide who is hungry to learn from him. But the tables quickly turn, and soon Lengang’arangetengop – who graciously allows tourists to call him “Steve” and his friends to call him “Tilas” – becomes the teacher. Tilas not only shares his knowledge of his environment and the beauty of Africa with his new friend, he also teaches him about the way of the Samburu – a semi-nomadic people who carry everything they own with them as they travel the African plains. From his new friend, Les learns about loyalty, friendship, responsibility, environmental stewardship, and how to be a better human. More than a travel book, Call Me Steve is a story of self-discovery and friendship in a land like no other. This book will make you laugh, cry, and then google Samburu National Reserve so you can begin to arrange your own trip there.

Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults)

Call Me American (Adapted for Young Adults)
Author: Abdi Nor Iftin
Publisher: Ember
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-08-10
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 1984897136

Adapted from the adult memoir, this gripping and acclaimed story follows one boy's journey into young adulthood, against the backdrop of civil war and his ultimate immigration to America in search of a better life. Abdi Nor Iftin grew up amidst a blend of cultures, far from the United States. At home in Somalia, his mother entertained him with vivid folktales and bold stories detailing her rural, nomadic upbrinding. As he grew older, he spent his days following his father, a basketball player, through the bustling streets of the capital city of Mogadishu. But when the threat of civil war reached Abdi's doorstep, his family was forced to flee to safety. Through the turbulent years of war, young Abdi found solace in popular American music and films. Nicknamed Abdi the American, he developed a proficiency for English that connected him--and his story--with news outlets and radio shows, and eventually gave him a shot at winning the annual U.S. visa lottery. Abdi shares every part of his journey, and his courageous account reminds readers that everyone deserves the chance to build a brighter future for themselves. FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!

They Call Me George

They Call Me George
Author: Cecil Foster
Publisher: Biblioasis
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2019-02-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1771962623

A CBC BOOKS MUST-READ NONFICTION BOOK FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH Nominated for the Toronto Book Award Smartly dressed and smiling, Canada’s black train porters were a familiar sight to the average passenger—yet their minority status rendered them politically invisible, second-class in the social imagination that determined who was and who was not considered Canadian. Subjected to grueling shifts and unreasonable standards—a passenger missing his stop was a dismissible offense—the so-called Pullmen of the country’s rail lines were denied secure positions and prohibited from bringing their families to Canada, and it was their struggle against the racist Dominion that laid the groundwork for the multicultural nation we know today. Drawing on the experiences of these influential black Canadians, Cecil Foster’s They Call Me George demonstrates the power of individuals and minority groups in the fight for social justice and shows how a country can change for the better.

Call Me by My Rightful Name

Call Me by My Rightful Name
Author: Isidore Okpewho
Publisher: Africa Research and Publications
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2004
Genre: African American men
ISBN:

A young African American falls into periodic spasms and chants a text that nobody understands. His troubled family seeks help. The text, recorded by a psychiatrist and deciphered by linguists, is found to be a corrupted family chant from the Yoruba of Nigeria. The doctor advises a trip to that ethnic region. The spiritual voices that have been summoning Otis finally bring him to the spot where his ancestor was enslaved over a century before. Two years on, armed with a recovered identity and a chastened wisdom, Otis returns to the U.S. to join the 1960s civil rights struggle.

You're Not a Country, Africa

You're Not a Country, Africa
Author: Pius Adesanmi
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2012-09-28
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0143528653

In this wide-ranging collection of essays, Pius Adesanmi explores what Africa means to him as an African and as a citizen of the world. Examining the personal and the political, tradition and modernity, custom and culture, Adesanmi grapples with the complexity and contradictions of this vast continent, zooming in most closely on Nigeria, the country of his birth. The inspiration for the title of the collection, You're Not a Country, Africa, comes from a line of poetry: 'You are not a country Africa, you are a concept, fashioned in our minds, each to each'. The Africa fashioned in our minds - with our fears and our dreams - is the Africa that the reader will encounter in these essays. Through narratives and political and cultural reflections, Pius Adesanmi approaches the meaning of Africa from the perspective that you never actually define Africa: rather, it defines you in various contexts and for various people.