Teach-in on Race 2024

The New York Times reports that since 1990 more Africans have voluntarily relocated to the United States and Canada than had been forcibly brought here before the slave trade ended in 1807. The key reason for these migrations has been the collapse of social, political, economic, and educational structures in their home countries, which has driven Africans to seek security and self-realization in the West. This lively and timely collection of essays takes a look at the new immigrant experience. It traces the immigrants' progress from expatriation to arrival and covers the successes as well as problems they have encountered as they establish their lives in a new country. The contributors, most immigrants themselves, use their firsthand experiences to add clarity, honesty, and sensitivity to their discussions of the new African diaspora.

Nigerian Immigrants in the United States: Race, Identity, and Acculturation, by Ezekiel Ette, attempts to generate an interest in the study of African immigrants by looking at issues of settlement and adjustment of Nigerians in the United States. Ette's work seeks to contribute to the immigration literature and knowledge base as well as document the African narrative showing the flight of Nigerians to the United States. It describes those Nigerians who decided to live permanently in the United States, reviewing the social circumstances and behaviors of immigrants from Nigeria, and noting the stressors that affect successful integration and adjustment. Those who are interested in Nigerian immigrants and immigration issues in general will find this book both insightful and rev

"A young woman from Nigeria leaves behind her home and her first love to start a new life in America, only to find her dreams are not all she expected"-- The bestselling novel--a love story of race and identity--from the award-winning author of We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele. Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American ReadIfemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion--for each other and for their homeland.

The celebrated Nigerian writer Tanure Ojaide relates here his experience of living in the United States where he has been based teaching and writing since 1996. Drawing the Map of Heaven picks up where his earlier memoir, Great Boys. An African Childhood which charted his upbringing in Nigeria by his Grandmother, left off. Less a purely personal tale and more a story of the many other African immigrants in the United States Ojaide in the text uses "we" to speak collectively for a traditionally communal society now residing in an individualistic setting. As much a reflection of an African background as an American experience Drawing the Map of Heaven is a unique portrait of the African in the United States