Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I had a complicated relationship with the world I lived in. I was often singled out for special attention, and I seemed to be a firm favorite of nuns. I had a strong sense that my impulse to tell black stories originated from a source that predated my birth. #2 I have a working relationship with the past, and I feel that the past happens to be particularly foregrounded in my present. I am interested in how African peoples understood themselves and their cultures, rather than trying to place them through a European lens that is inherently culturally specific. #3 The bata, or talking drum, is a nonverbal language that speaks. It is a practice that has much to offer and opens up exciting decolonized possibilities for better understanding the African past in order to shape a better collective future. #4 The deeply ingrained idea of managing black women's hair is a powerful metaphor for societal control over our bodies at both the micro and macro levels.