I knew from the very first chapter that I wanted to write a post about "Americanah." Halfway through the book and about 6 talking points in my notes app later, I knew FOR SURE. Every chapter touched on something different which led me to writing more blog topics in my notes app. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke about so much from self-love and self-worth, to assimilation, ideologies and religion, that I really didn't know where to start.
At first, I wasn't going to read the book. A few days before finding this book and a stack of others, I tweeted about how I wanted to read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini over. Right after tweeting that, I found that exact book and "Americanah" in my old room. I remember hearing about the author and telling myself that I would add the book to my list. Turns out, I already had the book in my possession. I posted the books on my story and a few friends suggested that Americanah SHOULD be my next read.
The experiences the main character Ifemelu discussed were so relatable. From discovering her love for blogging, to attending a secondary school surrounded by nothing but rich peers, to her being unfulfilled in relationships which led to self-sabotaging, I was GLUED. I was trying so hard not to live-tweet it though because a friend of mine was also reading it.
Another friend suggested we get dinner and discuss the book. She's in route to getting her doctorates in Africology Studies, so this was right up her alley. I finished the book in a week, we made dinner reservations and one of her first questions she asked was, "So what did you think?" Honestly, I had a lot of thoughts (which might lead to me writing another blog post lol). I enjoyed reading about America's standpoint from an immigrant's perspective. I also enjoyed how raw and honest Chimamanda made Ifemelu's character. She wasn't afraid to speak on anything. She was so problematic though, that and one of her friends even described her as trouble, some who can argue, someone who loves to talk and that she never agrees on anything. All in which I absolutely loved about her character. One concept in particular that I'm glad the author shed some light on was the difference between Black Americans and Non-Black Americans (Africans and Caribbeans) in America. I will say, growing up, I never viewed Africans as that much different than us (Black Americans), even though there are a lot of differences. In school (elementary to high school), we were taught about Africans and Black Americans as being ONE. Yes there are differences in cultures, religious practices, traditions and experiences, but from what I remember, we were always thought of as one.
My siblings and I attended an African-center charter middle school. We were taught more in depth about our origins (slavery) and Africa as a whole. It was very different from what we were exposed to in public school. The goal was to recenter ourselves into the African diaspora: to teach us the truth about our history. Looking back now, I appreciate that experience because it gave me a sense of community, which I didn't experience in public school. All of this to say, that we were never taught that Black Americans were one AND Africans were another. All together we were one. It wasn't until I got older, maybe college and after, that I realized that we were indeed two separate groups and had no problem identifying as such.
Ifemelu addressed these concerns in a blog post directed at Non-Black Americans. She spoke about how once they made the decision to come to America, they became Black (no matter what they identified as). She argued how easy it was for Non-Black Americans to separate themselves from Black Americans, (and vice versa), which I think is done (subconsciously) mainly due to the stereotypes surrounded by both groups. She discussed how America viewed everyone with dark skin as the same, regardless of what they identified as. Ifemelu witnessed firsthand the race ladder in America for the first time, in which she never experienced in her own country. She discovered the racial hierarchy in America: White men FIRST, White women second, every other race afterwards, then Black men and THEN Black women. She was constantly fighting between embracing who she really was (Nigerian) and camouflaging with those she surrounded herself by (American). She had the ability to pick and choose who she wanted to show up as, depending on her environment, which is the complete opposite for Black Americans. Yes, there is a sense of code-switching, but for the most part, we have no one else to show up as. My friend made a comment how "Everyone wants to be Black, until it's time to be Black," in which we hear all the time and know to be very true.
From there, we talked more about race in America. I mentioned to my friend that there's a standard, a goal, that everyone tries their hardest to work to achieve, especially people who aren't from this country. The "American Dream" is very much still alive until this day. We're all fed this "dream" early on in our childhoods. When Ifemelu first arrived in America, one of her goals was to become more Americanized. She wanted to dress like an American, work the jobs Americans worked, and her biggest goal of them all was to speak like an American. Her accent was the biggest indicator that she was not American. To her, getting rid of her Nigerian accent and adopting an American one, was the first step to becoming who she thought she wanted to be. Being "more American" was something she constantly work towards which led to a complete identity crisis. It didn't help that before she came to America, everyone back home viewed it as this "golden child" and this "promise land." Once there, it was a completely different story.
When trying to figure out which topic from the book to write about, I came across Chimamanda's TED talk called "The Dangers of a Single Story." She talks about the images one group of people are portrayed about another group, whether these images are about race, ethnicity, upbringing, etc. These images then shape how we perceive said group(s). For instance, we (Americans) are taught certain images about Africa. We're exposed to these images early on in school. We're then exposed to certain images in the media. So when we come across someone from Africa, we sometimes project those images (stories) onto them. Completely unaware that they might have had a different upbringing than what we were exposed to through the media and through history. This was also a HUGE topic in the book. Ifemelu would describe her interactions with White people and how the only way they felt as though they could relate to her, was by bringing up their relations to Africa (which mainly had to do with charity work). The interactions weren't genuine and always came off as Africa needing saving from. I think this is mainly due to the dream people are sold about America as a whole. To Africans, and many other races, they are taught about the many opportunities America has and that the "American Dream" is easily attainable. What they aren't told is how much harder it is to achieve the American Dream, especially if you're an immigrant.
I say this all of the time, but I really do appreciate (to some extent) the internet and social media. We're exposed to people from all over. Some of us grew up witnessing one side of a story, completely ignorant (lacking knowledge or awareness in general) to the fact that so much more exists. We only saw what the media portrayed or what books would tell us. There are literally two sides (and sometimes even more) to every story. For example, for me, we weren't taught about Black people in places like the UK. We only knew of and saw certain kinds of people in places like that. So it was a culture shock for me when I started to see more and more Black people from the UK on social media. I was also proud to see that we're literally everywhere.
I absolutely loved this book and it just might be in my top 5. Of course, this is just one topic that was touched on, but there was SO much more that I might just have to make another blog post for. "Half Of A Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is my next read.
Next book on my must-read list. Thank you!