As I watched Larry King yesterday night, he kept asking this same question to all his guests: What does the inauguration mean to you? I have been trying to answer that question this morning. As a black person living in the United States at this time, it is imperative to find an answer to this question.
Yet I seem numb and find it a daunting task to come up with something profound. I am trying not to wrap my answers in clichés gleaned from TV news casters and talk show hosts. I am trying to reach into my soul to feel the answer.
In 2005, veteran Cameroonian writer, Kenjo Jumbam, author of The White Man Of God died in his native Nso, prematurely ending the career of one of Cameroon's finest writers who never lived up to his fullest potential because of the absence of viable publishing outlets. In this commemorative article, Joyce Ashutantang shows how Jumbam's literary career mirrored that of Cameroon literature in English:
To situate Kenjo wan Jumbam within the Cameroonian literary pantheon, one would have to go back to the literary history of Anglophone Cameroon.
“Okonkwo was well known through out the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his clan by throwing Amalinze the cat”.
With these words Achebe began Things Fall Apart and introduced the world to modern African literature. For some of us these words have become sacred and the author, Chinua Achebe, a demigod.
I have enjoyed teaching Things Fall Apart every year since I became a professor of African Literature in the US. The work lends itself to multiple layers of interpretation which are revealed with every new reading. The novel has sold over eight million copies in the United States alone. It has been translated into 50 known languages.
Barbara Tah Gwanmesia celebrated author of Vasona's Secret is our guest in the Spotlight. A graduate of Journalism, International Relations and World Politics with a confessed avid yearning for an understanding of how the human mind works and mankind's reason for being. She generously gave EduArt a peek into the motivations that make her tick. See full text below.
Barbara Tah Gwanmesia sits down for a chat with Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang:
In 2005, veteran Cameroonian writer, Kenjo Jumbam, author of The White Man Of God died in his native Nso, prematurely ending the career of one of Cameroon's finest writers who never lived up to his fullest potential because of the absence of viable publishing outlets. In this commemorative article, Joyce Ashutantang shows how Jumbam's literary career mirrored that of Cameroon literature in English:
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