My Beautiful Limbo

In 2020, I identified a serious gap in my understanding of Black history. In a small, but much-needed attempt to fill that gap, I decided to begin my learnings with this highly recommended story. In support of Black History Month, I thought I’d share.

Homegoing is a stunning illustration of a multigenerational story that follows the descendants of two Ghanaian half-sisters, Effia and Esi across six generations. Through one ancestral line, we see the direct consequence of the British slave trade and the centuries of warfare ignited between the Asante and Fante nations, as well their struggles to stay on the surviving side of British colonization. Through the second ancestral line, we see the aftermath of the British slave trade and the atrocities it led to in America. We see how slavery forever interrupted, altered, and stole from the lives of African Americans, whilst perpetuating a culture of deep-seated racism for centuries to come. The unfolding of both stories depicts two sides of the same coin, demonstrating how British colonization and the concept of white supremacy, forever scarred the people of what is now Ghana, both inland and across the sea. Gyasi did an exceptional job of weaving together each story and each chapter, creating a thorough and vivid depiction of the tragedies that black people and their kin have had to endure.  Homegoing is a story that provides a very real perspective of the slave trade as well as the trap of a prison system that followed even after its abolition. It details the forces that centuries of colonialism have had on African people and the lasting effects it continues to have on their descendants. Homegoing is an absolute must-read. It is a story that will likely fill you to the brim in frustration, and heartache, but at the very least it will flood you with a sense of empathy and understanding that every one of us should carry at a bare minimum. In addition to all of this, it evoked in me the curiosity to want to learn more about the events that shaped black history, and for that alone, I believe this story did what it intended to do.  10/10.