Okeowo interviews survivors of extremism in Uganda, Nigeria, Mauritania and Somalia including former child soldiers, women who survived abductions, former slaves and more. The author invites the reader to explore nuanced accounts of resilience, resistance, activism and what it means to be a layered human.
"The idea of survival becomes hazy. It can mean more than just staying alive; it can mean leading the life she feels entitled to have. And in order to do that, the morals she was taught, that she has long lived by, could shift and mutate into something she no longer recognizes". (Okeowo, 2017)
Why do people read books?
We can sit here to answer this question for days on end because this is a very personal activity I find. But for the sake of this review, I’ll name my top three reasons; information, entertainment and escapism. Upon reading the title A Moonless Starless Sky, Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa, an offering by Alabama bred, born to Nigerian parents author, Alexis Okeowo, I immediately sensed that this book is not for escapism nor is it for entertainment. Personally and wherever possible, I steer clear of creative outputs that depict any form of violence towards black bodies and psyches. This is because, for a long time, violence has been employed as a trope crafted by white storytellers to not only satisfy their gaze but to cement the imbalance of power at various societal levels. I have therefore learned to be critical about how I engage with such subject matter/s, particularly in relation to who is telling the story in question and the ultimate owner of the narrative. While Okeowo’s intentions stem from a respectful place, given the subject matter, dare I say it, I am entering these pages with a measure of caution.
To whet the readers’ appetite, the author leads with a rhetorical discourse regarding rules of engagement when faced with resisting extremism, asking frankly, what is allowable on a survival level that surpasses religious beliefs, family ties or societal expectations?
Following her experience as a novice Journalist in Uganda and to explore this discourse, the author promises to take the reader into a deeper and with more subtle distinction of what really transpired to the people featured in her regular news stories saying “If I wanted readers to understand that the people I interviewed were not that different from them, I needed to practice empathy when writing ... It meant conveying that I understood that I could have been a woman who had been disfigured by a rebel group had it not been for the fortune of my birthplace”.
For someone who entered with a certain amount of caution, I was pleased to read this personal declaration by Okeowo. As storytellers, it is expected that one brings all of themselves to their practice. Therefore objectivity can be a slippery slope ride that in more ways than one informs parts of the delivery.
To demonstrate the said empathy, Okeowo weaves a non-judgemental narrative of love, identity or rather loss of it, passion and everyday survival. The narrative follows the characters in their natural surroundings, beginning in Uganda, where we meet Eunice and Bosco, an unlikely couple whose love is founded on painful acceptance and in some ways lack of ‘knowing better than’. When one thinks of slavery, usually the first thoughts are those of African Americans as depicted in mainstream media. However, in Mauritania, a heart-wrenching story of slavery is brought to light. It will probably send the reader into a rabbit hole of research to learn more about this recent and rather uncomfortable history of slavery. In Nigeria the reader meets some key figures surrounding the infamous Islamist militant organisation, Boko Haram or Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, based in Northern Nigeria. And finally, in Mogadishu, Somalia, a young talented basketball player Aisha, will stop at nothing to realise her dream of playing ball.
Although I imagined a highly uncomfortable read based on front-facing history related to resistance and extremism as subject matter in some African countries, as the reader is invited to meet the characters and begins to weave themselves within their landscapes, it quickly becomes apparent that the physical and psychological aspects carry visible and invisible marks that complete who the people really are or will become. And like the author, the reader is beckoned to practice empathy when reading the stories.
Throughout this book, there’s a sense of continuous self-reflection to ensure that the author checks themselves on writing from the lens of an outsider’s gaze. A lens that is mostly witnessed in white/western depiction of Indigenous societies, a viewpoint that is often prevalent in commentators such as writers, filmmakers, scholars and so on with barriers that may include privilege, lack of lived experience, ignorance and to a larger extent, stakeholder parameters such as the funders or media outlets as Okeowo mentions what previously restricted the depth of their storytelling in saying, “I was writing 800-word news stories that didn't delve deeply into my subjects' lives, and they still felt foreign and incomprehensible”.
A Moonless Starless Sky, Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa invites the reader to assess anew what is love and who deserves it. What is freedom? What is the gift and curse of an activist? What lengths would one go to in order to achieve their dream?
But at the centre of it all, the author reminds us that behind every news headline, there are real people overcoming trauma while doing their best to live a complete life.
"The idea of survival becomes hazy. It can mean more than just staying alive; it can mean leading the life she feels entitled to have. And in order to do that, the morals she was taught, that she has long lived by, could shift and mutate into something she no longer recognizes". (Okeowo, 2017)
Why do people read books?
We can sit here to answer this question for days on end because this is a very personal activity I find. But for the sake of this review, I’ll name my top three reasons; information, entertainment and escapism. Upon reading the title A Moonless Starless Sky, Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa, an offering by Alabama bred, born to Nigerian parents author, Alexis Okeowo, I immediately sensed that this book is not for escapism nor is it for entertainment. Personally and wherever possible, I steer clear of creative outputs that depict any form of violence towards black bodies and psyches. This is because, for a long time, violence has been employed as a trope crafted by white storytellers to not only satisfy their gaze but to cement the imbalance of power at various societal levels. I have therefore learned to be critical about how I engage with such subject matter/s, particularly in relation to who is telling the story in question and the ultimate owner of the narrative. While Okeowo’s intentions stem from a respectful place, given the subject matter, dare I say it, I am entering these pages with a measure of caution.
To whet the readers’ appetite, the author leads with a rhetorical discourse regarding rules of engagement when faced with resisting extremism, asking frankly, what is allowable on a survival level that surpasses religious beliefs, family ties or societal expectations?
Following her experience as a novice Journalist in Uganda and to explore this discourse, the author promises to take the reader into a deeper and with more subtle distinction of what really transpired to the people featured in her regular news stories saying “If I wanted readers to understand that the people I interviewed were not that different from them, I needed to practice empathy when writing ... It meant conveying that I understood that I could have been a woman who had been disfigured by a rebel group had it not been for the fortune of my birthplace”.
For someone who entered with a certain amount of caution, I was pleased to read this personal declaration by Okeowo. As storytellers, it is expected that one brings all of themselves to their practice. Therefore objectivity can be a slippery slope ride that in more ways than one informs parts of the delivery.
To demonstrate the said empathy, Okeowo weaves a non-judgemental narrative of love, identity or rather loss of it, passion and everyday survival. The narrative follows the characters in their natural surroundings, beginning in Uganda, where we meet Eunice and Bosco, an unlikely couple whose love is founded on painful acceptance and in some ways lack of ‘knowing better than’. When one thinks of slavery, usually the first thoughts are those of African Americans as depicted in mainstream media. However, in Mauritania, a heart-wrenching story of slavery is brought to light. It will probably send the reader into a rabbit hole of research to learn more about this recent and rather uncomfortable history of slavery. In Nigeria the reader meets some key figures surrounding the infamous Islamist militant organisation, Boko Haram or Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, based in Northern Nigeria. And finally, in Mogadishu, Somalia, a young talented basketball player Aisha, will stop at nothing to realise her dream of playing ball.
Although I imagined a highly uncomfortable read based on front-facing history related to resistance and extremism as subject matter in some African countries, as the reader is invited to meet the characters and begins to weave themselves within their landscapes, it quickly becomes apparent that the physical and psychological aspects carry visible and invisible marks that complete who the people really are or will become. And like the author, the reader is beckoned to practice empathy when reading the stories.
Throughout this book, there’s a sense of continuous self-reflection to ensure that the author checks themselves on writing from the lens of an outsider’s gaze. A lens that is mostly witnessed in white/western depiction of Indigenous societies, a viewpoint that is often prevalent in commentators such as writers, filmmakers, scholars and so on with barriers that may include privilege, lack of lived experience, ignorance and to a larger extent, stakeholder parameters such as the funders or media outlets as Okeowo mentions what previously restricted the depth of their storytelling in saying, “I was writing 800-word news stories that didn't delve deeply into my subjects' lives, and they still felt foreign and incomprehensible”.
A Moonless Starless Sky, Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa invites the reader to assess anew what is love and who deserves it. What is freedom? What is the gift and curse of an activist? What lengths would one go to in order to achieve their dream?
But at the centre of it all, the author reminds us that behind every news headline, there are real people overcoming trauma while doing their best to live a complete life.
A Moonless Starless Sky, Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa by Alexis Okeowo
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 9781472153715
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256pp
Publication date: 13 March 2018
RRP: $32.99 - $40.40
Publisher: Hachette Books
ISBN: 9781472153715
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256pp
Publication date: 13 March 2018
RRP: $32.99 - $40.40
Dorcas Maphakela is a writer, visual artist and holistic well-being advocate, using art and words to share knowledge and inspiration on living a full life. She is also a TV presenter, public speaker and founder and producer of the Antenna Award-winning OZ AFRICAN TV (OATV). Alongside her role with Multicultural Arts Victoria, Dorcas co-founded Yo CiTY, a platform that champions the culturally diverse experience through Art & music. Dorcas is an Academic Screen Lecturer at the University of Melbourne. She studied Fine Arts and Master of Arts in Writing.
Her work was acknowledged with a Media Award from the Victorian Multicultural Commission for “outstanding reporting on issues of importance to diverse communities and reporting which contributes to Victoria’s cross-cultural understanding” (VMC). |