“Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.” – Maame
I finished reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi a few days ago. A character in the novel, Mrs. Pinkston, asks her high school English student, “What do you think of the book? But do you love it? Do you feel it inside you?”
As an avid reader, I understand the importance of this question. Though I read a lot of highly acclaimed books, it’s not often that I’m able to answer in the affirmative. Reading Homegoing was one of the rare occasions when the words resonated on a deeper level; the story was as personal and deeply felt as if I were reading about my own family. At times I felt almost sick with rage. I could easily picture my father’s ancestors stripped of their humanity, forced to suffer the…