Summer 2018 - Let's Swim!

Summer 2018 record heatwaves in Sweden

Our country is built for snow storms and subzero temperatures

there are no AC units in our homes or proper air ventilation

but what we do have is ———————- water

there are splash pools in every neighborhood,

lakes, ponds, beaches, in every direction

so, for me the answer was simple

we are home for the summer for 4 weeks so we head to the water to cool off with endless swimming.

Here is the thing though..

I am 34 and I still cannot swim. 

I know that there is the stereotype that black people can’t swim, and I hate the fact that my existence reinforces it.

I’ve never been afraid of the water, my bigger cousins tell me the story of when I was little and they had to jump in  to rescue me from the pool because I told everyone I could swim and jumped fearlessly in.

I lived for 10years of my life a 15 min walk from the beaches in Banjul, and still nothing.

In fact, for many years I believed that I could not swim because my bones were just too dense, making it impossible for me to float.

It may sound ridiculous to some of you, but my community of black people have been fed these kind of lies for many many years now.

To be honest most of my black friends and family don’t swim or can’t swim either.

maybe we don’t like getting our hair wet

maybe we believe in the spirits and ancestors in the water and therefore respect the oceans

maybe we fear the water

maybe we believe we simply don’t belong.

I just don’t know. but I do know that the stereotype isn’t born of thin air.

In America in the 1960's and before  African 

Americans were systematically denied access to swimming in beaches and pools. 

As such black youth swam in more dangerous areas like canals and rivers which in turn cause more drowning in the community. 

After desegregation, it was very much the same attitude if not worse.

Black people were not allowed to swim with whites at the risk of being beaten up or worse. 

There are historical incidents like acid being poured in a swimming pool because blacks and white 

Civil Rights protestors  where swimming together.

The more notable incidents include; 

Sammy Davis Jr. who swam in a pool and the manager drained and disinfected it afterward because 'God forbid white people should have to swim in the same water a black person had swam in'. 

And Dorothy Dandridge also experience much the same, she put her toe in the water at her hotel pool and they drained the entire thing.

There is this historical background, coupled with certainly much more, the fact is many people of the African diaspora cannot swim, meaning they are less likely to have children who are taught to swim, and in turn should drowning accidents occur, they would tend to be from our communities.

So, once more I turn to books like Jabari Jumps and Leo Can Swim are so wonderful and important.

Our children must grow up like everyone else, feeling they belong and have the right to the water. 

My daughter has been afraid of water since birth.

Taking a shower was an ordeal and even now aged 4 washing her face still leaves her with a true sense of panic,

but were working on it

Sometimes we just watch people swimming, clips on youtube and talk about how beautiful and strong they are.

we read,

and we go to the water.

Today she can swim unaided, but with the arm bands.

Every day this summer we’ve gone either to the beach or to the pool.

I dress my kids like they are going to cross the euro channel, with as many swims supports as I am legally allowed, and we hop in.

There is nothing quite like the anxiety of knowing you cannot swim but leading your own children to the water.

I watched her spin in the water today and swim a length to me and her baby brother and I was so PROUD.

Once she turns 6 we will sign up for actual swim classes if she is still interested, but I think she will be because now she wants to be a mermaid!

I am also working on myself, 

I last took swim class when I was 8 months pregnant,

all this stress and anxiety hit me at once and I gave it a shot.

I was very off balance, and still could not float,

but I learnt a bit,

its progress.

Maybe my daughter will teach me.

There are so many conversations to be had through the books we share with our children.

With this record heatwave I hope you and yours 

hop right into the world of swimming.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Simone Manue

l  - Olympic Medalist badass

Cullen Jones

- Another amazing Olympian fighting the stereotype

Farida Osman

- Egytian wonderwoman I tell you!

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If you are a litte paranoid like me, here is a great list of swim saftey bits and bobs :

Swim Gear here!

Hi, My name is Emily

It's only been a few months and I have already learnt and shared so much with you all,

I love receiving your comments and questions,

I love feeling connected to a world around a shared purpose.

I realize most of you are curious about me and so I thought I would do a little introduction this week;

Hi, I'm Emily

I am not a child psychologist ha!😉 ( the most asked question so far)

In fact there are many things that I am not,

so, I think it may be best to go the other way around.

I am a mother,

I am obsessed with parenting and nurturing, not just my children but our collective global, social family.

I am exhausted, most of the time. Like so many #momentrepreneurs globally, driving our own movement. 

I am working almost full-time, studying part-time, starting my own business, on top of general family and household stuff 

I am an academic. I have studied ancient history, social anthropology, education and international development. I am currently doing my PhD on diversity in children's literature too. I took my concerns and obsessions and made them the focus of my research.

I am multilingual, so I love your questions even when not in English. French, Wolof, Spanish and Swedish are good for now, the rest I google translate 😛

I am new to this. Before having children of my own, my experience with parenting ended within the classroom walls (as a teacher and TA) and maybe helping with family members but it is not the same. Instead I worked more with accessing education from a development point of view.

I am writing children's book's! ha, ok you knew that already, but I still surprise myself when I think about 

it to be perfectly honest. I have zero aspirations to be a world-famous author or anything remotely close. I simply want to do my little bit to stimulate the industry and perhaps inspire much more talented people to get involved, take space and shine.

I live in Sweden.  I know it's often assumed that because I write in English, I'm in the states or the UK. But no, and that is why my books will be bilingual English -Swedish. 

I am a Marvel all out nerd! Yes, I feel you need to know a little fun fact about me too before I end this post

😃😃😃

..I am that person in the cinema at every Marvel film being very noisy, commenting and potentially clapping at every scene😆. I went a little bananas at the recent Black Panther premier, I must admit. But it was truly epic and you can read my review here.

Right that's it. Hopefully curiosities have been satisfied and we can go on to book loving and recommendations. 

I have one favor to ask, actually two...  

1. Always feel free to comment or send me messages

2. Share! Tag a friend, share the page, tweet it...do whatever you do.

Let's grow this network together. 

Hugs

Emily

I love this quote right here, together with the love of my children. it was the only motivation I needed to jump head first. still falling.

I will let you know how it feels when I land!

Partial Stories

This post is not about children’s literature per say

But, it is related

Yesterday I had a light bulb moment

I realized why it was so important and easy for me to make the decision to start writing books for my children.

And here is why..

More than 10 years ago I started my Bachelor’s Degree in Ancient History and Social Anthropology at the University College London (UCL) in the UK.

It’s a great university for that subject and I was bouncing off the wall with excitement.

In those three years I learnt something important about academia.

History was defined as whatever happened to the romanticized ancient world of Greece, Rome, the UK and maybe the rest of Europe, sometimes.

The rest of the world didn’t matter, never did anything, barely existed and therefore could not have contributed to anything of significance.

I was so frustrated in every single class and questioned my lecturers constantly.

There was one course that featured Africans, it was called ‘slavery in the ancient world’

Based on my ‘interests’ I was advised to take course at another university, the School of Oriental and African studies next door.

African history is so often presented in the context of Slavery.

It is a cliché that they couldn’t sell me because my parents had given me a true education my whole life.

My mother is Malian so I know we were Queens, educated, scientific, industrious and PROUD.

I was young at university and felt powerless, so I was just left to wallow in my anger that history, an entire degree in history, could exclude most of the geographic world and everyone was ok with this.

My struggles continued when I wanted to write my thesis on Afrocentric ideas and Africans influence in the ancient world.

I was told categorically there was no one with the expertise to be my supervisor at the university (the entire UNIVERSITY) and I should change my topic.

I of course didn’t change my topic and was given lower grades, but frankly I didn’t care at that point. I was going to write about the history I belonged to and was interested in.

Fast forward to today,

My daughter is now looking at books and wondering where her reflection is.

I am wondering the same.

She asks ‘why people in the books all look the same’

Why ‘they don’t have a belly like her mummy or thick thighs’ and I wonder the same..

And so, we started on this mission for more representation in books.

Yesterday I was utterly privileged to hear David Olusoga

talk at the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm about his new book- Black and British A Forgotten History

I cannot tell you the validation I felt to hear him speak.

To hear him say what we should all know.

That African history is not a separate entity, it is part of the same history we all learn, but it has been purposely left out and our collective amnesia remains unchecked.

I’ll give you a few examples he shared:

In the UK we learn a lot about the Industrial Revolution,

About factories

About the mills

We never learn where the cotton came from to power this revolution

We never learn about how tea which is now 'quintessentially British' was taken from China, to be grown in India for consumption in the UK!

How sugarcane from Brazil was taken to the Caribbean and slaves taken from Africa to grow this cane, to make sugar to sweeten tea in the UK!

We are never taught that the Gold Guinea coins which were so precious (and still are) take their name from the then Guinea region, in West Africa where the gold to make these precious coins were taken/stolen from.

Instead we are told partial stories over and over again until they become reality.

Last night after this talk, I realized that by reading books off the shelf, I was offering my children partial stories too

It gave me even more conviction in my book project and this movement around representation in books

We must make a change so that we have generations growing up, learning about the world they live in,

about the contributions their forefathers made in creating this world we live in.

That we may discover neighbors and cultural similarities in the pages of books

And find our place in society together.

And a huge thank you to Michael Barrett from the Ethnografiska for curating such important work. They have an exciting project called Afrika Pågår which you have to check out if you are in stockholm.

*********************************************************************

Sannu Book Release

One of the fun things I get to do apart from work and family life, is to be a part of a voluntary organisation called

Mer BarnKultur which is a swedish organisation aims to

- promote the provision of children’s culture with a modern African-Swedish perspective

- support and publish children’s books with a modern African-Swedish perspective

- and thereby create role models and work against Afrophobia in society

and I am lucky enough to sit on the board! so last week, on behalf of MeR barnkultur I attended the book release for '

Sannu ', a beautiful poetry compilation by Mariama Jobe

Mariama won the title of 'Örtens Poet', in 2016, aged 20 and continues to evoke and provoke through her words and eloquence.

It was an unconcentional event,

more intimate and moving, and here is my review: 

Sannu exceeds all expectation,

It is a poetry book of love, of strength, of girlhood

It is the story of us.

Mariama Jobe, penned down intimate words which reflect the lives we live as people from the African diaspora

Lives so absent from the books, the library’s, the narratives we exist in.

Last week, in a brightly lit space, with grey concrete walls,

I attended the books release together with a crowd of up to 100 people.

There were little toddlers, teenagers, families and grandparents present.

It was not the conventional space, book or event.

There were three other small business owners,

Kekere, Mixed Grill Banjul,  and Mam Foon.

All of Gambian Swedish heritage, collaborating with Mariama Jobe in this unique celebration of art and culture.

There were large prints displayed by Sofia Runarsdotter which evoked the sisterhood present in the room that day.

Mariama’s mum served us all some amazing benechin, we all settled down for a conversation with the author.

Mariama is grace.

Her words,  so fluid, are expressed through her lips, in the sway of her hips and right down to her fingers as she tells us her story and reads us a few passages.

There is much to be felt in the pages of her book.

Through the laughter, and tears we shared a truly unique and intimate moment.

Mariama invites her reader into her world and we get to meet some of her friends too.

She invited the artist Natalia Murobha to read an evocative passage from the book

A passage recounting childhood in care, wanting to be loved,

to motherhood and sharing forbidden love.

The poet Briar Rose also performed a few pieces around self love.

Sannu, feels like the book we have all been waiting for

A book that felt intimate in a room of strangers,

A book the signals to the wind of change on the Swedish literary landscape.

Reading with Purpose

In our house we read because that’s the way it has always been

I come from a long line of educators and my mum raised us with love and books

I remember as a child she brought a carpenter into our room to build a book shelf the length of the longest wall.

That bookshelf was filled with all sort of books from one end to another.

so, when I had kids of my own,

I filled their room with books, simply to nurture the love of reading.

It was only later that I found purpose in reading with my children.

For one, it gives us that alone time, after what can sometimes be very long and busy days

but mostly because it lets me share something on my mind with the little one

AND it also provides us a starting point for a conversation on a number of topics.

My daughter is now 4 and so it is only normal that she is noticing and trying to understand the world she is in.

when I talk about this, I am often told "it is just a phase, it will pass."

Actually, it is natural human development and we as adults should respond to it. Children see difference, they are trying to understand the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of their worlds and we should be their guides:

"Two- and three-year-olds become aware of the differences between boys and girls, they may begin noticing obvious physical disabilities, become curious about skin color and hair color/texture, and may also be aware of ethnic identity. By the time they're five and entering kindergarten, children begin to identify with an ethnic group to which they belong and are able to explore the range of differences within and between racial/ethnic groups. In terms of bias, by age three or four, white children in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe show preferences for other white children. Further, current research suggests that children as young as three years old, when exposed to prejudice and racism, tend to embrace and accept it even though they might not understand the feelings.”

- Jinnie Spiegler for https://www.edutopia.org/

The importance and necessity of diversity from an early age couldn’t be more clear.

As the little ones are trying to navigate this space, books can be some of the best tools a parent can have.

I use them primarily in two ways:

Firstly, there are those with a Purpose as I call them. Books which celebrate you! they acknowledge diversity and put it in the center, like the Princess Truly Series.

Princess Truly is a strong, amazing, proud, dark skinned, little girl with amazing hair which gives her special powers. The first book is almost a mantra in our house now.. my girl will tell you, mummy you can do whatever you want to do if you believe in it.. you are amazing!

Thank you Princess Truly, your magical mantra rocks!

We also read books which Reflect, Reflect diversity in society and also those that make you reflect

and begin to talk about what you have noticed or felt.

We try to find books which show different family constellations, disability, different interpretations of home, and inclusiveness. We believe that every child’s individualism should be celebrated, and it is just as important to see yourself as part of a whole, part of a community, a society.

One such book is Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox (Author), Helen Oxenbury (Illustrator).

It is super cute and nice for any baby to see themselves in the book. I found a little YouTube video of the book which you can watch here . For the older kids I would recommend Nita goes to hospital . It is available in loads of languages.

For those of you who read in Swedish I found this book to be a total gem " Vi Letar Skatt" by Jesper Lundqvist.

My daughter is a little thinker who often comments on her environment and context.

She had asked me a few times about people begging in the subway or outside supermarkets.

After a trip to Los Angeles however (downtown LA) she really began questioning the absence of a home for some and especially why they had no family.

This book is the story of a little one who befriends a Roma lady sitting outside a store, the scene is extremely common here in Stockholm.

There is very smart word play and interchange between the word skatt , which means treasure but also means tax.

When the little one questions his mother as to why the lady is homeless and hasn’t been provided for, mum answers that she pays her taxes and taxes should be used to help those in need.

The little one concludes that the lady who was begging hasn’t been given any treasure/tax and so they must go in search of some!

It really is a beautiful story, with lovely illustrations.

Written from a child’s perspective which makes it enjoyable for the little reader, whilst addressing such an important topic.

We would love to hear more about your reading habits and favorite books.

Either way, keep reading guys, you are planting a glorious seed

Be deliberate with your choice of books too we are of the belief that the key to self-esteem, wellbeing and an integrated society can start right there on the pages of a book.

You can find more information about the Princess Truly books here

You can find more information about the Ten Little Fingers Ten Little Toes book here

You can find more information about Nita goes to hospital book here

Och har kan ni hitta Vi Letar Skatt har

Why are you brown?

We love Todd Parr books!

They are great for most ages and show characters in rainbow colors.

For us it seems like a great starting point to discuss other things.

My kids like most kids, do see color and difference and reflect on it

A few years ago, I was teaching kids aged 3 to 5.

One of the questions I often got was; ‘why are you brown’?

It may come across as a weird question but it isn’t really given my Swedish context.

For most of the adults around, I could feel their discomfort, it felt like warning bells were sounding off ..race related discussion coming up, oh oh.

I personally have no issue discussing the concept of race or ethnicity as social constructs , but I realized that:

A. Most people are uncomfortable discussing it

B. As a teacher I felt it was not a welcome discussion either

C. It is important to discuss at the right age level

I reflected on this for quite a while and still do….

If we teach about respecting nature, we talk about why the grass is green, why some people are vegetarian, why the sky is blue, then why is it so weird to explain why my skin is brown?

It seems extremely relevant now that I live in Sweden because in most circles having brown skin makes you the visible minority. For most of the kids I taught I was the first brown skinned person that they had such a close relationship with. And contrary to popular belief children notice these things.

Here is one conversation I had in class around lunch time when we is eating pasta with olives.

Child: “Emily are you black because you eat too many black olives”

Me: “nope, what made you think that”

Kid: “well you know flamingos are pink because they eat a lot of shrimp which are pink!”

Me: “that was smart thinking but no.”

At that point I wanted to explain that we are how we are, just like we are tall and some are short, but I never got the chance. Another teacher stirred the conversation away swiftly.

Another time a kid looked at me and my white Swedish male colleague and said.

“wouldn’t it be amazing if you were in love even though you are not the same in color”. She assumed that you could only love those who looked like you.

I wondered if kids felt that way when choosing who to play with, did they feel it was ok or not to play with someone who didn’t look like them?

There are so many creative questions and imaginings at that age, it seems like what is left unanswered may develop into ignorance, stereotype, prejudice etc. etc.

In my years teaching I have had the most curious questions and thoughts around my color and my hair. One little girl asked if I was "like the teddy bears brown everywhere but pink on my tummy, hands and feet".

I realized that because it is cold here, I am always covered up so they only see my hands and face most of the time, so in the summer I was little bit of a revelation.

It is hard to have these discussions at the appropriate levels and that is why books like

Todd Parrs - Its ok to be different can have such an impact.

I often told my little kids stories like the ones I was told as a child:

In the beginning of time everyone was brown, and we all looked the same and we were one family. Then there was a pool of water that was found and the first people that jumped into it came out pale skinned. The next people a little less pale and the next and the next. The last people that came sadly that the water was almost finished, so they dipped the palms of their hands and sole of their feel and only and that part of them became lighter.

And so, as a result we have a wonderful world of different shades of browns from the lightest to the darkest, but we remain the same, one family.

I use stories and books to address most issues with children, and I am constantly learning more. I wonder how you have these discussions with your kids?

Whatever you do, do not dismiss their questions. Address their curiosity and help it bloom, focusing on what makes us the same, rather than what makes us different.

Here is a link of Todd Parr reading the book so you can check it out click here

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace has been a staple in our house since my girl was 1, she was too young but i got it from the library anyway.

its partly because I love the story but also because I read it as a girl.

Back then I was mesmerized by the book because the illustration of Grace was based on a friend of mine in The Gambia.

For me the adventures became real because the person was real.

So here we are over 20 years after and I was so pleased to find Grace in the library in Stockholm Sweden so I could introduce her to my little ones.

This book is illustrated beautifully and it deals with two issues that my girl will relate to:

- worrying that she isn’t good enough because she is a girl

- worrying that she isn’t good enough because her skin is brown

I love that the issues are there, plain in sight for the reader to address.

The mothers’ face and the grandmas approach are the illustration of my worry for my children most days.

The story has a happy ending, focus on practice, work hard, believe in yourself, be the best you want to be.

We always cheer for Grace loudly at the end of the book and my daughters face lights up as I bow at the end

( I must admit i read rather theatrically lol)

So I continue to recommend this book, as a conversation starter, as a tool, as a fun story to share.

We love you Grace

Black Panther is HERE!

I am a huge Marvel fan,

As an 80s baby, I loved the thunder cats, TMNT, Dragon Ball Z, and X-Men.

I devoured those comics again and again,

So, my excitement was at its peak when I heard Black Panther was being made.

I watched the trailers and read about the film and something inside me burst with excitement.

I can’t really think of any film that portrays an Africa that is mine,

that celebrates our music, tone of voice, fabrics, traditions and most importantly our diversity.

But let me give you some context.

I studied Social Anthropology and Ancient History at one of the best universities in the UK.

My university is ranked 7th in the QS World University Rankings and throughout my entire 3 year degree the only time I came across people of African origin, they were slaves or tribal people in remote villages.

When I tried to write my dissertation on African culture and challenge the status quo I was told it might be best to change university as they would not have the staff, expertise nor resources to support my research.

With incredible determination, all on my own I completed my thesis, got and unfair grade and closed that chapter.

Since then I’ve done a 2nd degree and I am now doing my PhD so there!

‘All this to say that I have been waiting for Black Panther my entire life.

Let me beak down the bits that were spectacular for me.

First the different tribes,

It was so beautiful to see different African people which reflected reality so clearly.

We are so often lumped together, so it was exquisite to see the tribes from Wakanda which were based on real African tribes on the main screen for popular consumption.

In my tiny Gambia of 1.7million people we have 8 tribes, each with their own fabrics, language, richness and norms.

Other African countries have even more.

The NAMES!

If you have an African came, you know the struggle of being mispronounced, teased, or bullied.

Our heroes in the film had strong clicks and African intonations and I can’t help but think, thanks to this movie people across the world will be pronouncing or learning to pronounce Tchalla, Nakia, Okoye ...the list goes on.

The music,

oh the music.

I am from west Africa and my soul loves the beat of the drum.

There is one little drum we call the ‘tama’ which was used over and over in the film...

instead of using strings to heighten the tension as is normally done in films, the drums were beaten to the required rhythm.

It felt natural,

it felt like familiar,

it felt exciting!

The world of Wakanda felt to me like Narnia, but one that was mine if I could imagine it myself.

It allows us to peek through a window of ‘what if’ colonization didn’t happen..

what if we were allowed to develop uninterrupted,

What if our resources were not pillaged and exploited.

Wakanda maybe be fiction but it strikes a chord of truth that resonates to perhaps a future which could be.

The tensions

between African American and African people was also portrayed in several scenes especially with Killmonger..

he is the villain but we find ourselves sympathizing with his cause, with his desire for Africans to reach over and support their brothers ..to reach over and claim our people..

The film also delivers the lines that WE all feel..

commenting on colonization, on slavery, on stolen art, on wigs.. across the board, cleverly entwined in dialogue.

I found myself thanking the script for saying what I could not say out loud in a world that is not Wakanda,

at least not without stigma or reprisal

Women, I cannot leave them out

with their natural hair in a multitude of styles and arrangements.

Black Panther serves us the empowered African woman.. smart, wise, caring, brave..like I personally have never seen on such a scale..

Watch it, you’ll see..

The family dynamics.. there is so much..

Leaving the film I felt like every joke, every nuance, every tone of voice , side eye and reference made complete sense to me because it came from a world from which I belong..

Imagine after all these years, all these films, this is the first time I truly saw myself reflect on film.

Since moving to Sweden I have been very involved with an organization called Cinemafrica who curate a yearly film festival from the African diaspora. The festival opens on the 26th February in Stockholm and if black panther left you wanting more you definitely have to check it out.

For my part I can’t wait to show my daughter the Black Panther when its out on Netflix

I can’t wait to point out her grandmothers language in the songs,

Our cousins tribal marks

Our west African fabrics

Royalty wearing dreadlocks like mine

Strong black women saving the day again and again.

I simply cannot wait..

Oh and Marvel, please start working on a series, a sequel, and a theme park, preferably on our continent.

Thank you.

He is 1

I haven’t managed a single blog post since baby number two came

I think that lets you all know how it is going.

It is a whirlwind this life,

an enjoyable, exhausting, hilarious messy ride.

but my baby is 1 and I just had to write,

I just had let you know that it is like we thought it would be.

He is the ying to her yang

everything my little girl taught me simply does not apply to this little man.

He is delightful, calm, mischievous, demanding, adorable and charming beyond belief.

He is the reason the phrase ‘momma’s boy’ exists.

His five little fingers so often seek out my skin for little caress

or claim my hand to hold possessively.

He is divine

He is the center of my daughter’s heart,

He is her baby, her darling, her Louis

She sings his name and kisses his little fingers, one by one

knock on wood, in his year alive, she hasn’t raised a voice once at him

I’m sure there is arguing to come but for now I watch them laugh and love and I am fulfilled

He has been sickly, he is tiny he is.. he is 1

My baby

My little boy

You have given me strength and calm

I don’t feel that anxiety somehow it has all melted away

With his deep deep rich cocoa skin, he is beauty

I know I boast but they are my riches; this little girl, this little boy

I lay claim because my body molded such beings into our lives

I am thankful , so thankful

He is 1.