This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. © © 2020 by Adilah Didi Adi | Published in the United States by Wominist GRRRL Press at the Detroit Public Library on 5201 Woodward Ave.
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This book is dedicated to every undocumented, detained, homeless, deported, and displaced Black being. We are the ones we've been waiting for.
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“In a retelling of her life, a ninety-two-year-old Efik-Ibibio woman of Nigeria recalls her love for another woman:
'I had a woman friend to whom I revealed my secrets. She was very fond of keeping secrets to herself. We acted as husband and wife. We always moved hand in glove and my husband and hers knew about our relationship. The villagers nicknamed us twin sisters. When I was out of gear with my husband, she would be the one to restore peace. I often sent my children to go and work for her in return for her kindness to me. My husband being more fortunate to get more pieces of land than her husband, allowed some to her, even though she was not my co-wife.'
On the West Coast of Africa, the Fon of Dahomey still have twelve different kinds of marriage. One of them is known as 'giving the goat to the buck,’ where a woman of independent means marries another woman who then may or may not bear children, all of whom will belong to the blood line of the first woman. Some marriages of this kind are arranged to provide heirs for women of means who wish to remain ‘free,’ and some are lesbian relationships. Marriages like these occur throughout Africa, in several different places among different peoples.”
- Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Gamba Adisa Lorde
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Chapter 1
“Immortal energy sustains earth's biological system,” Professor Latoya informs a sea of biochemistry students who are having side conversations and staring at their overpriced cellphones. I too am distracted. I'm grieving the impending, dangerous alteration of my reality. While the professor makes dramatic gestures to elaborate their words, I worry if my world will resemble the cracks on my laptop's screen or shattered glass.
“This immortal energy originates from the sun,” Professor Latoya continues, oblivious to my internal turmoil. And apparently oblivious to the external turmoil because their brown eyes and full lips widen in shock when a majority of the students in the classroom rise and chant “Fees and bills will fall!” The students of color take over the stage to the horror of the professor, whose cocoa cheeks are now crimson red.
Despite my huge concerns for the chanting classmates, I hurriedly pick up my biology textbook and race out of the classroom. I breeze through the under-resourced hallways covered with “YOU TOO CAN COMPLETE COLLEGE IN FOUR YEARS” propaganda and whiz around the student protesters surrounding the neglected school courtyard.
Although I think my journey of escapism will end when I'm in bed, as soon as I lay my head on the satin pillow, my thoughts return to the Fees And Bills Will Fall (FBWF) protests.
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I remember that the FBWF protests at the university I attend- University of San Isabella- are inspired by the FBWF protests at the Universities of Abia, Nairobi, and Namibia. I remember learning about the FBWF protests early this year when I was thinking about transferring to any African university to avoid the disgrace of becoming a college dropout and jeopardizing my legal status. After learning about the FBWF protests, I realized the rising cost of living combined with low wages were a global crisis and the bourgeoisie were definitely pushing us into a future of absolute wage and debt slavery. I then decided to stay in the United States because I figured it would be one of the last places to experience the full impact of this crisis. I was wrong.
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