[Nonfiction Wednesday] An Ode To Born On The Water

Myra here.

We are delighted to dedicate our Wednesdays to featuring nonfiction titles, as per usual.

This year, we hope to feature books that fit any of the following criteria:

Postcolonial literature and/or [pre/post] revolutionary stories
Stories by indigenous / first-nation peoples / people of colour
Narratives of survival and healing, exile and migration, displacement and dispossession
Books written or illustrated by people who have been colonized, oppressed, marginalized
Translated or international literature

The 1619 Project: Born On The Water (Amazon | Book Depository)

Written by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith
Published by Kokila (2021) ISBN: 9780593307359 (ISBN10: 0593307356) Borrowed via Overdrive. Book photos taken by me.

I read this book when it first came out, and have been sharing and recommending it in my conference presentations. However, I realized that I have not yet featured it here. Given our reading theme, I feel that now is the perfect time to highlight this story borne of strife and strength and the will to overcome.

The book begins with questions. Written in verse, this is a story that cannot be told in prose. Poetry distils the essence of pain, courage, wisdom – the enormity of emotions unbound, in rhythm and heartbeat. There is unmatched power here that started off with shame transformed into discovered joy in one’s unexplored ancestry…

… then outrage with the unspeakable as this girl’s ancestors were stolen and sold off as slaves, the shame transformed into a sense of burning pride with all that one is, and all that one has become.

I have just recently read and featured Segu by Maryse Condé [Amazon | Book Depository] and I have also watched the riveting film (that should have received more awards in the Oscar’s, IMO) The Woman King. There is complexity in the history of slavery as a thriving business where African leaders were also complicit, as slavery is part of the custom with vanquished tribes enslaved by stronger and more powerful tribes – a layer that is hardly conveyed in most picturebooks, most likely because this necessitates a story of its own that will also need to be told in the future.

I also loved reading the Authors’ and Illustrators’ Notes found at the end of the story:

Our hope for Born on the Water is to show that Black Americans have their own proud origin story, one that did not begin in slavery, in struggle, and in strife but that bridges the gap between Africa and the United States of America.

Clearly, the book creators have succeeded in this inspired creation that should be required reading in all schools around the globe. There is much to learn here and discuss.