Kinship: A Family's Journey in Africa and America

by Philippe Wamba

When Philippe Wamba's African American mother married his Congolese father in 1964, the family they would raise in Boston, MA, & Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, would become a test case of the pan-African that black people around the world share common interests, common goals, & a common destiny. In this deeply felt book, Wamba uses his personal background as a lens through which to view three centuries of shared history between Africans & African Amer. It is at once a vividly detailed memoir & a richly researched work of scholarship that deftly weaves accounts of Wamba's multinational childhood with enlightening analyses of history, music, literature, religion, & politics.

Genres: Memoir, Africa, Nonfiction, History, Biography

383 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Zakiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books you can’t put down. Some books leave you with assurance and your heading nodding stating....he gets it. This is one of them. All children of the Diaspora, no matter where they live, should read this book.

[Alexandria Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir and part history, Philippe Wamba finds a way to tell a personal story that will resonate with so many, while also giving the historical perspective of some of the most important events and trends for Africans and African Americans. He explores the complicated relationship between Africans and their African Americans diaspora cousins. Yet, he also leaves a legacy and a wonderful tribute to his family. For me, as an African American living in Tanzania, I found comfort in reading about his experiences and feelings that so often mirrored mine. But I also learned so much about the history of the continent I now call home.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wamba was born in America of an American mother and a Congolese father. The family lived in the Boston area for some years, but then moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where Philippe spent most of his childhood. Some of this book is a memoir of his childhood and his family, but the rest is comment and analysis of the differences between Africans and African-Americans, and how they see each other and interact. He discusses the stereotypes that each group has about the other group and reaffirms his appreciation of the ties that can hold the two groups together.