My Heart Will Corss this Ocean

Zusatztext “REMARKABLE . . . A GRIPPING BOOK.” –Newsday “A moving story that makes the tragedy of Amadou Diallo’s death all the more poignant and present. With the help of Craig Wolff! Kadiatou Diallo shows us the roots of her son’s story in Africa and in a mother’s heart.” –JULIA ALVAREZ “A rare! rich! and quite moving portrait . . . in prose that is alive with the smell of herbs! the taste of sweet sauces! the weight of deep traditions! the tensions of political life in post-colonial Africa.” – The Washington Post Book World “An unexpectedly enchanting! unflinching story of Amadou’s upbringing! culture! and his mother’s life struggles in their native Guinea.” – Upscale magazine “This lyrical memoir is both moving and disturbing. Its subtle tone exposes the aggression inherent in patriarchy (whether it functions in rural Africa or the New York City police department) in a way that the usual rhetoric cannot.” –ACHMAT DANGOR Informationen zum Autor Kadiatou Diallo , a frequent lecturer, is the founder of the Amadou Diallo Foundation to promote racial healing through educational programs. Born in Guinea in 1959, she now divides her time between New York City and Rockville, Maryland, where her three younger children are in school. Craig Wolff is an assistant professor at Columbia University School of Journalism and a former reporter for The New York Times , where he was part of the team that won a Pulitzer for coverage of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine , GQ , Rolling Stone , and the Daily News (New York). Klappentext Descended from West African kings and healers! raised in the turbulence of Guinea in the 1960s! Kadiatou Diallo was married off at the age of thirteen and bore her first child when she was sixteen. Twenty-three years later! that child-a gentle! innocent young man named Amadou Diallo-was gunned down without cause on the streets of New York City. Now Kadi Diallo tells the astonishing! inspiring story of her life! her loss! and the defiant strength she has always found within. CHAPTER ONE Discovering Water Against all reason, I see him gliding in the forest. He taps lightly on the barks of the nehri trees to wake them. He curls worms with the end of a stick, drops a rock in the water to watch the reflection of the sun break up into a thousand pieces. Sometimes he just stands on a hilltop, squeezes his eyes closed, and makes an extra effort to feel the wind, bounding along the Fouta Djallon, brush against his cheeks. What a fancy dream I have. There is no sense to this vision, no reason to believe he would have behaved this way. First of all, the country rolls strangely here. The mountain paths may turn left while the mountain itself slopes right. The horizon reveals whole plains and valleys rising and falling at opposing angles. The way God arranged the land is still visible: sudden ridges, odd crisscrosses of rivers and red rock, great movements toward the sky. A man not careful to keep his head down could suffer illusions in a place like this, become dizzy and fall down. He had no time to fall down. He had to get to school. On dry days, he left Diontou at six in the morning. He set out when the forest was still drawn in night shadow, still filled with the phantom shapes of prowling monsters. Most times he took an orange, two bananas, a mango, a long twist of bread, two small bags of red goro nuts, and pieces of cassava shredded by his mother’s fingers. He also brought a mathematics book, a reading book and a book of someone else’s history, two shirts, his prayer robe, called a boubou, and a prayer mat. The load was bound in a sack that he balanced on his head. The food held him for five hours, the entire journey between villages. On arriving in Diari, he ga...

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Kadiatou Diallo, Craig Wolff
• Editore: Random House USA
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 31.08.2004
• EAN: 9780345456014
• ISBN: 978-0-345-45601-4
• Pagine: 272
• Dimensioni: 134 mm x 202 mm x 15 mm
• Categoria: Narrativa > Romanzi