BOOK REVIEW: WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK ?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK… Celebrating our Heriatge,Confronting our Challenges © 2007, MATTHEW ASHIMOLOWO

It's nice doing a first book review this year and I will like to start with a Nigerian Author, WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK is a book I read between December and January based on recommendation by a very good friend and I will like to share it today, although I wouldn’t delve much into the many details treated by the book, I will only provide an Introduction from the author overview..Enjoy!

THE BOOK

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING BLACK is a great book, detailed and backed up with so much anthropological and historical facts, as regards the civilization of man and even the man of colour in particular.

It provides biblical background to what has been and we now have today, as far as the black or entire human race is concerned.

I believe the entire work, apart from being a godly perspective to the issue of race and other human issues, is very rich in research and could suffice for a body of knowledge of a doctoral thesis or even more..

Indeed Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo has done a great work in this piece. The book enjoyed some endorsements from Bishop T.D Jakes, Bishop Kenneth C Ulmer ,Dr. Myles Munroe, among others. An introduction from him gives a background to the work:

In the past years the state of the Black person globally has become paramount on my mind. I have observed that wherever Black people are, whether it is Australia – among the Aborigines, Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, or North America, we seem to belong at the bottom of the pile, or the bottom of the pyramid, economically, socially, physically, mentally, etc. It makes one ask several questions:

• What is responsible for these 2,000 years of “Black backwardness”? • Why do we seem to fail even where we are in the majority?

• Is the Black man victimized; and is he a victim of his own circumstances, pathologies, or of other people’s opinions and decisions?

• Have Blacks always been this way?

• Are we descended from “Kunta Kinteh” or from kings?

• If Blacks are not cursed, what did they do to deserve almost 2,000 years of oppression, lack, etc?

• What is responsible for Africa being the richest continent and yet inhabited by the poorest people?

• If Black means only one sixteenth of skin, why are Blacks un-able to overcome the “victimitis” or pressure that comes with it?

• Is there a conspiracy to keep Blacks at the bottom?

• Why do Black nations constitute the biggest borrower nations?

• If Blacks are not cursed, is their land cursed?

• Africans are religious by nature, and where they have become Christians they have been committed. Why are they still not making progress?

• Why is there such a gap between White dominated and Black dominated nations?

• What are the pathologies responsible for the state of Blacks in different settings?

• Can there be healing to the atrocities committed against Blacks in the past?

• Some African nations have the highest number of educated citizens, yet Africa in modern times has not contributed significantly to discoveries or inventions.

• What is the future of the Black person?

• If there is a future, what is the key to that future?

• When will the Black man’s day of manifestation come?

The answers to all these questions can be found in each chapter of the 348-page book.

The entire Contents is Outlined below:

Introduction

PART 1 His Glorious Past

1. Chapter1

Man- A master of Creation

2. Chapter 2

The black Man’s Dominion

3. Chapter 3

The Great Empire Builders

4. Chapter 4

The Great Black Personalities

5. The Wealthy Continent

PART 3 Conformations and Pathologies

Introduction

6. Idolatry

7. Superstition

8. Witchcraft

9. Slavery

10. Distorted Family Values

11. Black Disunity

12. Black on Black Crime

13. Economically Challenged

14. Racism

15. Mis-governance

16. Leadership Crisis

17. Sexploitation

18. Dependency Syndrome

19. Colonial Heritage

20. Immigration

21. Apartheid

22. Faulted Educational Systems

23. Segregation

24. Self Image problem 25. Marginalization

CONCLUSION: Transforming the Heart

Summary/conclusion: In chapter 20,while talking on Immigration, the book posits that,” It’s estimated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that 20million African men and women are migrant workers and that by 2015,one in ten Africans will be living outside the country of their original birth” It concluded by noting that:

• There’s nothing wrong with being black.

• God created blacks equal to all others • We have a proud heritage; we can rise to that height again with proper respect for God and each other. You can buy the book at www.amazon.com I hope you enjoyed the review!

Go and achieve greatness!

Cheers!

Emmanuel Ayeni

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