{"product_id":"my-country-africa-isbn-9781839768712","title":"My Country, Africa","description":"\u003cb\u003e“We who have been colonized can never forget”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAndrée Blouin—once called the most dangerous woman in Africa—played a leading role in the struggles for decolonization that shook the continent in the 1950s and ’60s, advising the postcolonial leaders of Algeria, both Congos, Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea, and Ghana.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this autobiography, Blouin retraces her remarkable journey as an African revolutionary. Born in French Equatorial Africa and abandoned at the age of three, she endured years of neglect and abuse in a colonial orphanage, which she escaped after being forced by nuns into an arranged marriage at fifteen. She later became radicalized by the death of her two-year-old son, who was denied malaria medication by French officials because he was one-quarter African.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Guinea, where Blouin was active in Sékou Touré’s campaign for independence, she came into contact with leaders of the liberation movement in the Belgian Congo. Blouin witnessed the Congolese tragedy up close as an adviser to Patrice Lumumba, whose arrest and assassination she narrates in unforgettable detail.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlouin offers a sweeping survey of pan-African nationalism, capturing the intricacies of revolutionary diplomacy, comradeship, and betrayal. Alongside intimate portraits of the movement’s leaders, Blouin provides insights into the often-overlooked contribution of African women in the struggle for independence.Introduction\u003cbr\u003e Editor’s Note\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Part I\u003cbr\u003e 1 From the Village to the Orphanage\u003cbr\u003e 2 Years of Misery, a Week of Happiness\u003cbr\u003e 3 Coming of Age Brings New Terrors\u003cbr\u003e 4 Flight to a New Life\u003cbr\u003e 5 Hard Days Precede First Love\u003cbr\u003e 6 Africa Unfolds, My Life Takes a Turn\u003cbr\u003e 7 My Rita and My Father\u003cbr\u003e 8 Grueling Enterprises and Tragedy\u003cbr\u003e 9 A Funeral and a Marriage\u003cbr\u003e 10 Europe and My Great Love\u003cbr\u003e 11 Siguiri, Land of Gold and Thirst\u003cbr\u003e 12 Little Joséphine, My Own \u003ci\u003eMaman\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Part II\u003cbr\u003e 13 Destiny Calls, My Political Work Begins\u003cbr\u003e 14 Healing the Breach between African Brothers\u003cbr\u003e 15 An Invitation to Help the Congo’s Women\u003cbr\u003e 16 A Perilous Campaign in the Brush\u003cbr\u003e 17 Ominous Developments Surround Lumumba\u003cbr\u003e 18 Expulsion on the Eve of Independence\u003cbr\u003e 19 The Protocol and the Escape\u003cbr\u003e 20 The Congo Catastrophe\u003cbr\u003e 21 Betrayal Everywhere\u003cbr\u003e 22 Lumumba’s Downfall and Ruin\u003cbr\u003e 23 My Africa, My Joséphine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eEpilogue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003ePostface\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eIndex\u003c\/i\u003e\"Embodying pan-Africanism, Blouin befriended, counseled or lobbied the first presidents or prime ministers of Algeria, both Congos, Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea and Ghana.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Stuart A. Reid, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An amazingly good and moving description of a childhood blighted by the horrors of colonialism, told by an extraordinary woman … Riveting.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Jessica Mitford\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A penetrating study of colonial society.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Studs Terkel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Magnificent ... Illuminates our understanding of how the politics of a country shapes its people’s lives.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Tillie Olsen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Our enemies attack her all the time. Not for what she’s done, but simply because she is a woman, and she is there, in the thick of it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Patrice Lumumba\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An extraordinary and vital work by one of the towering figures of anticolonial resistance. That Andrée Blouin has not been as renowned as Lumumba, Sankara, Cabral, has always been a scandalous injustice. This new edition of her memoir goes some way to redressing that, and is a publishing and political event of immense importance.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—China Miéville, author of \u003ci\u003eA Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Through\u003ci\u003e My Country, Africa\u003c\/i\u003e, Blouin's extraordinary story is being released for a second time, this time into a world that shows greater interest in the historical contributions of women. New readers will learn of the girl who went from being stashed away by the colonial system, to fighting for the freedom of millions of black Africans.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Wedaeli Chibelushi, \u003ci\u003eBBC\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of race, gender, and freedom.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Measured and nuanced ... \u003ci\u003eMy Country, Africa \u003c\/i\u003eis an intense history of colonialism. Blouin’s story serves as a microcosm for the near misses, cycles and reason-defying hope that characterise Africa’s past.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Colm McKenna, \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bravo, Verso Books, for publishing Andrée's, more relevant than ever, story.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Rosita Sweetman, \u003ci\u003eIrish Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"All readers of this insider’s view of the fight for African independence will be inspired by the contribution made by this important and much neglected woman in the black liberation movement.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Roger McKenzie, \u003ci\u003eMorning Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[Blouin's] general lack of recognition is of course an indictment on the ethnocentric, as well as androcentric, way history is narrated ... riveting\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Tola Ositelu, \u003ci\u003eAfropean\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A remarkable autobiography that feels like a relevant reflection on the present, not a historical account ... Blouin’s voice rings loud and clear throughout her account of her life, conversational and at times proudly regaling. I found myself gripped, like a junior listening to a family elder, and wondered how she seemed so comfortable in her skin and in command of her story despite such painful experiences.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Nesrine Malik, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A moving testimony to political radicalization, independence, and the skillful use of language as a weapon in the hands of a fearless activist. As a woman in the male-dominated world of state leaders in the 1960s, her biography is unique\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Von Julian Weber, \u003ci\u003eDie Tageszeitung\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrée Blouin\u003c\/b\u003e was a central figure in the struggles for decolonization that swept Africa in the 1950s and 1960s. Her activism gave her a front-row seat to the triumph and tragedy of national liberation movements across the continent.","brand":"Verso","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301919445221,"sku":"NP9781839768712","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781839768712.jpg?v=1767733237","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/my-country-africa-isbn-9781839768712","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}