"Nappy-Headed
Ho" Or African Queen? Rutgers Graduate Pens New Book
Entitled I'm African and Proud
Jwajiku Korantéma - author, educator
and graduate of Rutgers University
Bookcover
Brooklyn, NY
(BlackNews.com) - “Shout it loud! I’m African and proud!”
So declares a vibrantly colorful new book for young readers
by Rutgers graduate Jwajiku Korantéma. Seeking to inspire
children of African descent, Korantéma wrote, I’m African
and Proud, an invitation to joyous self-celebration. As
she’d hoped, children are responding with excitement to the
book’s lilting rhyme, vivid illustrations and straightforward
message.
“I’ve seen so
many children of African descent who have low self-esteem
and I want them to know that they are a beautiful people.
I also want our young women to know that they are not nappy-headed
hos,” says Korantéma.
She wrote I’m
African and Proud with children ranging from preschool
to grade 3 primarily in mind, but says that children of all
ages are impacted by the positive message.
A career educator and multicultural education consultant,
Korantéma has taught for 32 years, spending 21 of those years
teaching kindergarten. The little faces turned to her in rapt
attention each day fueled her commitment to provide a well-rounded
foundation for her students. Over the years she saw that they
still faced some of the same challenges she had as a child.
Too many children suffer from a lack of pride and self-esteem.
Bombarded with media and advertising images exalting European
standards of beauty, these children often denigrate their
own appearance and ethnicity. This diminished view of self
leads even young children to have lower expectations of their
capabilities and prospects for the future.
Korantéma
always felt that a stronger connection to their cultural
heritage would serve as an antidote for her students.
Knowing that they have come from and are still connected
to a great tradition, helps children to stand taller
and think bigger.
“So
many of our children don’t know they’re African: that
their ancestors didn’t come over on the Nina, the Pinta
or the Santa Maria,” says Korantéma. “Without this knowledge
they’re not connected to a base, a motherland. It’s
like being adopted: if you don’t tell the child and
he or she finds out later, there’ll be confusion and
rebellion.”
I’m
African and Proud is Korantéma’s answer to the unspoken
question many of her students had regarding their significance
to the world. Written in rhyme, the book speaks of how
fabulous children are with the faces, skin tones, thoughts
and dreams they have right now. Parents and educators
will find children enthusiastic to read the book over
and over again or to have it read to them.
Affirming and accessible, this book will become a trusted
friend, helping young children to grasp reading essentials
while looking at themselves and their friends in a new
way. The legacy lessons and career choices highlighted
are the proverbial icing on the cake. The book also
serves as an introduction to children of other races
to the cultural legacy of their classmates of African
descent.
There are plans for an accompanying I’m African and
Proud CD as well as a big-book-format edition and
an I’m African and Proud! T-shirt. Korantéma
would also love to provide paper dolls that children
can dress in outfits worn by people of African descent
across the world. She is excited about her debut children’s
book and has lots of other great ideas to help nurture
students minds and expand their horizons. As she looks
forward to retiring from the public school system next
June, she’s gratified to leave students to come a maxim
to carry forth: “I’m African and Proud!’
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