I Am Because We Are: An African Mother's Fight for the Soul of a Nation

by Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr

Overview

In this innovative and intimate memoir, a daughter tells the story of her mother, a pan-African hero who faced down misogyny and battled corruption in Nigeria. 

Inspired by the African philosophy of Ubuntu — the importance of community over the individual — and outraged by injustice, Dora Akunyili took on fraudulent drug manufacturers whose products killed millions, including her sister.

A woman in a man’s world, she was elected and became a cabinet minister, but she had to deal with political manoeuvrings, death threats, and an assassination attempt for defending the voiceless. She suffered for it, as did her marriage and six children. 

I Am Because We Are illuminates the role of kinship, family, and the individual’s place in society, while revealing a life of courage, how community shaped it, and the web of humanity that binds us all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781487009632
Publisher:	House of Anansi Press
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

CHIDIOGO AKUNYILI-PARR is a Nigerian Canadian author, speaker, and consultant with a passion for human development and connection. She is the founder of She ROARs, an organization committed to coaching women of colour around the world to connect to their intuition and purpose. Her work is focused on harnessing the power of our interdependence with a foundation in the humanist African philosophy of Ubuntu, which celebrates our shared humanity. Chidiogo has lived and worked across four continents and speaks seven languages, including Mandarin, German, Spanish, and French, allowing for an even deeper connection with people. She led the growth and impact of the Global Shapers Community across Africa and the Middle East. 

Editorial Reviews

11/01/2021

In this heartfelt if imperfect debut, Akunyili-Parr reflects on the life of her mother, Dora Akunyili (1954–2014), a titan of Nigerian politics. Writing in her mother’s voice, Akunyili-Parr starts with Dora’s childhood in Biafra—where, she notes, no one “was spared a first-hand experience of the war”—and charts her devotion to her academic studies, which later led to her rise through the ranks of local government. Inspired by the death of her sister due to a fake insulin shot in 1987, Akunyili “had a front-row seat to how the system discriminated against precisely those in need” and fought tirelessly against the corruption in Nigeria’s health-care system. Despite facing discrimination as an Igbo woman, Akunyili became director-general of the Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in 2001 and vowed to “tackle the Hydra-headed monster called counterfeit medicines.” While readers will undoubtedly be inspired by Akunyili’s role in shaping modern Nigeria, Akunyili-Parr’s approach to telling her mother’s story through a first-person narrative often yields writing that feels more formal than intimate—recalling her mother’s marriage to her father, for instance, Akunyili-Parr writes, “I felt so deeply blessed for this man that I now called husband.” The result unfortunately feels like a shallow summation of an immensely complicated life. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

I Am Because We Are is an engaging family story with enough twists and turns to keep readers motivated to continue to the last page.

Winnipeg Free Press