Growing Up Yoruba

Book excerpt: What exactly does it mean to grow up Yoruba? For author Kemba Mchawi, it meant juggling the vastly different worlds of being a teenager in Brooklyn with the curious practices of a religion that started in Africa. While she sometimes felt like she needed dual personalities to live in both of these worlds, she definitely succeeded at mastering them both, and even became an initiated priest of Yemonja. Now, she takes her childhood experience and her teachings to help teenagers everywhere learn more about this religion that has shaped and blessed her way of life. Growing Up Yoruba - A Teen Guide Book for Practicing the Yoruba Lucumi Tradition takes a down-to-earth approach in teaching teenagers how to practice this religion, while still enjoying all of the great things about being a teenager in America. Both memoir and teaching tool, this hip, humorous look at embracing the religion covers everything from must-haves for spiritual rituals to summoning up your Yoruba warrior. To do so, Mchawi shares stories from her own coming-of-age in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, where she spent as much time hanging around the basketball tournaments as she did developing her religious practices. The involvement of African-Americans in the Yoruba religion now spans over six decades, having emerged in the 1960s, often coming here by way of Cubans of African origin. In her eye-opening book, Mchawi explains this cultural phenomenon, and how people like her mother grew to adopt the religion and create communities throughout America that shared in its practice. Realizing that there were no books for teens to get a richer perspective on the religion, she has taken it as her mission to use her own Kemba voice to address their concerns about getting involved in an African religion while living in America. Along with the stories, she includes the actual 101 type facts on the religion, and what it means to be a part of this dynamic culture. The first book of its kind, her funny, frank voice specifically addresses a younger audience, sharing her firsthand account of growing up in a household practicing Yoruba. For example, she had to sometimes learn to tolerate annoying things like people walking into her house and bossing her around. By offering a deeper understanding of the Yoruba religion, she teaches young believers to find the balance in their lives upholding the religion while also living life experiences to the fullest. Celebrating love of God, good character, and respect of family, Growing Up Yoruba - A Teen Guide Book for Practicing the Yoruba Lucumi Tradition will show any young adult how to make the most of the Yoruba's many gifts, while demonstrating how they can still be an all-American teen.