I Didn't Want To Be Apologetic About

Americans Think African Writers Will Write About The Exotic, About Wildlife, Poverty, Maybe Aids. They Come To Africa And African Books With Certain Expectations.

The Only Reason Race Matters Is Because Of Racism.

Some People Ask: "why The Word Feminist? Why Not Just Say You Are A Believer In Human Rights, Or Something Like That?" Because That Would Be Dishonest. Feminism Is, Of Course, Part Of Human Rights In General-but To Choose To Use The Vague Expression Human Rights Is To Deny The Specific And Particular Problem Of Gender. It Would Be A Way Of Pretending That It Was Not Women Who Have, For Centuries, Been Excluded. It Would Be A Way Of Denying That The Problem Of Gender Targets Women.

I Recently Spoke At A University Where A Student Told Me It Was Such A Shame That Nigerian Men Were Physical Abusers Like The Father Character In My Novel. I Told Him That I Had Recently Read A Novel Called American Psycho,and That It Was A Shame That Young Americans Were Serial Murderers.

When It Comes To Dressing Well, American Culture Is So Self-fulfilled That It Has Not Only Disregarded This Courtesy Of Self-presentation, But Has Turned That Disregard Into A Virtue. "we Are Too Superior/busy/cool/not-uptight To Bother About How We Look To Other People, And So We Can Wear Pajamas To School And Underwear To The Mall.