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Chapter 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “A Love Letter”
Content Warning: This section includes discussions of anti-Black racism.
The section starts with a brief anecdote in which a Black American college student asks a visiting professor from Africa whether the people who built the Egyptian pyramids were African. The professor replies that to give a satisfying answer, he would have to talk “every day, twenty-four hours a day, for at least three thousand years” (111).
Sissie writes a long love letter to an unnamed man she met while studying abroad. The two of them sometimes disagreed about colonialism, the current state of African independence, and European culture. The man wanted Sissie to accept that the world is changing instead of remaining stuck in the past. Sissie found it difficult to let go of her country’s colonial past without having much idea of what the future might hold. Sometimes, in their debates, Sissie would feel ashamed, though she never thought her perspective was incorrect. The man wanted her to see the best in everyone, but Sissie found that very difficult because she recognized the intense legacy of violence against Africans. She points out the contradictory racist Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
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By Ama Ata Aidoo
