Rating: 
Summary: This book was very one-sided!
Review: As a Black-American female who has experienced the same ignorance and negativity from African people as many Africans have experienced from American Blacks, I felt that the book was very bias. It seems that although Phillipe is of both American and African ancestry he seems to be more partial to his African ancestry. He spoke of his father's people with pride but barely mentioned his mother's people with much attachment. Are we to believe that only African families and people have values, strength and pride? That kind of thinking in itself shows that Africans can be just as ignorant of Black Americans as we can be of them. Phillipe Wamba and others of both cultures should learn that a few good or bad expreiences with a group of people does not make one an authority on that group. While I can somewhat understand Phillipe's outlook on the situation since he was raised predominately in Africa, however I feel that if he is serious about exposing the conflict between American Blacks and Africans he should protray the problem more honestly instead of seemingly blaming the misunderstanding between the two groups as primarily Black Americans' fault. On a more personal note. Me and my Central African husband will be having a bicultural child in August and I hope he or she will show more respect for my people then Mr. Wamba seems to show for his mother's. FYI: Me and my husband will be writing a book about African-Black American marriages and bi-cultural children. A book written in the words of the people its about. It is meant to give a positive yet honest perspective on African/American relations. Because I for one would like to read something on this subject that is not overly negative.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent work!
Review: I would recommend Kinship to every African and Black American. This book is both candid and humorous. As a University student, I have seen the financial and social challenges that African students go through. What I admire most about African immigrants, is their determination to succeed despite the double dose of hardships. I firmly believe that we as Africans should take an active role in educating the Americans about our continent. If we rely on the media, we will always be considered as the "dark continent."
Rating: 
Summary: Splendid work
Review: It is indeed a superb work by Phillipe. I find this book filled with enlightening facts and ideas, that in one way or another will [or has] help strengthen the black diaspora relations in recent decades. I Was really looking forward reading more work by Mr. P Wamba. May the Lord rest his Soul in Peace.
Rating:
Summary: africa oh yeah!
Review: Like Mr.Wamba, I spent roughly the first four years of my life in the United States, the next 14 in Nigeria & Cameroon and have lived here since 1984, when I moved back for architecture school.I initially heard of Phillippe Wamba when I listened to his interview with Terry Gross on public radio. It seems this book was written more from the African perspective than the African-American angle, so I find it interesting that Wamba thinks of himself as a "black-American", not an African. Otherwise, Wamba's memoir is very informative, especially when he writes extensively on African & African-American History.It also seems that the majority of people who've read this book are Africans, and I think that is a shame!
Rating:
Summary: africa oh yeah!
Review: Like Mr.Wamba, I spent roughly the first four years of my life in the United States, the next 14 in Nigeria & Cameroon and have lived here since 1984, when I moved back for architecture school.I initially heard of Phillippe Wamba when I listened to his interview with Terry Gross on public radio. It seems this book was written more from the African perspective than the African-American angle, so I find it interesting that Wamba thinks of himself as a "black-American", not an African. Otherwise, Wamba's memoir is very informative, especially when he writes extensively on African & African-American History.It also seems that the majority of people who've read this book are Africans, and I think that is a shame!
Rating:
Summary: Deja vu
Review: My life is chronicled in Mr Wamba's autobiography/history of pigment-endowed peoples. As the child of a Nigerian father and (black) American mother who was also born in the USA, moved to Nigeria at age 6, and returned here for college, I readily identified with each scenario and sense of excacerbation which he too experienced and describes. I recall once even arguing with someone regarding whether Africa was a country or a continent! Kinship is a carefully crafted, meticulously researched and beautifully written, enlightening work of art-political history. I have described it to friends as taking off where "Before the Mayflower" stopped, with some forays into earlier history. The focus and view point here, ofcourse are different, but oh! The volumes we learn from both immeasurable! My only disappointment, was that although he has very deliberately chosen issues to discuss (music, clothing, cross-cultural marital problems), there are some more pressing issues which are only fleetingly adressed, and he offers us no suggestions for possible solutions. I wondered as I read this fascinating piece of Phillipe's heart, whether he worries, as do I, about the continuing brain-drain from the continent, and how to rectify the problem. Does he wonder about how to persuade our (relatives) to desist from destroying themselves and our homelands; how to make the politicians realize that nepotism and corruption will never lead to improvement? Phillipe, do you wonder how much longer we will have that other place to call home? All that aside, I intend to pad his coffers and buy copies for my siblings, that they too, may look in the mirror he presents us, and reflect on our responsibility as representatives of, and ambassadors to both sides: the African and "New World/Diaspora" Blacks.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and insightful
Review: Philippe Wamba does a masterful job of using his own family's experiences to introduce and highlight broader trends and issues in the history of relations between Africans and African Americans. He manages to combine historical analysis and synthesis with very personal episodes, showing how long-standing issues continue to bear relevancy and immediacy. I found this book to be a thoughtful examination of how Africans and African Americans have made attempts to work together across the Atlantic, even as each group has labored under mistaken impressions of the other. I would not limit the readership of this book to African Americans, or students at historically black colleges. I think it's possible for students (formal and informal) of all ethnicities to learn from this book, both about African/African American relations in specific and cultural issues in general. _Kinship_ provides a new angle on U.S. and world history. Its thoroughness and accessibility should make it a useful and welcome addition to any number of course reading lists.
Rating:
Summary: A book ahead of its time
Review: Philippe Wamba's book is a must read for all interested in humanity. Mr. Wamba records history that has been ignored by the world community in an interesting storytelling style. The book is ahead of its time. The author digs deep into the untold stories to examine the cause of division among people, from a global prospective. Mr. Wamba's rich observation is enhanced by his knowledge of history and a humble way of looking at his personal experiences across continents. In addition, he engages readers with an exemplary family and a coming of age story. The writer parallels his family tale with world history and current events. In the process, he neatly packages information that is not readily available. The book will make you laugh with pleasant stories and cry with cruel tales. It is a shame how we humans continue to ignore ideas that unite and enlighten us in favor of the old dividing ones, as we keep losing forward thinking leaders before their time - such as Philippe Wamba. The book shows us what type of history we create when we function in this world based on suspicion and ignorance among each other.
Rating:
Summary: A book ahead of its time
Review: Philippe Wamba's book is a must read for all interested in humanity. Mr. Wamba records history that has been ignored by the world community in an interesting storytelling style. The book is ahead of its time. The author digs deep into the untold stories to examine the cause of division among people, from a global prospective. Mr. Wamba's rich observation is enhanced by his knowledge of history and a humble way of looking at his personal experiences across continents. In addition, he engages readers with an exemplary family and a coming of age story. The writer parallels his family tale with world history and current events. In the process, he neatly packages information that is not readily available. The book will make you laugh with pleasant stories and cry with cruel tales. It is a shame how we humans continue to ignore ideas that unite and enlighten us in favor of the old dividing ones, as we keep losing forward thinking leaders before their time - such as Philippe Wamba. The book shows us what type of history we create when we function in this world based on suspicion and ignorance among each other.
Rating:
Summary: This book was very one-sided!
Review: There are many books (both fiction and nonfiction) that explore what it means to be an African-American. As far as I know, this is the only book that focuses on being an African among African-Americans, and being an African-American among Africans. Philippe Wamba, born of a African-American mother and a Congolese father, was raised in the United States, Congo, and Tanzania. Growing up he is always partially the outsider, not fitting in completely among Africans nor African-Americans. He astutely observes relations between Africans and African-Americans on both continents. His personal and family history and anecdotes are interesting enough, but they are only half his book. His book is also a thoughtful and very well-researched essay on various connections (and disconnections) of Africans, African-Americans, their culture, history, and relations. He discusses everthing and everyone from James Aggrey to Maya Angelou, Edward Blyden to James Brown, the Congo Free State to the Cosby Show. These two strains are woven together quite well: throughout the book his family's story sets the scene for a lesson in African history or a review of African-American literature, which in turn, leads to the next topic in his own story. (In this way the book reminded me of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig, which is both a story of a father-son motorcycle trip as well as a history of Western philosopy.) The book contains useful notes, a bibliography, and an index. Highly recommended.
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