I Am Because We Are

Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr

Image | BOOK COVER: I Am Because We Are by Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr

(House of Anansi Press)

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. (From House of Anansi Press)
Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr is a Nigerian Canadian writer. I Am Because We Are is her first book.