Boyah J. Farah at Harvard Book Store

presenting

America Made Me a Black Man:
A Memoir

in conversation with ABDI IFTIN

Date

Sep
15
Thursday
September 15, 2022
7:00 PM ET

Location

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

This event is free; no tickets are required.

Harvard Book Store welcomes BOYAH J. FARAH—writer and founder of the Abaadi School in Garowe, Somalia—for a discussion of his new book America Made Me a Black Man: A Memoir. He will be joined in conversation by reporter and columnist ABDI IFTIN.

A Return to In-Person Events

Harvard Book Store is excited to be back to in-person programming. To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone in attendance, the following Covid-19 safety protocols will be in place at all of our Harvard Book Store events until further notice:

  • Face coverings are required of all staff and attendees when inside the store. Masks must snugly cover nose and mouth.

About America Made Me a Black Man

“No one told me about America.”

Born in Somalia and raised in a valley among nomads, Boyah Farah grew up with a code of male bravado that helped him survive deprivation, disease, and civil war. Arriving in America, he believed that the code that had saved him would help him succeed in this new country. But instead of safety and freedom, Boyah found systemic racism, police brutality, and intense prejudice in all areas of life, including the workplace. He learned firsthand not only what it meant to be an African in America, but what it means to be African American. The code of masculinity that shaped generations of men in his family could not prepare Farah for the painful realities of life in the United States.

Lyrical yet unsparing, America Made Me a Black Man is the first book-length examination of American racism from an African outsider’s perspective. With a singular poetic voice brimming with imagery, Boyah challenges us to face difficult truths about the destructive forces that threaten Black lives and attempts to heal a fracture in Black men’s identity.

Abdi Iftin
Abdi Iftin

Abdi Iftin

Abdi Iftin is an award-winning author who lives in Yarmouth, Maine. His memoir Call Me American—winner of Maine’s Lupine Award and the Jennie McLaughlin Award for Lifelong Learningincludes stories about growing up in war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, fleeing to Kenya, and eventually winning entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery. Abdi braved sending audio diaries while living in war-torn Somalia and as a refugee in Kenya. Abdi's story is an essential immigrant story, enlightening and immediate. He currently works with a national nonprofit that resettles refugees and advocates for the rights of immigrants and people seeking asylum in the United States, is the Somali reporter for the Maine Public News, and writes weekly columns for The Forecaster and The Portland Press Herald

Boyah J. Farah
Boyah J. Farah

Boyah J. Farah

Boyah Farah’s writing has been featured in The Guardian, Harvard Transition, Scheer Intelligence at KCRW, Grub Daily, and Truthdig. His essays have appeared in Harvard’s Kennedy School Review, Pangyrus magazine, and The Huffington Post, and he is the winner of Salon‘s best essay of 2017. He recently founded the Abaadi School in Garowe, Somalia, which offers instruction in English, Math and Science to boys and girls ages 13-24. Boyah divides his time between Boston and Somalia.

Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 2 minutes

As you exit the station, reverse your direction and walk east along Mass. Ave. in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. Cross Dunster St. and proceed along Mass. Ave for three more blocks. You will pass Au Bon Pain, JP Licks, and TD Bank. Harvard Book Store is located at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Plympton St.

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