A Man From Another Land: How Finding My Roots Changed My Life

A Man From Another Land by Isaiah WashingtonAuthor: Isaiah Washington
(Twitter: @IWashington)

ISBN-13: 9781599954264
Publisher: Center Street
Publication date: 4/27/2011

When I was done reading A Man from Another Land: How Finding My Roots Changed My Life by the actor, producer and philanthropist – Isaiah Washington – all I wanted to do was ask him, “How are you doing Isaiah?

The emotional response that Isaiah unshackles, in me and others who have read the book, is meticulously woven in the outcomes of a narrative that juxtaposes triumphs and tribulations which are simultaneously personal and communal. This centerpiece of personal, community, racial and continental befuddlement, I submit, is the story of perception of slavery, identity, conflict and human development starring Africans and African Americans.

Here’s how Isaiah Washington captures it:

“I felt a range of conflicting emotions – anger, hurt, disgust – but at the same time I was very proud about what I saw and heard there. The anger stemmed from my own ignorance. I knew nothing about Bunce Island’s history and its connection to the development of the Southern region of the United States…pg 138

During a meeting with the members of the BO Council, I felt my spirit shift from the despair I had been feeling earlier to something different. In the middle of the meeting I felt compelled to say, “Before I’m inducted as an honorary chief tomorrow, my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother says that she forgives you.”
The women in the council dropped their heads. The men sat there staring at me, speechless. Raymond’s brother, Alieu Manga, jumped and shouted, “There were extenuating circumstances, there were extenuating circumstances, there were extenuating circumstances then! What would you have done?” he asked. I heard myself say, “I would have died before I sold you away.” Pg 143

Such riveting dialogue, smacked squarely in the middle of 286 pages, far from a mere coincidence, is a perfect segue from the chronicles of personal and family trials, adolescence, military service, university education, the foundations of his acting career, his peak and crash in the star show Grey’s Anatomy and his new found identity and purpose. Yet, the dialogue on slavery denies to be buried and cuts through the pages for me, coming alive, as it were, with a sense of urgency that now is the time when dialogue must be had among all parties involved for a healing process to begin in earnest.

As an African I ask myself, is it possible for this generation of Africans to explain or even try to make excuses for acts allegedly perpetrated by their “great-great-great-great-great-grandparents” such as what Alieu Manga posits, “There were extenuating circumstances”. If you state that there were extenuating circumstances, the next logical question would be, ‘What were those circumstances?” As a matter of fact, whatever historical evidence the world currently knows are narratives of the slave master.

The story of the African chiefs who traded has not been narrated ad nauseam as has that of the buyer and master, and part of it may well reside in what documentation the chiefs may or may not have had. However, this is a dialogue we must all begin to have; not always keeping quiet like the women in the council did, as if to wish it away; or making defensive and unpalatable excuses at the risk of further alienation.

Is it not high time Africans accept to transmit the forgiveness from Isaiah’s “great-great-great-great-great-grandmother” to our “great-great-great-great-great-grandparents’? What is wrong with that?

Africa is as much a victim of slavery today as the sons and daughters that its forebears auctioned off into slavery. In other words, slavery haunted the Africa of my ancestors yesterday and remains unshackled in my world today. Who says Africa would not be better off today had some of her strongest and most viable children not been shipped off across the Atlantic and to other parts of the world?

This intersection of suffering, past and present, readily explains the heart of Washington’s commitment that he “would have died before I sold you away”. By the end of his tale in “A Man from Another Land” the reader is able to tell the great extents to which Isaiah Washington is willing to go for what he believes in.

A Man From Another Land is in many ways a reflection of life in general – the ups and downs, triumphs and falls, sorrows and joys … it is about the strength of the human spirit and especially about the power of finding your purpose and being grounded in your identity.

Truth be told, when I was done reading “A Man from Another Land” by Isaiah Washington, it was difficult to remain indifferent to his experiences. I felt like picking up my phone and calling him to ask a few questions: “How are you doing Isaiah? How about your wife? What did you do to make it work? How about your family in Sierra Leone – how are your relations with the Manga family? What happened to your fight against corruption in that community? What initiatives have you put in place to continue the fighting? What can we do to help foster the great works you started in Africa? I could go on and on…

… And Isaiah Washington may need a sequel to answer all of the questions.

A Man from Another Land: How Finding My Roots Changed My Life is available on Amazon

Innocent Chia is Twitter: @InnoChia

Isaiah Washington featured on the cover of DUNIA Magazine Issue 9 – Special Edition. Full interview on pg 30-38 of free E-magazine now available

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