“You can’t go Home no More”: Africans in America in the Age of Globaliza...

Draft of Chapter 2 in West African migrations : transnational and global pathways in a new century, edited by Mojúbàolú Oluf́únké Okome and Olufemi Vaughan, published by Palgrave Macmillan, NY 2012, pp. 15-40 Home, Identity and Identity Politics – an Introduction • Àjò ò lè dùn k’ónílé má re’lé (no matter how enjoyable the journey might be, one is bound to return home). • Ilé l’àbò ìsinmi oko – Home is the resting place for those returning from the farm (labor). You labor abroad and rest at home. There are many clichés about home – Home is where the heart is, for instance. However, since this is a contribution to a project on Transnational Africa and Globalization foregrounding how personal experiences, professional interests, and scholarship shaped experiences of Diaspora and Transnationality, I feel the necessity to return to Nigeria from my present location in North America, and will weave in scholarly ruminations on home, sojourn, and return, all within the context of how transnationality and globalism have shaped my experiences. Since I do not see myself as a passive victim of circumstances, I will also give some insight into how I have consciously and otherwise shaped my experiences of these worldwide phenomena, within the limits of my capabilities. I will do this through the use of my understanding of the Yorùbá language, and my experience and knowledge of the culture to explicate what these experiences and phenomena mean to me. The fulltext of the draft chapter is found at: https://www.academia.edu/99089402/_You_can_t_go_Home_no_More_Africans_in_America_in_the_Age_of_Globalization