Homegoing

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Americanah: A novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• Adichie’s novel follows two lovers who must split up and leave their home country of Nigeria. The story explores what living abroad means for their African identities, and what happens when they return home.
• Adichie’s work similarly looks at themes of isolation, Exile and Return to the homeland, African experiences in America, and life on the undocumented fringe of society.
• gives another take on the African experience abroad, political changes, and the current legacy of racism in America and Europe
• Americanah on SuperSummary

“Ghana Calls” by W.E.B. Du Bois

• Written just after Ghana gained independence, W.E.B. Du Bois’ poem is a call to readers to turn from white European and American cultural dominance and embrace the “might and power” of Ghana’s rich cultural history.
• The poem allows students to explore an American perspective on Ghanaian history in the context of the American civil rights movement. A renowned activist, writer, and sociologist who was a strong proponent of Pan-Africanism, Du Bois eventually visited Ghana and never returned to the U.S., dying in Accra in 1963.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

• Kendi’s book goes deeper on the history of slavery and racism in America, giving students important context and language when speaking about modern racism and stereotypes.
• Paired with Homegoing, this book will allow students, no matter their background, to identify racist ideas and act in positive ways that can restore justice and equality in the face of lingering institutional and societal racism.
• Stamped from the Beginning on SuperSummary

Other Student Resources

Yaa Gyasi speaks about Homegoing at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2016

• Gyasi reads excerpts from her work and describes her writing process and goals for the novel.

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley

• A predecessor to Homegoing, Roots similarly follows an American family history that is rooted in Africa and changed by slavery.
• Students could read all or some chapters of the novel and watch excerpts of the original 1977 miniseries or its more modern adaptation released in 2016.
• Roots on SuperSummary

“The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration” in Smithsonian Magazine

• Students can delve deeper into the history of the Great Migration, from what sparked it to its modern legacy.
• Gyasi’s text confronts the positive and negative effects this migration has on Willie and her descendants, and students can be prompted to identify other ways this huge cultural shift had both advantages and disadvantages for African Americans.

“The Anglo-Asante Wars” on New World Encyclopedia

• This article gives context to the wars that follow Effia’s family line living in Ghana and that shaped the nation right up to its independence.

Teacher Resources

“Belonging Creates and Undoes Us”: an interview with Padraig O Tuama

• O Tuama is a poet and theologian with experience in conflict resolution in Northern Ireland, and healing cycles of violence.
• In this interview he speaks to the paradoxical problem of belonging, which may assist teachers by offering another perspective on the legacy of violence in Homegoing, and why characters seek to resolve and escape it in different ways.

“Addressing Race and Racism Head-On in the Classroom” by Sarah Gonser

• This article provides a justification and means for speaking effectively about race and racism in the classroom.