Books

BOOK CORNER: Author tells colorful story of aging, friendship, loss

WAVE NEWSPAPERS — Morayo De Silva, a senior cosmopolitan Nigerian woman, is in good health and makes the most of her life living in San Francisco, enjoying road trips, conversing with strangers and recollecting characters from her favorite novels. After a fall, her independence crumbles, leaving her to rely on friends and chance encounters for support. In “Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun,” author Sarah Ladipo Manyika offers a story about aging, friendship and loss.

Published

6 years ago

April 29, 2019

Marissa Wells Contributing Writer

By Marissa Wells

Morayo De Silva, a senior cosmopolitan Nigerian woman, is in good health and makes the most of her life living in San Francisco, enjoying road trips, conversing with strangers and recollecting characters from her favorite novels.

After a fall, her independence crumbles, leaving her to rely on friends and chance encounters for support. In “Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun,” author Sarah Ladipo Manyika offers a story about aging, friendship and loss.

“Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun” was inspired by many of the older women Manyika has encountered in her life.

“I’ve met many older women who have lived colorful lives, and yet, when it comes to fiction, I don’t find many stories that mirror this, especially so when it comes to the lives of black women,” Manyika said.

The book introduces readers to characters of different social and cultural backgrounds and will no doubt allow readers to expand their understanding of others.

“One of the reasons why I love to read and I think one of the reasons why other people love to read is to be able to expand our understanding of humanity and to expand our horizons,” Manyika said.

Manyika feels invested in all of the characters but if she had to pick a favorite it would be Morayo. The main challenges that protagonist Morayo faces are the physical and mental limitations that come with growing older.

“Morayo works hard to stay optimistic through the challenges that life brings. In the same way that she enjoys changing the endings of some of her favorite books, she also tries to embrace narratives that help move her forward rather than getting her stuck or depressed,” the author said. “I’ve written a character to inspire me and also, hopefully, my readers too.”

It is Manyika’s hope that readers not only enjoy the story but that it “gets readers to think and ponder life and not to be fearful of the ‘other.’”

In addition to being an author, Manyika is an educator, mentor, and mother. She lives in San Francisco. To learn more about the author and her work, visit sarahladipomanyika.com.

“Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun” is available for $14.95 in bookstores and online bookstores like Amazon and more.

This article originally appeared in the Wave Newspapers.

Marissa Wells Contributing Writer

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

7 hours ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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BOOK REVIEW: The Afterlife of Malcolm X

Betty Shabazz didn’t like to go to her husband’s speeches, but on that February night in 1965, he asked her to come with their daughters to the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Did Malcolm X sense that something bad would happen on that night? Surely. He was fully aware of the possibility, knowing that he’d been “a marked man” for months because of his very public break with the Nation of Islam.

Published

7 days ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Book Cover of the Afterlife of Malcolm X. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: by Mark Whitaker, c.2025, Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 448 pages

Who will remember you in fifty years’ time?

A handful of friends – at least those who are still around – might recall you. Your offspring, grandkids, and greats, maybe people who stumble upon your tombstone. Think about it: who will remember you in 2075? And then read “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” by Mark Whitaker and learn about a legacy that still resonates a half-century later.

As the news of his murder spread around New York and around the world, his followers and admirers reacted in many ways. His friend, journalist Peter Goldman, was “hardly shocked” because he also knew that Malcolm’s life was in danger, but the arrest of three men accused of the crime didn’t add up. It ultimately became Goldman’s “obsession.”

Malcolm’s co-writer for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, quietly finished the book he started with Malcolm, and a small upstart publishing house snatched it up. A diverse group of magazines got in line to run articles about Malcolm X’s life, finally sensing that White America “’needed his voice even more than Blacks did.’”

But though Malcolm X was gone, he continued to leave an impact.

He didn’t live long enough to see the official founding of the Black Panther Party, but he was influential on its beginning. He never knew of the first Kwanzaa, or the triumphs of a convert named Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm left his mark on music. He influenced at least three major athletes.

He was a “touchstone” for a president …

While it’s true that “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” is an eye-opening book, one that works as a great companion to the autobiography, it’s also a fact that it’s somewhat scattered. Is it a look at Malcolm’s life, his legacy, or is it a “murder mystery”?

Turns out, it’s all three, but the storylines are not smooth. There are twists and tangents and that may take some getting used-to. Just when you’re immersed, even absorbed in this book, to the point where you forget about your surroundings, author Mark Whitaker abruptly moves to a different part of the story. It may be jarring.

And yet, it’s a big part of this book, and it’s essential for readers to know the investigation’s outcome and what we know today. It doesn’t change Malcolm X’s legacy, but it adds another frame around it.

If you’ve read the autobiography, if you haven’t thought about Malcolm X in a while, or if you think you know all there is to know, then you owe it to yourself to find “The Afterlife of Malcolm X.”

For you, this is a book you won’t easily forget.