Askhari Johnson Hodari, Ph.D., a practitioner of Black/Africana Studies, regularly studies and travels the African diaspora. Hodari received her B.A. from Spelman College and her doctorate from Howard University. Dr. Hodari is the coauthor of Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs (Broadway Books, October 2009); and the author of the Black Facts Calendars. Hodari makes her home in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the birthplaces of the Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. Hodari is also the founder and moderator of de Griot Space, an online writing workshop for Black writers.

Lifelines: The Black Book of Proverbs
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by Askhari Johnson Hodari & Yvonne McCalla Sobers, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Foreword)

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Broadway (November 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0767931203
ISBN-13: 978-0767931205
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches

Read an Excerpt

This little book contains the wisdom of the ages, and is guaranteed to produce a smile of appreciation at the sheer sense of the proverbs you will find inside. From advice you wish your mother had given you, to things you probably suspected, but had never put into words, Lifelines is a book to be read, absorbed and treasured.
—Pearl Cleage, New York Times best selling author of What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day 

This illustrated treasury of proverbs unites the timeless wisdom of Black communities in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas, while speaking to the triumphs and challenges of everyday life. 

Lifelines: The Black book of Proverbs travels to all corners of the globe to reclaim and preserve African wisdom. This book offers the remarkably wise heart of Africa and her children to readers experiencing career changes, new births, weddings, death, and other rites of passage. Readers will find truth in the African saying, “When the occasion arises, there is a proverb to suit it.” 

Proverbs are presented in vibrant story-poem form; and are uniquely arranged by key life cycle events such as birth, initiation, marriage, and death. The proverbs can be found under themes such as “wealth”, “parenting”, “change” and “strength.” Inspired illustrations introduce each section along with beautiful vignettes showing how African proverbs comfort, inspire and instruct during different phases of life. 

Lifelines illuminates how traditions, civilization and spirit survive and thrive, despite centuries of loss of freedom, family, identity, language, land, and wealth. The proverbs offer wisdom for every stage of our lives. Collected in one place as never before, it is the perfect addition to the book shelves of families large and small, from Nairobi to New Orleans and every city in between.

From Birth:
Every cackling hen was an egg at first.
-Rwanda

to Marriage:
A woman's clothes are the price her husband pays for peace.
-Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa (Bantu)

and Elderhood:
Every time an old man dies it is as if a library has burnt down.
-West Africa

as well as every stage of life in between, the proverbs found in Lifelines offer the guidance and wisdom to last a life time. 

Unlike other collections of proverbs, Lifelines hews closely to the cycle of life and draws inspiration from the authors combined 110 years of experience. Askhari Johnson Hodari and Yvonne McCalla Sobers have set out to let their proverbs both tell a story and stand alone. So whether you flip it open to a random page, read it through from start to finish, or go searching for a proverb to match your unique circumstance, you’ll find just the right lifeline to provide the comfort and guidance you’re looking for.

THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES: 5,000+ Common and Uncommon Names from the African Continent
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by Askhari Johnson Hodari, Ph.D.

Paperback: 343 pages
Publisher: HCI; 1 edition (February 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0757307795
ISBN-13: 978-0757307799
Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1 inches

Beyond Barack: Confidently Choose African Names

THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES: 5,000+ Common and Uncommon Names from the African Continent (Health Communications, Inc.; February 2009) by Askhari Johnson Hodari, Ph.D., shares names from 37 African countries and at least 70 ethnolinguistic groups, and provides in-depth insight into the spiritual, emotional, social, and political importance of names from Angola to Zimbabwe. It is the most current and comprehensive book on the subject, in which Dr. Hodari offers more than 5,000 names organized by theme -- from religion, birth circumstance and physical characteristics. This timely and informative resource guide vibrates with the culture of Africa and encourages Blacks across the world to affirm their African origins by selecting African names.

It is clear that Dr. Hodari loves African names. She truly appreciates their sounds and meanings, which are different from names of North America. "Each time a person calls me by my African name, they remind me that my roots are indeed in Africa," says Dr. Hodari. In the last twenty years she has consulted in the naming of hundreds of babies, and in the renaming of hundreds of children and adults. She explains in THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES that naming in African societies is more of a communal process than in other societies; in fact, it is common for parents, young people or adults to consult with community members or African Studies practitioners before bestowing a name upon an infant, or upon themselves.

Dr. Hodari explores the various circumstances under which a person is named, and the factors that come into play. For example, she helped name a child Jasir Dia, and explains that each time a person speaks to Jasir, they are calling him a "fearless champion." Dr. Hodari says that this name helps and influences Jasir's life, and that the expectation is for him to become all that his name implies long after his parents and other family members have passed on. Choosing an African name does not have to happen shortly after birth, and new names can represent various stages of development as one grows and matures -- Sojourner Truth, Muhammad Ali, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar all took on new names as adults.

Dr. Hodari promotes the use of African names because she says that the importance of African culture is often minimized, leading to the exclusion of African names from many baby and name books. This negligence, she explains, deprives parents, researchers, students and other readers of the philosophy and wisdom of African societies. Also, since many traditional and modern African societies tend to rely on and emphasize oral communication more than written communication, Dr. Hodari wanted to contribute to as much of a written record of African names as possible, particularly since Africans are no longer in one large space, but are scattered across the planet. Despite enormous cultural variety throughout Africa, there are central themes common to African naming. A name evidences the day of birth, time of birth or the birth order, such as Akua (Wednesday) and Layla (born at night). Conditions and circumstances of birth also are taken into consideration, like Alfryea (born during good times) or Lesa (child born unexpectedly). Location of birth event or season of birth, religious concepts, desired characteristics and even physical traits can play a role in the naming process. With 16 percent of the world's population residing on the African continent, Africa has given birth to millions of lyrical, intriguing and significant names -- thousands of which are listed in THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES.

While the birth of a baby is a joyous time that creates a need to choose a name, THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES does not focus solely on "baby names." Readers of any age can embrace this collection to select names for themselves, events, or other entities. Dr. Hodari believes that the use of African names must be guided by a love and appreciation for African culture. "However, it is not my duty to judge what may or may not be an appropriate name," she explains. This book provides a diverse and comprehensive selection of names. The rest is up to readers.  

Related Websites

THE AFRICAN BOOK OF NAMES: 5,000+ Common and Uncommon Names from the African Continent
www.afrikannames.com

LIFELINES:The Black of Proverbs
www.lifelinesproverbs.com