AKUA IS GREAT
By Dr. Artika Tyner
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, let us remember that the great Black women we celebrate were once little girls with dreams. As the founder of Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute, I heartily appreciate the work Dr. Artika Tyner has done and continues to do to promote literacy. She is a passionate educator and speaker, and as an author, she has published amazing and inspiring fiction and nonfiction books, such as today’s children’s book Akua Is Great.
Our story opens at bedtime with Akua and her mother reading a special book, whereby Mama asks Akua what makes her great. Akua connects different qualities of greatness with African born women of history such as Yaa Asantewaa, Miriam Makeba, Maria Naita, Queen Nanny, and Francisca Nneka Okeke, to create a powerful acronym.
Tyner doesn’t stop there. She states the importance of daily affirmations to empower, encourage, and inspire our children, our kings-and-queens-in-training. She includes a name chart from the Akan people of Ghana. And last but not least, she gives us the history of the powerful sistahs named in the book. Storytelling while teaching simultaneously—love it!
Akua Is Great is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Planting People Growing Justice Press and Bookstore.
Thank you, Artika, for bringing us another inspiration and affirmation of who we are as a people, and the ongoing journey set forth by those whose shoulders we stand upon. Keep paying it forward!
W.D. Foster-Graham
W.D. Foster-Graham is a native son of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a B.A. in psychology from Luther College, and he was an original member of the multi-Grammy-Award-winning ensemble, Sounds of Blackness. He has also been recognized by the International Society of Poets as one of its “Best New Poets of 2003,” is a guest writer for journalist/author/entertainer Wyatt O’Brian Evans.
