Noo Saro-Wiwa on 'Black Ghosts' in China and the Complex Lives of the African Diaspora
Author Noo Saro-Wiwa set out on a three-month odyssey through China to see large, vibrant African migrant communities. She tells the story in a fascinating new book.
Author Noo Saro-Wiwa had not spent much time in China when she heard that cities like Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Yiwu, among others, were home to large, vibrant African migrant communities. But other than some of the headlines about the diaspora population that appeared during the COVID pandemic, she didn’t know much about this faraway population.
So, she set out on a three-month odyssey through China to meet the traders and other African merchants who make up the bulk of this community to find out more about their lives and what it’s like for them to live in Chinese society.
She tells the story in a fascinating new book, “Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China,” and joins Eric & Geraud from London to discuss the adventure she had in writing the story.
For a full transcript of this podcast, please see The China-Global South Project website.
Show Notes:
The Conversation: Black Ghosts: Noo Saro-Wiwa’s new book is a powerful reflection on Africans in China by Janet Remmington
Litnet: Black ghosts by Noo Saro-Wiwa: A review by Mphuthumi Ntabeni
Chatham House: Being black in China by Danny Vincent and Noo Saro-Wiwa
This podcast is free for Sinica subscribers. For daily coverage of every aspect of China’s engagement with the Global South, subscribe to The China-Global South Project (CGSP).