Maudlyne Ihejirika on Being a Refugee

"I was that little boy."

In case you missed it, award-winning journalist +Maudlyne Ihejirika talked to WCGO's Daniel French in late January about the book she wrote with her mother, Escape from Nigeria: A Memoir of Faith, Love and War, colonialism, lasting tension in Nigeria and other African countries and being a refugee. I was in on the conversation too, though I spoke little. Maudlyne was just too interesting to interrupt.

Bookends and Beginnings got a shout out.

You might recall I posted a piece about our Evanston neighbor and her book back in July.

Maudlyne Ihejirika: My mom is my hero

Humans.
We go along.
We live our lives, day to day.
We know our stories and often take them for granted.
We tend to focus on the here and now and prepare for the future.
We often put in the back of our minds what is so incredible about our experiences, our history, where we’ve come from.

Maudlyne Ihejirika does not take her history--nor her life--for granted.

Maudlyne, with her mother Angelina Ihejirika, has just published their family memoir, Escape from Nigeria: A Memoir of Faith, Love and War.

Seems my journalism colleague, neighbor and friend—whose name I’ve only recently learned to pronounce correctly, E-hedge-eh-ricka—is a refugee of the Nigerian-Biafran War.

The war broke out in July 1967. It cut communication between Angelina and Maudlyne’s father, Christopher, who was studying abroad first in Sierra Leone and then in Evanston at Northwestern and Kellogg School of Management. For more than two years Angelina and Christopher didn’t know if the other was alive or dead.

In Biafra, an Irish missionary nun set off a chain of miracles for Angelina to locate her husband. In Evanston, an instructor at Kellogg, and his wife, with four other North Shore couples, performed their own miracles for Christopher to find Angelina and his six kids amidst the raging war.

Ordinary and extraordinary people, two U.S. congressmen, the leader of Biafra itself, churches and synagogues got involved in the Ihejirikas' plight. Funds were raised to pay for exit visas and seats on a rare missionary flight, the last out of Biafra before the airport was bombed.

The Nigerian-Biafran War is considered the first time starvation was used as a tool of war. Before the surrender of the short-lived Biafran nation in January 1970, blockades led to mass starvation and deaths of at least 2 million Biafrans, primarily Igbos. This genocide ranks fifth on the list of the worst crimes against humanity of the 20th century, behind the Nazi's atrocities during the WWII holocaust in Europe, the Ukrainian famine in the Soviet Union, the slaughter of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, and the Khmer Rouge massacre of the Cambodians.

From this horror, the Ihejirikas emerged. On June 9, 1969, Angelina and 5-year-old Maudlyne with her 5 siblings landed at O'Hare with only the clothes on their backs.

Currently living in Evanston, Maudlyne works for the Chicago Sun-Times as its urban affairs reporter.

The Ihejirika's memoir is available at Bookends and Beginnings and online.

I appreciate how this labor of love helps me know more about my friend and her family and a slice of history I'd known nothing about. This book puts into valuable perspective the current global refugee crisis triggered by the largest number of forcibly displaced people worldwide since World War II, as well as the current anti-immigrant/anti-refugee sentiments in the United States and other countries.

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If you'd like to meet Maudlyne and have her sign a book for you this weekend, she'll be at the Author's Tent on Sunday, July 10, at DuSable Museum of African American History's Arts & Crafts Festival.

The first public reception and book reading/signing to include Angelina will be Wednesday, July 13, 6-9 p.m. at the M Lounge in Angelina's current neighborhood, the South Loop.

In May, the Ihejirikas hosted a private party for the Nigerian community at the
DuSable Museum of African American History to celebrate Angelina's life and the publication of their
family's memoir. Lucky me captured some lovely moments at this heartfelt event.
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If you peek at the other image I made and wonder why Angelina
was showered with money, don't ask me. I'm guessing it is like
other customs that are meant to wish a loved one prosperity.

Frances Willard called Evanston "a paradise for women." Really.

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 Kris Hartzell will discuss why Ms. Willard might have thought of Evanston as a paradise for women during a walking tour starting at at Willard House and continue to Northwestern University and residential Evanston this Saturday, June 14, 2014. 

Ms. Hartzell is an architectural historian, Frances Willard Historical Association board president and co-author of Evanston: 150 Years, 150 Places with her Design Evanston cohorts. 

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July 4, 1955 :: Central Street, Evanston

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Dedicated to Hillary Bean, the Evanston Fourth of July Association and                                                                             
                  all the talent, paid and unpaid, that makes the parade great.                                                                                                            

Remembering ArtSkills 2000

Not widely known by most my Evanston friends is that in the Summer of 2000, I led one of the City of Evanston's summer youth employment projects: ArtSkills 2000.

The project introduced Evanston teens to the art and business of photography. Though we were headquartered at Chute Middle School where we hosted many photographers who came to share their expertise, it was just as likely to find us shooting pictures around the city, developing film and printing in Norris Center's darkrooms, scanning negs at Columbia College or at the Art Institute or Evanston Photographic,

The coaches encouraged the kids to express their personal vision through the lens of their camera while documenting and exploring their Evanston. The resulting images were as varied as the kids themselves.  Then-freshman Nick Cade's focus was on cafe life.  Then-senior Gwen McPherson focus was more personal. She shot a series of pictures of her cat Muffy. Mia Rollow shared a views of her room. Some images captured decisive moments such as a picture of a seagull in flight by Richard Hammell, which he nailed with a point-and-shoot no less. Some images were graphic and contrived like Kemone Hendricks’ "Up in the Sky', which she created by hanging a flower in a tree limb. (It's the first image displayed on this page.) Other participates include Kate Broitman, Ann Heindel, Nicole Newman, Michelle Ilme, Jonathan Payne, Tim Robinson Jr., Anthony Sanders, Quinn Stephens, Gabe Patay, Dominique Harrison, Dominique Cunningham, Justin Shields, Kenneth Coe Jr., Eric Edwards and Mort King II.

Later in the project all of Evanston was invited to get involved through a portrait shoot, Evanston People, that invited everyone associated with Evanston to pose for a picture.

The kids' ten weeks of work culminated in a group exhibition at Noyes Cultural Center. We displayed individual portfolios, a slide show and large prints which offered the public a unique perspective on Evanston and what some of its teens are about. 

Collaborating organizations included PICTURE THIS Projects and the Evanston Arts Council.  Participating coaches and speakers included Jennifer Keats, Shavan Spears, Matthew McNulty, Scott Strazzante, Jon Lowenstein, Tom Maday, John Brooks, Terrence James, Yvette Dostanti, Todd Heisler, Joel Lerner, Bob Quane, Saben Orr and George Pfoertner.

I have many fond memories from that project. Thank you all.

From top to bottom, images displayed here are by Kemone Hendricks, Dominique Cunningham and Justin Shields.

From the family archives: Larry with Buttons at 1218 Hartrey

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Lawrence Swarthout, Jr. with Buttons in front of his then home at 1218 Hartrey, Evanston. January 1952.
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Larry Jr. is my uncle and his parents built this home.

Like his father, he was a plumber. He worked for L.C. Swarthout Plumbing and Heating and later F. J. Kerrigan Plumbing until her retired. Larry passed away in August 2008. Larry Jr's son, Michael, is also in the business.