Malidoma Patrice Some
Encyclopedia
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
n writer. He was born in Dano, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, among the Dagara
Dagara people
The Dagaaba people ) are an ethnic group in the West African nations of Ghana and Burkina Faso. They speak the Dagaare language, made up of the related Northern Dagaare language, Southern Dagaare language, a number of sub dialects. They are related to the Birifor people and the Dagaare Diola...
.
At the age of four he was kidnapped by Jesuit missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
, to be raised in their boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, and given an education. The missionaries were attempting to train black Africans who might convert to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. He ran away from the missionary school when he was twenty, by which time he had forgotten his native language. In order to be able to communicate with his people, he underwent an arduous process of "relearning". He took part in a month-long Dagara initiation process.
The Dagara believe that each person is born with a destiny, and he or she is given a name that reflects that destiny. The name Malidoma means "become friends with the stranger/enemy". Malidoma Patrice Somé believes it is his destiny to come to a western audience in friendship and tell them about his experience of being torn away from his people by westerners. His book, Of Water and the Spirit, is his attempt to describe that journey from outsider to mediator between two worlds.
Somé holds three Master's degrees and two doctorates from the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
. He has taught at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
.
Somé conducts seminars and retreats in Oregon and throughout the world.
External links
- Bio
- Home page
- How to Be a Man: a Video Interview with Malidoma Some by elephant journal
- An interview