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Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto
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About This Book
A "moving…dramatic" (David Ebershoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Danish Girl ), and urgent call to action for immigration justice by a Nigerian asylee and global gay rights and immigration activist Edafe Okporo. On the eve of Edafe Okporo's twenty-sixth birthday, he was awoken by a violent mob outside his window in Abuja, Nigeria. The mob threatened his life after discovering the secret Edafe had been hiding for years—that he is a gay man. Left with no other choice, he purchased a one-way plane ticket to New York City and fled for his life. Though America had always been painted to him as a land of freedom and opportunity, it was anything but when he arrived just days before the tumultuous 2016 Presidential Election. Edafe would go on to spend the next six months at an immigration detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. After navigating the confusing, often draconian, US immigration and legal system, he was finally granted asylum. But he would soon realize that America is exceptionally good at keeping people locked up but is seriously lacking in integrating freed refugees into society. Asylum is Edafe's "powerful, eye-opening" (Dr. Eric Cervini, New York Times bestselling author of The Deviant's War ) memoir and manifesto, which documents his experiences growing up gay in Nigeria, fleeing to America, navigating the immigration system, and making a life for himself as a Black, gay immigrant. Alongside his personal story is a blaring call to action—not only for immigration reform but for a just immigration system for refugees everywhere. This book imagines a future where immigrants and asylees are treated with fairness, transparency, and compassion. It aims to help us understand that home is not just where you feel safe and welcome but also how you can make it feel safe and welcome for others.
Reviews
"At times, the writing jumps between timelines and arguments, rendering certain sections less cohesive than others."
"Asylum is an eloquent, powerful, sometimes harrowing chronicle of what it means to be a gay man in a violently homophobic country and what it means to be a Black asylum seeker in our 'land of the free.' The book is also a stirring record of the suffering and healing of a courageous young man who is a born leader."
"Okporo's personal journey is touching, and his skillful explanation of the corrupt immigration processes and policies that continue to reject and exclude the very people they are meant to aid is a timely plea for reform and empathy."
"Readers will be galvanized by this resounding call for equality."
"Asylum is a disquieting account that humanizes a nameless, faceless multitude entangled in an issue with no clear end in sight."
"Okporo writes passionately about the universal benefit of acceptance, the power of community, and all of our shared humanity."
"a touching, informative, honest chronicle of Okporo's life in Nigeria — a country that is brutally unaccepting of LGBTQ people — and a story that showcases some of the shortcomings of the U.S."
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