Rukia is a history professor and former friend of the Old Man’s. She enlightens Barack as to why so many Black Americans end up disillusioned with Africa: they expect a precolonial experience and tend to not find it. This, she suggests, is because Africa as it was before Europeans arrived doesn’t exist; the continent is now part of the global economy and is abandoning or rethinking many traditional customs. However, she mentions her daughter, whose first language is English but who also speaks Swahili and several other languages. Rukia suggests that she’d rather her daughter be true to herself than be “authentically African” as others might imagine it.
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Dr. Rukia Odero Character Timeline in Dreams from My Father
The timeline below shows where the character Dr. Rukia Odero appears in Dreams from My Father. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Epilogue
...something bigger. That night, Auma took Barack to a friend of the Old Man’s, Dr. Rukia Odero. She was thrilled that Barack was leaving Kenya with questions and lamented that Black...
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When Barack asked why many Black Americans are disappointed by visiting Africa, Rukia pointed out that they come looking for “the authentic”—but that doesn’t exist. For instance, their...
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