Title: Soar: From Freetown to Freedom
Author: Ndidi Rickert
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-4705-3980-1
Pages: 248
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Gabriella Harrison
Pacific Book Review
Belonging to a society is not always as simple as knowing where you come from. It is more complicated, shaped by many factors including family history, culture, race, migration, the expectations placed on women, just to name a few.
Starting from Ndidi Rickert’s time as a little child in Sierra Leone and progressing to adulthood, as she tries to get her bearings in the unfamiliar UK and the more liberal United States. Ndidi Rickert’s story spans decades in her thoughtful memoir, Soar: From Freetown to Freedom. This beautifully written memoir encourages women not to limit themselves or weigh themselves by society’s expectations.
It really doesn’t have to take a loud, shocking public display before it can be acknowledged that discrimination has taken place. Sometimes it can be very subtle and easy to miss unless you’re the one experiencing it or you know how to spot it. From Rickert’s account of working as a black woman in a predominantly white corporate world, and her childhood as a light skinned child in Sierra Leone, we see both the blatant and the subtle types of discrimination.
Due to insistent taunting and negative comments about Krios, school made her very aware that she was different. In fact, this discrimination was encouraged and even normalized by law. There was the Provinces Lands Act of 1960, which restricted people of Krio origin from owning land outside Freetown.
Her relationship with her name, Ndidi, becomes an important part of her journey towards self-acceptance as she initially switches to her English name to seem more acceptable and employable. Rickert captures the discomfort of having her name mispronounced and how her origin made people make assumptions about her before even getting to know her. There are new social cues to decode once she moves to the UK and the comfort of home is gone.
Something I absolutely loved about this book and found refreshing was the support system, from her family to her friends and extended family. I also like that she was able to show this part of their relationship while remaining honest and also sharing the complicated parts of these relationships, as is common when dealing with family. From emergencies to expectations and disagreements and how sacrifices had to be made.
Freedom doesn’t come from perfection. Freedom can be found in intentionally choosing to make the best of one’s situation, no matter what happens, constantly adapting as life happens. So much is beautifully captured by Ndidi Rickert’s stirring memoir, Soar: From Freetown to Freedom. Readers interested in personal transformation may find this memoir a meaningful starting point for examining their own journeys. It is a fitting choice for those drawn to the relationship between where we begin, what we carry with us, and how we envision the future.
