ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how to write a different story for themselves. In "Black Men Ski" STEW tells the story of going to Aspen with a group of his friends. It is funny, disarming, and easy to relate to, even as it provides an alternative narrative that interrogates stereotypes and white appropriation of African American culture. In Guidah the country retells the story of slavery from the point of view of the men and women sold into slavery. The narrative of Ganvie tells a different but no less powerful story. Holding on for dear life, balanced on poles barely above the lake water, those who escaped made a life for themselves that is still thriving. Benin is no longer a wealthy country. It is a country that has asked the African diaspora for forgiveness.
