I Am Because We Are: African Wisdom in Image and Proverb highlights 125 black and white photographs of African daily life combined with related proverbs, which were used, and are still being used, to instruct members of the African society how to think, how to behave and how to have a better life. This book will make a significant educational and artistic contribution to the appreciation and understanding of African culture and society as well as our own.

The title of the book comes from a well-known proverb I am because we are: we are because I am attributed to South Africa. It speaks to the interconnectedness and responsibility that we have for each other. It embodies the concept of Ubuntu, the African idea of living harmoniously in community.

The black and white photographs of unique moments in African daily life taken by Betty Press, combined with related proverbs, illustrate traditional African wisdom.

Together they tell the story of life, moving through:

family, home, education, relationships, work, leisure, environment, conflict, peace, music, dance, religion, wisdom, old age, and death.

Finally it comes full circle with hope, as life goes on with the descendants and the living community.

For more than 20 years, Betty Press has photographed in East and West Africa, including eight years as an international photojournalist while she lived in Nairobi, Kenya. She has been widely published and exhibited.

The proverbs in this book have been compiled by Annetta Miller who has been collecting proverbs for more than 30 years. Ms. Miller, an American born in Tanzania, has worked in East Africa for most of her life. Currently she is retired and lives with her husband in Nairobi, Kenya. She has published several daily calendars featuring proverbs. She also published a book in 2003 entitled Sharing Boundaries: Learning the Wisdom of Africa.

I Am Because We Are: African Wisdom in Image and Proverb is being published in partnership with Books for Africa whose mission is to end the book famine in Africa. www.booksforafrica.org

Publication date Sept. 1, 2011

184 pp, Hardcover, Size 10” X 8”

125 duotone images by Betty Press combined with related African proverbs compiled by Annetta Miller

First edition, $39.95
ISBN: 978-0-9835454-4-6

In partnership with Books For Africa whose mission is to end the book famine in Africa.
www.booksforafrica.org

Contributors are Joanne Veal Gabbin, Christiana Chinwe Okechukwu, and Alison Nordström