bound4travel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Okporo does a masterful job of sharing his life with us and it is a blessing. Okporo was born in Nigeria and spent his childhood trying to fight the truth he knew about himself. However, in early adulthood, he began to accept and embrace his sexuality and found his calling in advocating for others in the LGBTQIA community and working to bring understanding about AIDS to the community. Despite Okporo's very successful work and his ability to build found family in the city he moves to, one day he is attacked by his neighbors due to their discovery of his sexuality and he realizes that he is not safe. He quickly leaves the country and applies for asylum in America. Okporo's experience while detained during his case as well as once asylum is granted and he is released is harrowing. It brings to light the need for citizens to work hard to advocate for and welcome refugees and asylees. Okporo also discusses various intersections of sexuality, race in America, and the difficulty of finding his place amongst other Nigerian asylees.
lovelyoutliers's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This memoir follows Edafe, growing up in Nigeria as a young gay man. He is forcibly displaced in 2016, where being gay is a criminal offence. He makes it to the US and goes through the inhumane asylum detention system, before finding his way out. Inspiring to follow his story and how he continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees.
beccallynn's review against another edition
5.0
I cried, thought I was done crying, and then cried some more. I am not an immigrant, I am not black, and I’m straight passing. Hearing a story that is so different than my own, hearing someone’s hardships that I will never face, was so incredibly heartbreaking and eye opening. We think we know what the other person faces, but hearing a personal account was just…wow. I strongly suggest the read/listen (how I partook of the book). The voice actor for this book conveyed the feelings and story so well, I’m almost said that I can’t listen to it for the first time again.
chamilton3396's review against another edition
4.0
a moving look into the author's journey as a gay, black man. i also appreciated the reflections on his faith and how his faith has transformed and grown, while still holding on to key principles learned in his youth.
zoegrace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
rachelt18's review against another edition
3.0
it was really good until he put 6 pages of statistics about Trump and the immigration system. Like I don't want to read 6 pages of that. I thought it would be more memoir-like, but it read more like a retelling. It felt like his first book, I'm surprised to see that it wasn't.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
3.0
Recommended by Natalie. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sasylum%3A%20a%20memoir%20Okporo__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold