Africa, my mamaland, for how long will you ignore the cries of your own children? I am proud to be African; my heart will always belong to my mamaland. Belonging is an important aspect of ubuntu, a Bantu concept that refers to authentic humanity, realised through the recognition of shared bonds: I am because we are. For Vusi Mahlasela – known to most as ‘The Voice’ – the way our bodies ‘say Africa’ is an important aspect of what constitutes our Africanness. To paraphrase the great singer, we might walk the streets of Europe and America, but the dust on our boots and the rhythm of our feet will always ‘say Africa’. Yet, sadly, Africa is not a sanctuary for all her children. The continent remains one of the most insulted, manipulated and interfered with places on the globe. Amidst the scourges of homo/transphobia and xenophobia, the insults of colonialism, neocolonialism and racism continue to rob Africa of its ancestral value of ubuntu.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom and many other influential texts point to what Wangari Maathai calls ‘the challenge for Africa’. We certainly have much work to do if we are to realise what Desmond Tutu terms ‘God’s dream’ for our beloved continent. This challenge is as urgent today as it was during the colonial, military and dictatorial governments that exploited, enslaved and killed our peoples. We continue to witness untold abuses of human rights in the name of politics and religion. And while state-sanctioned violence is condemned by many Africans, the relentless persecution of sexual and gender minorities – often referred to as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community – attracts little opposition on the continent. In many cases, this persecution happens at the bidding of religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim.

Are LGBTQI persons not children of mama Africa? Are they not made in the sacred image of God? These are the questions that John Marnell’s Seeking Sanctuary: Stories of Sexuality, Faith and Migration strives to answer. For many, African sexual and gender minorities simply do not exist; those who claim to be LGBTQI are the creation of evil forces of the West.