If You Want to Go Far, Go Together.
thoughts on community and Chimamanda book club details for Dream Count!
Hi friends,
How is your March starting out? Can you believe we’re already in the last month of Q1?!
I am writing to you from my mini staycation in my old downtown Dallas neighborhood. Over the past week I took a little pause and some time for active recovery vs passive rest (there’s a difference I’m learning), thinking no one will notice until I got a “Where was the newsletter sis?” Lol.
I’ve been spending the time mostly offline (except for my mini TikTok allowances for a good laugh), enjoying this beautiful Dallas weather, walking everywhere, working outside, and spending my days in my own thoughts.
During this time of solitude, one of the things that kept coming up is the concept of community, how much it’s changed for all of us over time, and why it’s needed more than ever.
Growing up community was never something we had to intentionally seek out or cultivate. It was just always available to us.
Community was in our neighbors we used to ride our bikes with, in the kids at church we used to make up dances with, or our squad in ballet with matching tutus.
By college, community was in the people you shared a dorm with, the squad you went to the dining hall with to hold your special table, or your crew in ENG 101 who liked to take up the back row.
Now, community looks so different and requires much more effort, time, and intentionality than ever before.
It no longer falls into our lap, or is something that just happens because we are in the same places all the time. Now, we are so disconnected from our families, our friends, and even coworkers. So many of us live in different cities from the friends we grew up with, and work from home M-F. Much of our free time is spent scrolling on social media or at home binge watching a new series (anyone else obsessed with Paradise? episode 7 hello?!)
With the rise of technology, and the false sense of connection that social media brings, it's so easy to feel like we are connected and have community. But true community, I am learning, requires three things: a third space, vulnerability, and repetition.
Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, a third space/place refers to a public space outside of the home (first space) and school (second space) where people can gather informally, connect with others, and build community.
And so, in these third spaces, to find true connection, there has to be a level of vulnerability, and you have to be in the same space with the same people repeatedly.
Effort. Time. Intentionality.
These thoughts around community and what that could look like here, came up a lot after I wrote my piece on entrepreneurship.
After nervously hitting publish on that piece, every call, text, conversation, and comment that followed that week was someone saying: 'Hey, me too! That made me feel so seen. I completely related to that. Thank you for sharing that. It made me feel less alone. I was just talking to a friend about that!'
What I was realizing through these conversations is that so many of us are dealing with the same fears, questions, and thoughts in isolation. But, what if we didn’t have to?
What if there could be a space where we gathered (virtually) to discuss our creative/entrepreneurial ideas, share resources and knowledge like how to create your LLC, how to craft a pitch deck, how to make a pitch, how to get out of your head, and get feedback/accountability on your next steps?
The AfroKlasher Community
It is no secret that community (creating and being in it), is one of my true life passions. Even though I consider myself more introverted than extroverted (shocker to some), nothing fills me up more than taking up space with like-minded people to share vulnerabilities, stories, and life experiences to push each other forward.
So starting in April to kick off Q2, I’ll be hosting monthly virtual meetings on zoom for community members that want to talk about their ideas (it could be a business, posting more online, writing a book etc.), get feedback from the group, or just hop on to talk about an issue they need help with. Periodically, I will also invite in some experts to join us on zoom to get some of your specific questions answered.
I will also be interviewing some of my favorite creative entrepreneurs and sharing their insights and experiences on becoming and building their brands/businesses from the ground up via this newsletter for community members.
Join the community below and I’ll see you on zoom starting next month.
I truly believe in the idea that if you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, go together. It’s so much easier to do all the things in isolation, but there’s so much more to be gained when you share your problems, vulnerabilities and wins with other people. A problem shared, is a problem halved.
If you’ve been craving a third space where you can get guidance/feedback, exchange ideas, and get real momentum on your projects, get in community, whatever that looks like for you.
Chimamanda Book Club!
One of the joys of community is discussing ideas together—whether they’re about business, hobbies, or our favorite books. That’s why I’m so excited to be adding a Book Club component to this space, diving into books by African women.
First up on this list is the latest from Chimamanda Adichie!
Chimamanda’s first fiction book in years, Dream Count, was finally released last week (already a NYT and Sunday Times bestseller!), and I would love to discuss everyone’s thoughts, feelings, and takeaways in a collective setting.
I am targeting the dates Thursday April 17th, Saturday April 19th or Sunday April 20th. Please vote for your preference in the sign up form. Majority wins. If you haven’t yet, go get your copy and come ready to discuss the book next month!
About Dream Count
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A publishing event ten years in the making—a searing, exquisite new novel by the bestselling and award-winning author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists—the story of four women and their loves, longings, and desires
A Most Anticipated Book of 2025 from The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Elle, Oprah Daily, Readers Digest, The Seattle Times, LitHub, The Chicago Review of Books, BET, and Radio Times
Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until—betrayed and brokenhearted—she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America—but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.
In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world, Dream Count pulses with emotional urgency and poignant, unflinching observations of the human heart, in language that soars with beauty and power. It confirms Adichie’s status as one of the most exciting and dynamic writers on the literary landscape.
A Word Before You Go:
You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. Especially not alone. Let your life be easy.
Keep Klashing,
Bosola.