Americanah

Ifemelu rents out her condo in Baltimore and moves in with Blaine. While living in New Haven, she meets Boubacar, another professor at Yale, who is originally from Senegal. He and Ifemelu bond over their African upbringings, and Ifemelu is happy to know someone who “spoke the same silent language she did” (421). Boubacar informs her of a humanities fellowship at Princeton University. Ifemelu is hesitant, but he urges her to apply for it, saying the committee wants people who are “pushing boundaries” (421). One day, she visits Boubacar’s class, noting that most of the students are browsing the internet rather than listening to the lecture. Boubacar invites her to a going away party for a colleague. She gets a text from Blaine, informing her that something has happened to Mr. White, the library security guard.

She and Blaine meet up, and he explains that Mr. White was taken away by the police after a white employee saw him exchange something with another black man and assumed he was dealing drugs. He was released and is now back at work, but Blaine is incensed. He quickly arranges a student/faculty response to the racist incident, planning a protest outside the library later that day.