I could not stop jumping up and down last week Wednesday when I got a WhatsApp message on my phone. I stared at the images over and over and kept jumping, laughing, almost screaming in my excitement. The message was a set of images from the printing press where my new book ‘Loud Whispers’ was being printed. My book was ready! Two days later, I held the book in my hands and the jumping up and down started all over again.

I thought it would be easy enough to pull together all my ‘Loud Whispers’ articles into one volume. It would not be my first book, so I was familiar with the writing, editing and production process. I published ‘Speaking above a Whisper’ an autobiography in 2013. The book had been hard to write for reasons such as time, and  deciding what to leave in or out. The second book which was published at the same time was ‘Speaking for Myself: Perspectives on Feminist, Political and Social Activism’, which was a compilation of essays and lectures over a twenty year period. The book of essays was not a walk in the park either because quite a number of the entries had to be typed out from original documents, there where no soft copies. Having gone through all that, the idea of doing a book which would feature essays that had been meticulously edited before going online every week sounded like it would be much easier. How foolish I was to think that. However, no matter how intense the labour is, once the finished product is placed in your hands or arms, you forget about the pain and focus on the joy. So, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present to you the latest addition to my modest literary efforts, ‘Loud Whispers’. My good friend and big brother of many years, Mr Kunle Ajibade of The News Magazine and author of ‘Jailed for life, a journalist’s prison notes’, has worked on all my books. As we were making decisions on what essays to leave in or take out of Loud Whispers, Kunle said to me, ‘Bisi, nothing seems to get past you’.  My response was, ‘I always try to be present’.

One of my favourite writers, the late Maya Angelou once said, ‘Be present in all things and thankful in all things’. She also spoke about being ‘Present’ a lot when she gave interviews.  Loud Whispers is a book about being ‘Present’. Every week I write about things I see, hear, read, or experience. Sometimes there are things I want to write about, in the spirit of being ‘Present’ but due to certain limitations I have to let go and think of something else to write about, something that qualifies as equally ‘Present’. I have managed to overcome my frustration at not being able to comment on a number of things, but I take being ‘Present’ seriously. What does it mean to be ‘Present’? I do not have a definitive answer, what I have is my own understanding of what it means. To me, being present means keeping your eyes and ears open and using your mouth wisely. To be effectively present means that all three organs should not be running at full blast at the same time. Being present means listening, observing and learning. It also means knowing when to use your voice and when to be silent. In being present, we are able to figure out better our role in the world beyond what we do for a living, and beyond what people think of us, or whatever negative experiences or socialization we have gone through. If we don’t get the concept of presence, let us try the opposite, which is absence. Who wants to be absent? Absence means lack of presence, invisibility, loss, no voice, and all the negatives that go with it. So, what we want to be is present in all ways, and this is not just in the physical sense, it means being emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, spiritually present. Being present allows us to be grateful for what we have, it teaches us compassion, and we learn not to take waking up every morning to a shining sun for granted. Over the past twenty months, I have written about politics, the economy, discrimination against women, sexual abuse, building community, relationships, popular culture, it is a long list. I write about things that concern me a lot, some make me laugh, some make me want to cry, and some make me want to tear my hair out. Every time I write I get feedback which raises questions that I try to respond to in other essays. I have therefore found the experience of writing weekly for the first time in my life a profound exercise in being ‘Present’, and for that I am very grateful.

The first public reading of Loud Whispers will be at the Lagos Book and Arts Festival (LABAF) on November 10^th at 5pm, Freedom Park, Lagos. I will also be at the Ake Book and Arts Festival in Abeokuta, November 17^th and 18^th. I will be working with a number of institutions and civil society organisations to take Loud Whispers around Nigeria and beyond, as part of leadership development and mentoring programs. I will also be hosting interactive sessions on some social media platforms. Further information on how people can get involved, as well as where the book can be found, will be available on the Above Whispers website. I would like to say a big thank you to all the fans of the Loud Whispers column. Thank you for staying engaged every week. It would be nice to hear from you if you have any favourite essays from the Loud Whispers column. Many thanks to my darling husband Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who always serves as my ‘first responder’ when I write. I would also like to say a big thank you to the great writer Ama Ata Aidoo, who has been a big Auntie and mentor of mine for many years. She kindly agreed to write the Foreword for Loud Whispers, and she concluded with, ‘Dear reader, welcome to a well-researched volume of solid wisdom and incisive analysis.  These pieces are amazing, touching, sensitive and inspirational.  In the process, you might find yourself pensive or agitated with a sense of the outrage of it all. You might even cry, or you may sometimes laugh so much that you would end up crying anyway’. Have a great week and don’t forget to be ‘Present’.

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com