#18 The Year of Return: A Black Woman's African Homecoming, with Rachel Décoste

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In this episode, I speak with Rachel Décoste. Guided by a DNA test, in 2018 she visited five countries in as many months – Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana and Benin – each country held a piece of her ancestry. When Rachel returned home, she recorded an audiobook about her adventures called The Year of Return: A Black Woman’s African Homecoming. Rachel recounts her journey with vivid imagery and humour – her pan-African trek is peppered with unexpected twists and delightful discoveries.

This conversation was originally released in 2020 on the Audiobook Reviews in Five Minutes podcast, and since we first met, Rachel’s story went viral thanks to this CNN article.

Rachel Décoste is an educator and immigration policy expert. She was a member of both presidential campaign teams of Barack Obama. Upon graduating with a Masters from The George Washington University, she was appointed National Director of the Congressional App Challenge, a tech education initiative created recently by the United States Congress. Rachel was named to the Top 100 Accomplished Black Canadian women in 2018. She was a Huffington Post contributor for over 5 years. The subject of her op-eds touched on diversity, immigration and Black history.

Episode highlights:

02:18 Rachel's childhood background and ancestry discovery

04:00 Preconceived ideas about Africa

19:44 Shopping at the biggest market in West Africa

26:38 Creating an audiobook

35:58 Finding love in West Africa’s Republic of Benin

44:58 Rachel's experience with technology, government and her background as a software engineer

56:00 Rachel's Whitney Houston fan site

Production

• Audio production by The Podcast Distillery.co
• Music: Kid Kodi by Skittle and These Times by The Pine Barrens from sessions.blue

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