I For Don Blow but I Too Dey Press Phone by Hymar David

It was 1996 in Nigeria; the year of the Atlanta Olympic gold, the year of political assassinations and the democratic struggle. It was also the year a little boy’s childhood took a dramatic turn when he lost his hearing and was immediately initiated into the chaos of being a disabled child in a lower-middle class community.

Recounting his experiences as a kid slipping from the top of the class to the bottom, going through a damaging sibling rivalry with his older brother, and having to get used to surrendering his body to strange men and women whose magic only marked his body and scarred his mind, I For Don Blow but I Too Dey Press Phone is a story of loss, trauma, an endless journey towards self-rediscovery and the violence it takes to live with dignity in a country that doesn’t see or hear people like him.