Sparrows of Senegambia: A Memoir

Synopsis: This memoir connects my birthplace, life, work, education, and travels to more than a dozen African countries on the Continent; places in South America and all states in the South, Mid-West, as well as travels to Europe, Southeast Asia, including Thailand, the Cambodian and Laotian borders, and Indonesia.

My 2005 travel to Senegal was the beginning of my knowledge of Senegambia, a historical name for a geographical region in West Africa, now no longer recognized by that name. It is located adjacent to the West African countries of Senegal and The Gambia. My travel to the West African slave port Goree Island, while in Senegal, opened my eyes to the significance of Senegambia. My life and work experiences caused me to compare my American family to be as the sparrows; birds that symbolize power hard work, diligence, productivity and persistence. The flight of the sparrow allows it to rise above circumstances of reality, doom and dismay.

"Sparrows of Senegambia deserves a place on shelves next to other nonfiction books about the African-American experience, told more fully and factually in the post-George Floyd world."

-Bluelnk Starred Review

Autobiography: Charles Sampson, PhD., emeritus professor and Graduate School dean, University of Missouri; Fulbright awardee, Founding member of the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs, and founding member of the University of Missouri Black Studies Department. Awarded the PhD by the University of Pittsburgh in 1974. Visiting Professor Khon Kaen University, Thailand, Visiting Professor University of the Western Cape, South Africa.