The Conundrum of the Conservative African
This week's newsletter explores the complex contradictions of identity and belonging, plus updates on newsletter structure and maps within The Herd book series.
Growing up in a conservative Christian Nigerian home and attending an evangelical church, I was taught early on that being gay was considered part of a sinful lifestyle, alongside fornication, lying, and other transgressions. As I got older, I discovered this belief wasn't unique to my circle—a large portion of African and African-American families held or hold similarly conservative (now largely understood as discriminatory) views. And today it is this cultural conundrum, holding views that exclude groups while navigating life as a person who needs acceptance from other groups, that I want to unpack.
This cultural complexity creates fascinating contradictions, something I witnessed clearly during recent discussions about papal succession. (I know the pope is already chosen but bear with me here). This fascinating NPR story touched on an interesting dilemma within the decision to choose a new pope for the church: even if church leaders wanted to be progressive and select a dark-skinned African pope, that person's deeply held ideological beliefs might actually work against the LGBTQ community and other progressive causes those types of leaders supported.
This was a point of tension worth exploring for me because it raised a lot of questions that I had growing up about identity and belonging. How do you reconcile it when one’s fundamental, deeply-rooted beliefs may work against them in unexpected ways? It's a complexity I've observed throughout my life—watching my mother vote for both parties, seeing how ideological divides can obscure the full humanity of people whose beliefs are layered and sometimes contradictory.
The NPR piece highlighted this beautifully through Father James Martin's work with LGBTQ Catholics. He described meeting people who felt increasingly pushed out of churches they loved, while also acknowledging that church leaders are "prayerful people" who've dedicated their lives to service and genuinely believe they're doing what's right, which sometimes is exclusion of groups, ideas and lifestyles. There's real pain.
The Catholic Church's current struggle reflects a broader challenge many institutions face: the fastest-growing communities of faith are often in regions where conservative social views are deeply embedded in local tradition and culture. Yet these same communities may find themselves marginalized by the power centers of institutions they're most faithful to (i.e. the Vatican).
The Takeaway?
I have lived around the world and seen the discrimination and rejection all sorts of people do to one another while simultaneously seeking acceptance from others. It is a complex thing to take in and try to understand.
But what I have concluded is that this isn't just about religion or politics. It's about the messy reality of human identity—how our deepest convictions about faith, family, culture, and belonging don't always fit into neat categories. It's about recognizing that people can hold seemingly contradictory beliefs not out of confusion, but because their lived experiences are genuinely complex.
These conversations resist simple solutions precisely because they involve our most fundamental beliefs about right and wrong, about community and belonging, about who we are and who we're called to be. Perhaps the way forward isn't about resolving these tensions, but about creating space for the full complexity of human experience, acknowledging that people can be deeply faithful and deeply conservative while also being part of communities that don't always recognize or welcome all aspects of who they are.
Thoughts?
Newsletter Housekeeping
A little housekeeping update for you all. As some of you know, I was juggling multiple newsletters, which honestly became too much to manage. So I've merged everything into one weekly newsletter that goes out on Sundays.
The new format is divided into three sections, and I’ll lead with something different each week:
Jenny Explains World Systems — This is where I'll dive into general system connections and share interesting things I come across.
JAM CQ — The intersection of culture and industry, lifestyle, and current affairs. All the articles from this section have been migrated over here.
The Herd World — This is where I'll talk about my books, share fanfare, fan fiction, and other book-related content.
I'm experimenting with keeping this newsletter on a donation basis, so you can now make a one time donation through stripe or you can be a monthly subscriber for just $5 a month.
If you enjoy it and want to support what I'm doing, donations and subscriptions are always appreciated and help keep things running. I'm also considering making some of the Herd World pieces subscriber-only, but nothing's set in stone yet.
Things might change as I figure this out—I'm learning alongside all of you.
The Herd World- Updates, and What I’m Reading
Where to Find The Herd The Herd is now available at Wonderland Bookstores in Bethesda, Maryland! If you're in the area, you can grab a copy there. I've also launched my new author website where you can order signed copies directly from me—just a heads up that signed copies are exclusively available through my site.
Exclusive Maps in Development For those of you who've already read the book, I'm working on something special: two detailed maps that I think you'll love. The first will show faction population concentrations within the herd world, mapping out how these groups have coalesced across the U.S. landscape in the post-apocalyptic Herd world. The second map will illustrate how the world gets redrawn as different wars following the Crash . These visual guides are helping me see the world more clearly as I write, and I think they'll be fantastic resources for readers too. I'm planning to make these maps available as subscriber-only content—a little exclusive treat for dedicated readers.
Book Two Progress I'm still deep in the revision process for book two (kind of lost track of word count at this point lol), and as many of you know, revisions take considerable time and patience. After I complete this round of revisions, I'll do another full read-through before seeking a professional editor. If you're interested in beta reading or editing opportunities, keep an eye out—those opportunities will be coming after I secure an editor for book two. I'm really excited about how this sequel is shaping up!
Current Reading Recommendation Beyond my own writing, I've been absorbed in Severance, a post-apocalyptic novel by Asian-American author Ling Ma. I love the distinctive voice and perspective she brings to the futuristic dystopian genre. Her novel follows the protagonist Candace who is wandering a world overtaken by a mysterious sickness. I haven't reached the ending yet, so I can’t fully recommend it. But I am I'm thoroughly enjoying the modern setting of this dystopian world. I always love discovering post-apocalyptic stories from diverse authors, and this one delivers a fresh, contemporary approach to familiar themes.
Thanks for following along on this journey with me!
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