Publisher's Synopsis
If Not This Dream is an 1134-page fast-paced novel presented in three books. The night before Zaki, his family, Safiyah Hadejia, and Thomas depart for Nigeria, Africa, to search for Màdawwàri, Biggs shows him where his family has buried sixteen giant black-iron cauldrons full of gold coins, now worth billions. When the group arrives at Lagos, Nigeria, they board a Sikorsky S-92, a five-blade helicopter, and fly northeast. When they land at Hadejia, Ahmadu Hadejia, Safiyah's father, and his men surround the machine, all pointing assault rifles at it. The group exits the helicopter, all inspected by Ahmadu. After taking the group into his modern home, Ahmadu gives permission for his daughter to accompany them to the village of the circle, charging Zaki's mother with her safety. Three weeks later, the group returns, this time Safiyah asking her father if she can return to America with the family. When he learns that his daughter has lost her virginity to Zaki, an infidel, he goes into a rage, threatening to behead his daughter and Zaki. Safiyah's mother pleads for mercy from her husband. He finally bans Safiyah from his home under curse, never to see her again. They escape in their chartered Sikorsky S-92, a five-blade helicopter. The young pureblooded American Hausa fulfills his ancestor's dream and embarks on his own dream, building a self-sustaining all-black private school and town outside Charleston, South Carolina. Tragedy propels Zaki into national spotlight. Interviews on Larry King Live, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and an overnight stay in the Obama White House on the fourth of July facilitate the acceleration of phase two of his dream. Phase three of the dream is for all African American people to return to their roots to rebuild their culture in the original Dixie states of America. Phase three will shake America's foundation.
