Don Pablo Mulemba

The East, My Family, and Other Mysteries 

A childhood in East Germany and an extraordinary family history of migration.

As a child, Don Pablo Mulemba—the son of an Angolan contract worker and an East German woman—constantly had to explain the color of his skin. He naturally identified as German. He spoke the same dialect as everyone else, knew nothing but the Brandenburg countryside—and yet was repeatedly made to feel like an outsider. His parents had met in the GDR, but the East after reunification was no longer a safe place for them and their children. These were the “combat-boot years”; their friend Amadeu Antonio was beaten to death on a public street in Eberswalde. The family was torn apart: His parents saw no future for themselves and emigrated to Angola. Pablo, however, wanted to stay. At age twelve, he attended a sports boarding school in Cottbus and, as a Black teenager, had to find his own way. 
Today, he grapples with the fundamental questions of identity, home, and belonging—questions that lead him on a journey with his father all the way to Angola. – Don Pablo Mulemba’s story is also the story of reunified Germany: with its wounds, fractures, and the determination to forge a future nonetheless—told in a gripping, intimate, and authentic way.

“Don Pablo Mulemba tells a story that must be read—intelligent and without a trace of pathos. Growing up as a Black person in post-reunification East Germany: German contemporary history. Told with warmth, clarity, and literary power. I am grateful for this book” (Tupoka Ogette)

“A memoir that draws you in from the very first sentence and leaves you breathless time and again” (Joy Denalane)

“A tender, angry, radically honest book. Full of pain and hope at the same time” (Seyda Kurt)