The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Sinclair, Safiya. How to Say Babylon: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster, 2023.

Safiya is born on the Jamaican seaside to two Rastafari parents, Esther and Howie. Both Esther and Howie were born into poverty and discovered the Rasta religion in their youth. As Howie became more involved in the religion, he isolated his growing family from their relatives and they struggled to scrape by on his musician’s salary. When he had to travel to Japan to record albums, Safiya and her siblings would visit their grandmother. She loved the freedom from Rasta during these extended trips.

Safiya yearns to be like the other children in her classes, but her father exhibits strict control over their daily lives. She must grow her hair in dreadlocks, a heavily stigmatized style that sets her apart from her peers. She is ruthlessly mocked for being Rasta so visibly. As she begins wanting to meet boys and behave like the other girls, the restrictions of the religion cause her faith to waver. Soon, Safiya enters a private high school where she feels even more “other” because nearly all of her classmates are wealthy, white expats from the United States. She develops anxiety about attending school but loves to learn and is a naturally talented student.

As Safiya progresses through high school, her father’s moods grow more unpredictable and volatile. He is convinced of the wickedness of the world around him and tries to isolate the family even more to keep them away from any sources of corruption. He is physically violent toward the children, beating them with a belt for perceived disobedience. Safiya attempts to make friends and finds a girl named Cassandra to is kind and easy to spend time with. Cassandra vanished mysteriously from school and was later discovered to be pregnant. Safiya never saw her again.

After Howie attempts to take another wife, asking the children what they would think, Esther tries to leave him. She initially leaves the children behind but they successfully beg her to return. When she returns, she is less strict about enforcing Howie’s rules and begins allowing Safiya to wear jeans and shorts.

Safiya graduates from high school but does not begin college immediately because her family cannot afford it. She studies subjects she is interested in at home and begins writing poems. She finds a mentor to help her, but her father continually discourages her and tells her that writing is a useless waste of time. Safiya persists and is published. Eventually, she receives a scholarship to a college in the U.S. and she attends. She rarely returns to Jamaica and the relationship with her father is distant.

After a violent altercation, it is years before Safiya speaks to her father again. She finally takes his call and tells him to apologize to her. He does and he finally attends one of her poetry readings and praises her, telling her he can finally hear her.