I grew more curious, roaming ever closer to the boundary of the shoreline, away from my mother’s watchful eye, testing how far along our beach I could go.”
-- Safiya (Pages 12 - 70)

Importance: Safiya clashed early on with her father regarding her first true love, the sea. She enjoyed testing her boundaries and allowing the sea to bring her calm and introspection, while her father found fear in the roiling waves. Safiya's natural curiosity and bravery contrasts with her father's religious beliefs about a woman's role and this quote foreshadows their growing divide and conflict as she explores what she wants separate from what he wants for her.

Years later, while retracing the history of my family’s journey into Rastafari, I would eventually come to understand that my mother felt called because she wanted to nurture, and my father felt called because he wanted to burn. Somewhere in between her hope and his...
-- Safiya (Pages 12 - 70)