Ms. Fanta Jabbie, a highly spiritual cosmopolitan woman and mother, has travelled extensively in Africa and America. She has also worked and lived in Europe. Born in 1964 to a large, loving family; Ms Jabbie was raised in Lesotho, Freetown, Sierra Leone and Conakry in Guinea. She has had many mentors in her life, from her late mother, who built a business empire from nothing, to songstress Miriam Makeba. This African icon instilled in Ms. Jabbie a great respect and love for all nations but more than that, the love of her people in Africa and South Africa. "Mazi taught me to go out into the world, yet, I must never forget my culture, roots or languages. Miriam taught me to be fierce and to be myself." Through their daily contact spanning over 35 years, the author met lots of great people, from Stokely Carmichael, Nina Simone, Letta Mbulu and Caiphus Semenya and Tsietsi Mashinini.
Ms. Jabbie has a lot of stories to tell. She writes because her daughter and nieces love reading all types of books. She found that children's books aimed toward Black readers were virtually non-existent, especially in a world influenced by Disney and Mattel. Says Jabbie,"I write books to inspire young people to love themselves, their cultures and traditions in the multicultural, multi-faceted global village. I aim to encourage people to remember who they are. "
Ms. Jabbie knows that Africans are proud people with a great and long history. Great civilizations have emerged from the African continent. Her books bring honour to the African people. African people should and retain and reclaim their power, regardless of their background or social standing; they are kings and queens and deserve to be treated as such.