Three young sisters whose family members are parishioners at Columbus St. Dominic Church have published an educational children’s book series, Zakira Presents!, that aims to teach young people about African American culture in a fun, interactive way.

The sisters – Zahara, Zakiya and Zalika Obayuwana, who are in the third, fifth and seventh grade, respectively – attend Columbus Public Schools, where they had trouble finding information about their African American heritage. 

Prior to COVID, their mother, Bertha Obayuwana, would visit their classrooms to teach the students about Kwanzaa, an annual weeklong celebration of African American culture. 

“This gave new knowledge to their classmates who didn’t know about Kwanzaa,” Bertha said. “Perhaps, even more importantly, the girls were able to connect with other classmates who also celebrated Kwanzaa, and with that came a sense of empowerment – to be seen, to be understood and to be celebrated.”

When the pandemic hit, however, Bertha no longer could visit the classrooms to spread this knowledge. She said that, during that time, “the girls and I were talking, … and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was a book that kids could use to learn about what we’d share in the class?’” 

From there, Zakira Presents! was born. Zakira, the main character’s name, is a combination of Zahara, Zakiya and Zalika. 

According to a fellow St. Dominic parishioner, Zakira “is much like the sisters themselves – curious and eager to share what she learns.” In each book, Zakira tells the true stories of individuals and events that have made African American history. 

Topics include Juneteenth and Ramadan. Each book contains discussion questions as well as relevant activities for readers, such as puzzles, developed by the Obayuwana sisters. Nine-year-old Zahara, the youngest of the three, said she hopes Zakira Presents! will eventually be made into a cartoon.

The motto for Zakira Presents! is, “The more you understand each other, the better friend you can be to one another,” which is also a line from one of the books. 

The goal of the series is to educate children about African American culture and deepen a sense of community among people of different heritages. As one reviewer on their website, zakirapresents.com, wrote, “This book is inspiring in spreading an understanding of culture to masses of young and old who love learning about tradition and culture.” 

Over the summer, Zahara, Zakiya and Zalika went on a book tour that included a Juneteenth celebration at their parish as well as a trip to Washington, D.C., to present their series at a bookstore. 

“When we go to ‘meet the author’ events and meet other kids, we tell them … they have a gift that they don’t have to wait to be adults to share with the world!” Zahara said. “They can do it now!”

When asked how they acquire the information for their books, 11-year-old Zakiya said they all do the research and then make the facts easy for kids to understand. 

“For example, in Zakira Presents Black History, we each took on different people to find cool and not-so-popular facts about them,” she said. “Then we came back together and made everything make sense for kids.”

Bertha said the process of her daughters creating Zakira Presents! has been “a walk with God.” She believes they are sharing with the world the talents they’ve been blessed with, which has strengthened their faith. 

“They are young, and I think as they grow older, this (strengthening) will become even more apparent to them.”

Aside from writing and promoting their books, the sisters are active in their schools and community, with Zakiya being a violinist with the Urban Strings Columbus youth orchestra and 13-year-old Zalika holding the title of inaugural spelling bee champion at her World Language Middle School.

Zakira Presents! books can be purchased through the website zakirapresents.com.