‘Our feminist ancestor’: Ama Ata Aidoo, author, activist and African heroine

Ama Ata Aidoo, an African feminist writer whose work has become part of the school curriculum and sampled by musicians such as Burna Boy. Photograph: Courtesy to The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo

It sounds ridiculous to say that I have been preparing myself for the death of Prof Ama Ata Aidoo for years, but that’s exactly what I tried – and failed – to do. A few years ago, there was a rumour she had died and I called her daughter, Kinna Likimani, a close friend, in a panic.

She reassured me: “Mummy is fine, don’t worry.” A few weeks ago, I was in London preparing to host the first live show of my podcast, Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, when I got a voice note: “All the best with your live show. Also just a heads-up, Mummy is very unwell.”