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Effia’s grandson James plays a significant role in the Ghanaian side of the family’s history. By refusing the power and privilege granted by his family’s complicity with the slave trade, James forges a new path. Growing up, James fears becoming a weak man, just as his mother Nana Yaa has always accused his father, Quey, of being. However, James interprets his father’s weakness as coming from his indecisiveness. James believes that the only way to be a strong man is to follow the path set out for him with decisiveness. Akosua challenges this belief by calling out his family’s complicity with the slave trade and refusing to allow him to explain away that complicity. Effia further helps shift James’s paradigm for strength and weakness by describing weakness as an innate human starting point. In this vision of strength and weakness, deciding to be a different person is actually a sign of strength and maturity. James therefore becomes a man of resolve, conviction, and moral courage by refusing the privilege and power of his life and running away to marry Akosua and become a farmer. Even though the villagers call James unlucky for his poor farming skills, James finds happiness even in failing at work that doesn’t harm others.

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