Chains Of The Father

Chains of the Father
A Novel by Jojo Penwood
One bloodline. Seven generations. Countless wounds.
From the ancient forests of Benin to the crowded streets of modern-day America, Chains of the Father is a sweeping intergenerational saga that traces the inherited trauma, silence, violence, and resilience passed down through seven Black men-bound not only by blood, but by the unseen chains of history.
It begins with Obadele, a noble man stolen from his homeland and shackled into slavery. His strength and dignity are buried under brutality-but a whisper of his spirit survives. Across generations, we meet his descendants: men hardened by the lash, silenced by shame, enraged by injustice, and often incapable of love. Each man carries more than his own scars; he carries the echoes of those before him.
From the cotton fields to the concrete jungle, through war, migration, addiction, incarceration, and protest, the chain tightens. Yet in the seventh generation, a boy named Amari dares to look backward in order to break free. Through therapy, ancestral memory, and a journey back to Benin, Amari seeks not revenge-but healing.
Powerful, poetic, and deeply human, Chains of the Father is a story of legacy, survival, and the revolutionary act of choosing peace.