The Grandmother Who Sang While She Worked

Every morning at 5:30, before the rest of the house stirred, Margaret Okonkwo stood at the kitchen sink in her small Lagos apartment and sang. Not quietly — Margaret sang with her whole chest, hands deep in dishwater, voice rattling the window louvers. Yoruba hymns, English choruses, sometimes just a melody she made up on the spot. Her grandchildren would wake to it, padding into the kitchen rubbing their eyes.…