Our lives,
our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda
Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and
warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we
risk a critical misunderstanding.
A native of
Nigeria, Chimamanda came to study in the United States at the age of 19. From that time she recalls “[My college
roommate] asked if she could listen to what she called my ‘tribal music,’ and
was consequently very disappointed when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey.”
She speaks
of the danger of stereotypes and viewing others in context of a “single story.” Her inspiring talk is below:
Discussion questions to
consider as you watch:
Can you name
a group of people or a single person who you think has recently been negatively affected by the “Single Story” people think they know about them?
Can you remember a time when you thought you knew someone because of a stereotype or a “single story” and learned that you were wrong?
Many of the
people we revere or revile from the Bible actually have very little written
about them. Do you think sometimes we
consider only a “single story” in our own history? Could this be true when we study American
history?
What can we
do to make sure we know “whole stories” about people?
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