The Danger of a Single Story

I've seen this Ted Talk before, and it never fails to amaze me. The story Chimamanda conveys is one of elegance, the harsh reality of our world, and humor. I find humor to be a vital part in her story. She explains her white American roommate is a light of humor which makes it more relatable, and easier to talk about. She depicts the young book critic in the same light. Chimamanda throws some heavy material into the crowd, material that shouldn't be humorous. She does an outstanding job is making light of the atrocities African people have faced for centuries. The most astonishing part of the whole, video is the fact that it was filmed in 2009. The year now is 2018, and everything she said is still applicable to the modern world. So often we choose to focus on the "single story". Why? Because it's comfortable. Refusing to believe in the possibility of other stories is what we as humans have been doing for hundreds of years. When Chimamanda brought up the quotation from John Locke, I was flabbergasted. When he stumbled upon Africa, he saw uncivilized "beasts". Locke goes onto explain how "they talked out of their breasts".  That was just one account of who the people of Africa were. The rest is history. John took his observations of the African people, his subjective, observation, and impregnated the world. This was the story the African people will always be tied too. Sadly, this is the reality in which we as Americans view the people of Africa. We see them as beasts, who have no connection the luxuries of modern life. Yet, the woman on stage is the exact example of a modern African woman. She's an educated, sophisticated, and extremely poised representation of what Africans can be. I know that sounds weird, even typing it into the blog seems offensive. However, I find it to be shockingly truthful. Africans have so much potential to become dominant figures in society. This is not, and arguably will never be, possible for them. This is exactly what Chimamanda is replicating. We are so tied to the single story of Africans, that we choose to believe they are a lost cause. Chimamanda is a force of nature, who deserves all the praise she can get. I value her professional observations of the world. I pray she will never create a single story.