Danger of a Single Story
I’ve had three conversations recently where this Ted Talk was mentioned and each time it came up, I was surprised that more folks haven’t heard it. It’s from 2009 by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She wrote Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun and We Should All Be Feminists (and many others), all of which are worth a read.
I am so often guilty of homing in on a single story and this is always a good reminder to me that there is always so much more to a person or a people beyond my limited scope and imagination.
The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. . . .
Other Posts about Adichie
If you are reading this in your email inbox, the video may or may not show up. If you don’t see the video and want to view it, click here.