A few months ago I came across a great talk on the TED website, by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Adichie, in which she notes that if we hear only one person's story( for instance about their culture,country) you may end up misunderstanding many things and assuming that one story applies to all.
When I started this blog i tried to come up with a name that resonated with me at the time and how i felt, for instance, being African is what i relate to the most, it is who i am, on a deeper level if you ask me where am i from i will tell you i am a Kenyan, born to a Ugandan Father and a Kenyan mother, but brought up in Kenya. What do I see myself as, you may ask? I view myself as a part of the human culture, first and foremost, then as an African, then by my actual roots which is partly Ugandan, partly Kenyan.
The same goes with the images and depictions you see of Africans on TV, don't assume one story tells you the story of the African continent as a whole. there are so many sides to the african continent and the african people, the fact that we are all africans does not mean we all have the same stories to share. What you see from the media is simply a fraction of what goes on, on the ground. in fact for a long time Africans were not able to share their side of the story to the world, instead other people told it for us. This is now slowly being challenged with more accessibility to the internet, people lending their own voice to what is going on in the continent.
As I type this blog, im sharing my own personal story, do not let the blog title make you asume that I speak for all African women, i do not. This is my own personal journey that i seek to share with the outside world and more as a self reflecting too for myself. You're free to share you;re thought and give input as well.
Listen to the TED talk here:
Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story | Video on TED.com
No comments:
Post a Comment