Why Telling One Story Isn’t Enough

Gifted writer and storyteller, Chimamanda Adichie, shares a TED talk on why we cannot tell just one story of Africa.

 

For too long, she says, Africa’s story has been limited to one of suffering, catastrophe, and poverty.

Adichie says, “The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different, rather than how we are similar.”

If we are ever going to combat poverty, we need to tell a more complete story: a story of people’s culture, passions, and ambitions–as well as their pain.

“Stories matter,” Adichie says. “Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. Stories can also be used to empower and to humanize.  Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”

At HOPE, we have the greatest privilege to tell the stories of individuals who are making a difference in their communities, who are hardworking and intelligent, skilled and talented.

We have the opportunity to tell a more complex–and beautiful–story of Africa, one of challenge, hope, human flourishing, and faith.

1 Comment

  1. […] therefore leads to incorrect and dangerous conclusions. This is worth 20 minutes of your time. (HT: Peter Greer via his […]

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