Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian novelist, sheds a piece of wisdom that is sadly not echoed more frequently to individuals, media and communities all over the world. It is the misunderstanding that fuels war, fear, isolation and discrimination; the single story. In emotive, colourful expression, Chimamanda describes how when growing up in Southeastern Nigeria she believed that the only characters that could exist in books were white, discussed the weather, drank ginger beer, and ate apples. Later, when at University, Chimamanda speaks of when she first met her roommate. After asking whether she could listen to what she called Chimamanda’s ‘tribal music’, her roommate became even more startled that to discover Chimamanda listened to Mariah Carey and could use a stove. Demonstrating from experience, Chimamanda illustrates the danger of a single story and how it works to disconnect, simplify and devastate our commonality and understanding.
Original via TED.
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