Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda’s Adichie’s eloquent elucidation of how she found her cultural voice, of how our expectations can undermine our objectivity, and how dangerous that can be is a welcome breath of air. It’s a worth response to a certain continuing insensitivity among media and in the publishing world. Take a moment and watch this video, from Ted.com, says Adichie:

“Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become. It is impossible to talk about the single story without talking about power.”

From her website: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is from Abba, in Anambra State, but grew up in the university town of Nsukka where she attended primary and secondary schools and briefly studied Medicine and Pharmacy. She then moved to the United States to attend college, graduating summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State with a major in Communication and a minor in Political Science. She holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins and a Masters degree in African Studies from Yale.