The Danger of the Single Story

Personal Background

• Grew up on a university campus in Nigeria.
• Early reader; read British and American children's books.
• Wrote stories about white, blue-eyed characters.

Impact of Reading Foreign Books

• Believed books had to feature foreigners and things unidentifiable to her.
• Discovery of African books (e.g., Chinua Achebe, Camara Laye) changed her perception.
• Realized people like her could exist in literature.

Single Story of Poverty

• Example of Fide, the house boy.
• Only knew his family was poor, surprised by the crafted basket from his brother.
• Realized she had a single story of poverty about Fide's family.

Single Story of Africa

• American roommate's misconceptions: Shocked she could speak English, asked about tribal music, assumed she couldn't use a stove.
• Roommate had a single story of Africa: catastrophe, poverty, and incomprehensible people.
• Western literature has contributed to the single story of Africa.

Power and the Single Story

• Stories are defined by power structures.
• Mourid Barghouti: Dispossessing people by telling their story and omitting the beginning.
• Single story robs people of dignity.

Personal Experience of the Single Story

• Mexican trip: Media portrayed Mexicans as abject immigrants, realized it was a single story.

Importance of Multiple Stories

• Several stories shape a place or a person.
• Multiple stories provide a complete picture, avoiding stereotypes.

Stories of Nigeria

• Examples of diverse and empowering Nigerian stories.
• Nigerians are resilient despite poor infrastructure and government.
• Non-profit initiative (Farafina Trust) to promote reading and writing in Nigeria.

Conclusion

• Stories matter. They can dispossess, but they can also empower.
• Rejecting the single story allows us to regain a kind of paradise.