Saturday, October 6, 2018

CHIMAMANDA ON STORY, IDENTITY, FEMINISM, AND BECOMING BLACK IN AMERICA

"Like many of us at INBOUND, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a storyteller.  
She has used her gift at weaving stories to ignite a global conversation about the importance of feminism to everyone, and to warn of the dangers of hearing only a single story about another person or place."
Adichie speaks in detail on learning a single story of Black Americans from White American television and White American news -- and then having to unlearn it.

This was important to me, as I've met more than one African who did not take the time to unlearn the self-protective, white story of Black America.  I swear, there's not much more hurtful than a black face saying words that could come out of Trump's mouth.

It's wonderful to hear her speak, talk about Black American History as a black outsider. Hearing her talk on this before with Zadie Smith made me feel proud of how far  we, Black Americans, have come and how fast we've covered ground -- especially since our progress doesn't feel large and significant to us most days.

Seeing victorious ourselves through the educated eyes of black outsiders can hearten us, strengthen us, give us enough hope and fuel for the fight ahead. And with an overt white supremacist in the White House, there's definitely a fight afoot. 


45 minutes
Listen to in the background as you go about your day


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