Many times within our lives we will learn about a certain topic, but only hear it from the perspective of one person, or one textbook. Different aspects of our lives and cultures are made up of various and overlapping stories, but someone from the outside may only see one piece of what you have experienced. The danger of a single story has the power to lead to critical misunderstandings about someone else's country, culture, and or upbringing.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an author from Nigeria, who splits her time in both the United States and Nigeria. She has written several books and articles for many well known news magazines such as the New York Times and the Financial Times. She has also received several awards and been invited to speak on different occasions. She is an activist for equality and feminism as well.
In her TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story, Adichie shares her story of being a young Nigerian university student in the United States, and how she was treated based on what people assumed about her from a previous one sided story. When she moved to the states at age 19, her American roommate was shocked by her. Adichie says that "She asked where I had learned to speak English so well, and was confused when I said that Nigeria happened to have English as its official language..." and, "Her default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning pity. My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals".
I first saw this TED Talk when I took the course Cultural Diversity and American Society as a junior. Ever since, it has severely impacted me and the way I approach people. As the Coordinator for the New International Student Orientation at Plymouth State University, I showed this video as part of training to our group of Global Orientation Leaders. It became a life tool for me. The way that we approach people of other cultures should never be assumptive. We must embrace them as they are and where they come from. Approach them gently and acceptingly, while still taking interest in where they come from.