Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an African writer who, it seems, is making quite an impact in the African literature community. I haven't read her books or articles, but I did just watch this speech and thought it was really great. I also liked how she briefly tied her discussion of Africa and the Western world into the U.S.-Mexico immigration debate. This speech is a reminder that we cannot rely on a single story - a single version - if we hope to really understand a people, a country, an issue, etc.
Too often it seems like reader's forum letters, comments following online news articles, like/dislike button, and similar quick-response techniques these days are simply ways for people to say something reductive, claiming a solution that stems from only looking at the issue from one angle rather than multiple. A letter to the Daily Universe is hardly going to resolve all the issues surrounding a debate, though such a letter can be helpful in presenting a single perspective and encouraging further discussion. Forums are meant to be places for discussion, where we learn things through collective civil discourse that ultimately helps the community better itself. But too often reader's forums just become arenas of contention and personal attacks, where writers and readers are more interested in reading the next smack down than they are the next insightful thought.
I think this form of literary bloodsport comes, at least in part, from our wish for things to be simple and easy, especially when it comes to things that make us uncomfortable. Issues like immigration, health care, abortion, globalization, and other such things cannot (or at least should not) be resolved over night. For me, I've felt like the best method requires me to take some time, study things out, then come to a conclusion that I'm also willing to modify or even completely change when new information presents itself. This isn't an easy method to follow, because I also wanna be finished with the discussion, believing that I've got it all figured out and that everyone in opposition to my view is wrong. But this isn't true. Sometimes they're wrong, sometimes we're both wrong, or we're both right while still on opposite sides of the fence. It's a tough juggling of personal and communal well-being, and a rather pluralist mentality. Often this method fails me and I just get rash and judgmental. So, it's good to see things like Chimamanda Adichie's speech to remind me to take a moment, think about things, and try looking at it all from a perspective outside my own.
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