Summary
Dear Ms. Adichie,
I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Ferdousse Houmada, and I am a student currently enrolled in ACL 150/ Literacy in American Society at Borough of Manhattan Community College. I wanted to take this opportunity to express my admiration for your lecture and share my reflections on your insightful TED Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story."
I enjoyed how the lecture stresses the value of questioning singular narratives and looking for different viewpoints. Exhorting us to read widely, hear from a range of perspectives, and have candid, understanding discussions. I too agree that by doing this, we may overcome the perils of a single narrative and adopt a more thorough, considerate, and sophisticated view of the world and its individuals. When watching your TED Talk you brought up a compelling issue of lack of accurate representation in U.S literature. In your TedTalk, you also explain how It wasn’t until you picked up a book by an African author you saw a representation of your kind and the accuracy of that. I agree that most U.S. literature books depict the poverty of African regions instead of the richness it entails and breathes upon the land. Most students in the U.S. grow up on one singular narrative, which would be the pity we read about that entails Africa's poverty.
This, I believe, reveals how impressionable and sensitive our youth is. If the U.S. School Curriculum only depicted one narrative from mostly white authors in literature then African students would have no accurate representation and others of caucasian background would have only one narrative of Africa. You speak on how all You’d read books with foreign characters, which convinced you that literature, by definition, had to have foreign characters and be about things with which you couldn't directly identify. Thus the discovery of African writers achieved one thing for you and it rescued you from having a singular story about what books are. This is why a representation of authors around the globe is important in today’s educational curriculum. Discovery of other authors can help students relate to other writers and help them discover their cultural voice and warns that if we just hear one story about another person or place, we risk a critical misunderstanding. The TED Lecture encourages us to be mindful of the dangers of a single story by campaigning for equitable education, questioning assumptions, and proactively spreading a variety of viewpoints. In doing so, we may move toward a world that fully knows and values the diverse storylines.
In our ACL 150/ Literacy in American Society course, we spoke on "Challenges for Africans in U.S. schools" in week five discussing the potential roadblocks and challenges faced by students of African heritage who choose to pursue their education in the United States. These difficulties can take many different forms and relate to different elements of the learning process. African Americans or people of African heritage may encounter several significant obstacles in American schooling, including African students in American schools frequently run the risk of only hearing one tale portrayed. Making the connection between Your message in "The Danger of a Single Story" and the two "Challenges for Africana in U.S. schools," It becomes especially pertinent when we take into account the possibility that African students will come across inaccuracies and preconceptions about their identities, home nations, and cultures based on how they have been portrayed in western literature. These false beliefs have the potential to breed ignorance, bias, and discrimination. In this case, putting your TedTalk teachings into practice entails supporting an inclusive, diverse curriculum that includes a wide range of African authors in literature. We can refute the stereotype of African countries by advocating for a well-rounded education that takes into account the richness and diversity of the region.
I can relate to Ms. Adichie's message because I was born and raised in New York City and is of Moroccan descent. The curriculum at my school never had many examples of North African literature when I was growing up, nor did the school library. Rather, literature from Egypt or the larger Arabic-speaking region was prioritized, and Morocco's unique linguistic and cultural diversity especially in Darija was frequently overlooked. This lack of representation made me feel a little cut off from both my cultural heritage and, to some extent, who I am. Adichie's message confirms my view that school libraries should carry a more comprehensive collection of international literature, including voices from many countries and dialects. In addition to giving students a more realistic picture of the world, this representation aims at offering them the opportunity to find voices that resonate with them on a true level, deepening their sense of ethnic identity and belonging. By putting Adichie's teachings into practice, I'm motivated to support a more diverse curriculum and varied library resources that celebrate the diversity of global stories, allowing students to discover their unique voices and develop a greater understanding of the complex structure of global cultures.
Best Regards,
Ferdousse Houmada
