Alyxandria VanDeWalle
Literacy In America
10/24/2023
A letter to Ms. Adichi
Dear Ms. Adichi,
My name is Alyxandria VanDeWalle, I’m a student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, I currently live in Brooklyn and am majoring in Psychology. I came across your TedTalk during my Literacy in American class and found it incredibly moving. Your insightfulness and your grace when speaking about other’s experiences and your own was eye opening and humbling to say the least. I always found the word stereotyping an easy word to use when thinking about how others can perceive and be perceived without openness and prior knowledge, but your use of the term single story creates such a human insight. We are just that, a series of experiences and a series of stories. To put someone into a box with just a singular perception can create a damaging placement or reflection of someone. We are such a collective of personality, upbringing, outlooks and opinions, one story could not cover the enigma that one person can be. The dangers of the singular story really are the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. Throughout this literacy class we have heard from a number of different human beings through letters, TedTalks and other forms of expression. Every single one of these insights included a personal reflection of being judged, misinterpreted or put into the box that is there perceived story. I myself found many moments where I was humbled and learned the dangers of assuming someone’s entire way of life just by their upbringing, beliefs or cultural ways of life. I personally am a white female living a middle-class comfortable life, so I have not experienced some of the heartbreaking effects of judgement and culture and racial assumption that we have been learning about throughout our class. If I had to find a way to relate to being prejudged, I suppose it would be more personality based. I have felt judgement due to the way I present myself to others. I can be quite guarded and cold at first because of the things I have been through. The fear of being let down or hurt is something I struggle with that doesn’t allow me to let a lot of people in. I am constantly told that most people thought I was uninviting and callus to them when that never was my intention. I feel that I try to apply understanding and willingness to hear other’s stories and outlooks as much as possible, but I feel I could implement them into my everyday life even more so. I hope to take in the lessons I’ve learned during this TedTalk and apply them in every interaction without judgement or immediate assumption.
Overall, I felt that Ms. Adichi’s way of explaining the dangers of single stories was perfect. I loved her lightheartedness and even her sense of humor at times, she was able to laugh at her own moments and admit when she herself made someone else into a single story. It made it into a more straightforward and warm way to help us shed these moments and find ways to see people not just as one story, but a plethora of stories. Incredible experiences and knowledge can be a beautiful way to get to know someone and a beautiful way to get to know ourselves and the world around us.
