A couple of days ago, I was in my Rainbow of Voices class. Sounds interesting? Yes, it does. It's an English class in which the main purpose is to explore literature of people that are considered to be minorities. Anyway, in this class we are watching a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She's a Nigerian novelist and short story writer. Now, I am guilty to say that I didn't know who she is, which has to do with this article. She called her TED talk "The Dangers of Only Reading One Story." Intriguing, I know.
It was about how only knowing one side of the narration prevents you from seeing beyond the surface. This contributes to the belief of stereotypes. As unpopular as this opinion will be, I feel we are all guilty of reading only one story. Yes, stereotypes are part of our lives. That has to change. I figure I could give you examples of what I talking about. They say write what you know, and what could I possible know better than myself? Here it goes.
I have a friend from Singapore. One day that friend and I met another person for lunch. It is important to say that the Singaporean friend and I have been knowing each other for a little while. As we proceed to dive into the holiness of our food, the third person asks Mike (let's call him Mike) "So Mike how did you learn English so fast?" Mike looked confused "I am from Singapore. One of the official languages is English." Shocked. Random Third Friend was just shocked. Just like I was; we were ignorant. And the thing with ignorance is that you can destroy it by reading more than just one story.It may take some convincing, but we can do it. We can change the mentality that what we see in a commercial is the only aspect of the world. We can open our minds to experience the cultures of everyone. It will take time. After all, the world is round. So let's explore those curves.
Another example? I was asked to read creation myth stories of the Iroquois. I figured they were weird. There was no figure that had to be with God. Just a women that gave birth to Twins: a good one and a bad one. They made the universe. I was confused, until I realized that I was told by my grandmother that the Lord made the world in seven days and that a snake told Eve to eat an apple. Literature helps us break barriers that have been imposed to us pretty much since we were born. By reading more than one story we see the diversity of the world; it's not just black and white. Moral of everything? There's more than meets the eye. Don't read one story; read the entire book.
