[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a storyteller.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.00,0:00:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I would like to tell you\Na few personal stories
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.00,0:00:09.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about what I like to call\N"the danger of the single story."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.75,0:00:13.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I grew up on a university campus\Nin eastern Nigeria.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.16,0:00:17.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother says that I started\Nreading at the age of two,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.49,0:00:20.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,although I think four\Nis probably close to the truth.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.75,0:00:23.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I was an early reader,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.59,0:00:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what I read were British\Nand American children's books.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.71,0:00:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was also an early writer,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.00,0:00:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and when I began to write,\Nat about the age of seven,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.00,0:00:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stories in pencil\Nwith crayon illustrations
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.07,0:00:39.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that my poor mother was obligated to read,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.63,0:00:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I wrote exactly the kinds\Nof stories I was reading:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.22,0:00:47.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All my characters were\Nwhite and blue-eyed,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.00,0:00:50.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they played in the snow,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.33,0:00:52.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they ate apples,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.44,0:00:53.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.01,0:00:56.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they talked a lot about the weather,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.05,0:00:58.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how lovely it was\Nthat the sun had come out.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.41,0:01:00.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.40,0:01:03.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, this despite the fact\Nthat I lived in Nigeria.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.56,0:01:05.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had never been outside Nigeria.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.14,0:01:10.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We didn't have snow, we ate mangoes,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.43,0:01:12.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we never talked about the weather,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.30,0:01:13.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because there was no need to.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.27,0:01:16.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My characters also drank\Na lot of ginger beer,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.00,0:01:19.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the characters\Nin the British books I read
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.40,0:01:20.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,drank ginger beer.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.30,0:01:23.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Never mind that I had no idea\Nwhat ginger beer was.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.00,0:01:25.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.56,0:01:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for many years afterwards,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.03,0:01:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would have a desperate desire\Nto taste ginger beer.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.48,0:01:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that is another story.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.00,0:01:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What this demonstrates, I think,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.51,0:01:37.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is how impressionable\Nand vulnerable we are
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.38,0:01:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the face of a story,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.00,0:01:40.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly as children.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.64,0:01:45.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because all I had read were books\Nin which characters were foreign,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.43,0:01:47.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had become convinced that books
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.58,0:01:50.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by their very nature\Nhad to have foreigners in them
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.77,0:01:54.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and had to be about things with which\NI could not personally identify.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.60,0:01:58.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, things changed\Nwhen I discovered African books.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.00,0:02:00.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There weren't many of them available,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.00,0:02:03.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they weren't quite as easy to find\Nas the foreign books.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.89,0:02:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But because of writers like\NChinua Achebe and Camara Laye,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.00,0:02:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went through a mental shift\Nin my perception of literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.00,0:02:13.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized that people like me,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.24,0:02:15.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girls with skin the color of chocolate,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.27,0:02:18.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose kinky hair could not form ponytails,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.56,0:02:20.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could also exist in literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.68,0:02:23.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I started to write\Nabout things I recognized.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.74,0:02:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I loved those\NAmerican and British books I read.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.00,0:02:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They stirred my imagination.\NThey opened up new worlds for me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.00,0:02:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the unintended consequence
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.00,0:02:36.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was that I did not know\Nthat people like me
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.07,0:02:37.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could exist in literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.45,0:02:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what the discovery of African writers\Ndid for me was this:
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.00,0:02:45.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It saved me from having a single story\Nof what books are.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.00,0:02:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I come from a conventional,\Nmiddle-class Nigerian family.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.00,0:02:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My father was a professor.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.38,0:02:54.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother was an administrator.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.37,0:02:58.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so we had, as was the norm,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.20,0:03:02.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,live-in domestic help, who would often\Ncome from nearby rural villages.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.18,0:03:06.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, the year I turned eight,\Nwe got a new house boy.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.10,0:03:08.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His name was Fide.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.66,0:03:13.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The only thing my mother told us about him\Nwas that his family was very poor.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.00,0:03:19.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My mother sent yams and rice,\Nand our old clothes, to his family.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.00,0:03:22.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I didn't finish my dinner,\Nmy mother would say,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.64,0:03:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Finish your food! Don't you know?\NPeople like Fide's family have nothing."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.00,0:03:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I felt enormous pity for Fide's family.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.58,0:03:34.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then one Saturday,\Nwe went to his village to visit,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.50,0:03:37.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and his mother showed us\Na beautifully patterned basket
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.00,0:03:40.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made of dyed raffia\Nthat his brother had made.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.00,0:03:42.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was startled.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.00,0:03:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It had not occurred to me\Nthat anybody in his family
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.00,0:03:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could actually make something.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.00,0:03:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All I had heard about them\Nwas how poor they were,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.00,0:03:56.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that it had become impossible for me\Nto see them as anything else but poor.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.14,0:03:59.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their poverty was my single story of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.00,0:04:03.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Years later, I thought about this\Nwhen I left Nigeria
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.55,0:04:06.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to go to university in the United States.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.34,0:04:07.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was 19.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.42,0:04:11.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My American roommate was shocked by me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.00,0:04:15.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She asked where I had learned\Nto speak English so well,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.61,0:04:17.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was confused when I said that Nigeria
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.72,0:04:20.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,happened to have English\Nas its official language.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.75,0:04:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She asked if she could listen\Nto what she called my "tribal music,"
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.00,0:04:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and was consequently very disappointed
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.00,0:04:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when I produced my tape of Mariah Carey.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.00,0:04:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.00,0:04:36.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She assumed that I did not know\Nhow to use a stove.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.78,0:04:39.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What struck me was this:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.06,0:04:42.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She had felt sorry for me\Neven before she saw me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.53,0:04:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her default position\Ntoward me, as an African,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.00,0:04:49.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was a kind of patronizing,\Nwell-meaning pity.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.00,0:04:53.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My roommate had a single story of Africa:
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.62,0:04:55.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a single story of catastrophe.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.41,0:04:57.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this single story,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.72,0:05:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was no possibility of Africans\Nbeing similar to her in any way,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.00,0:05:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no possibility of feelings\Nmore complex than pity,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.00,0:05:08.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no possibility of a connection\Nas human equals.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.00,0:05:11.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I must say that before I went to the U.S.,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.15,0:05:13.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I didn't consciously identify as African.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.00,0:05:16.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in the U.S., whenever Africa came up,\Npeople turned to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.00,0:05:19.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Never mind that I knew nothing\Nabout places like Namibia.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.00,0:05:23.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I did come to embrace\Nthis new identity,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.12,0:05:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in many ways I think\Nof myself now as African.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.00,0:05:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although I still get quite irritable\Nwhen Africa is referred to as a country,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.00,0:05:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the most recent example being\Nmy otherwise wonderful flight
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.00,0:05:35.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from Lagos two days ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.31,0:05:38.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which there was an announcement\Non the Virgin flight
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.22,0:05:42.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the charity work in "India,\NAfrica and other countries."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.00,0:05:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.48,0:05:47.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, after I had spent some years\Nin the U.S. as an African,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.00,0:05:51.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I began to understand\Nmy roommate's response to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:52.00,0:05:54.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I had not grown up in Nigeria,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.05,0:05:57.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if all I knew about Africa\Nwere from popular images,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.21,0:06:02.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I too would think that Africa\Nwas a place of beautiful landscapes,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.41,0:06:03.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,beautiful animals,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.00,0:06:05.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and incomprehensible people,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.00,0:06:09.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fighting senseless wars,\Ndying of poverty and AIDS,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.66,0:06:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unable to speak for themselves
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.00,0:06:16.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and waiting to be saved\Nby a kind, white foreigner.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.93,0:06:19.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would see Africans\Nin the same way that I,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.12,0:06:21.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a child, had seen Fide's family.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.00,0:06:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This single story of Africa ultimately\Ncomes, I think, from Western literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.00,0:06:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, here is a quote from the writing\Nof a London merchant called John Locke,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.00,0:06:34.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who sailed to west Africa in 1561
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.00,0:06:38.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and kept a fascinating\Naccount of his voyage.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.20,0:06:43.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After referring to the black Africans\Nas "beasts who have no houses,"
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.00,0:06:47.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he writes, "They are also\Npeople without heads,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.00,0:06:51.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,having their mouth and eyes\Nin their breasts."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:53.00,0:06:55.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I've laughed\Nevery time I've read this.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.12,0:06:58.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And one must admire\Nthe imagination of John Locke.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.37,0:07:01.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But what is important about his writing
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.26,0:07:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that it represents the beginning
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.00,0:07:05.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a tradition of telling\NAfrican stories in the West:
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.00,0:07:09.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A tradition of Sub-Saharan Africa\Nas a place of negatives,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.48,0:07:11.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of difference, of darkness,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.66,0:07:16.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of people who, in the words\Nof the wonderful poet Rudyard Kipling,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.00,0:07:18.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are "half devil, half child."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.21,0:07:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, I began to realize\Nthat my American roommate
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.00,0:07:24.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,must have throughout her life
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.00,0:07:28.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,seen and heard different versions\Nof this single story,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.00,0:07:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as had a professor,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.00,0:07:34.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who once told me that my novel\Nwas not "authentically African."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.87,0:07:37.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I was quite willing to contend
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.58,0:07:40.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there were a number of things\Nwrong with the novel,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:40.70,0:07:43.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it had failed in a number of places,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.00,0:07:46.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I had not quite imagined\Nthat it had failed
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.26,0:07:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at achieving something\Ncalled African authenticity.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.00,0:07:52.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, I did not know\Nwhat African authenticity was.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.00,0:07:58.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The professor told me that my characters\Nwere too much like him,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.42,0:08:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an educated and middle-class man.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:00.42,0:08:02.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My characters drove cars.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.55,0:08:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They were not starving.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.00,0:08:07.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Therefore they were not\Nauthentically African.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.00,0:08:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I must quickly add\Nthat I too am just as guilty
Dialogue: 0,0:08:12.00,0:08:14.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the question of the single story.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.00,0:08:17.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A few years ago,\NI visited Mexico from the U.S.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.00,0:08:21.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The political climate in the U.S.\Nat the time was tense,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.69,0:08:24.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there were debates going on\Nabout immigration.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.00,0:08:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And, as often happens in America,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.00,0:08:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,immigration became\Nsynonymous with Mexicans.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.70,0:08:32.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were endless stories of Mexicans
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.66,0:08:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as people who were\Nfleecing the healthcare system,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.00,0:08:37.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sneaking across the border,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.00,0:08:40.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,being arrested at the border,\Nthat sort of thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.16,0:08:45.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember walking around\Non my first day in Guadalajara,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.00,0:08:47.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,watching the people going to work,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.00,0:08:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rolling up tortillas in the marketplace,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.00,0:08:51.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,smoking, laughing.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.20,0:08:55.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I remember first feeling slight surprise.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.00,0:08:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, I was overwhelmed with shame.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:59.34,0:09:03.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I realized that I had been so immersed\Nin the media coverage of Mexicans
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.00,0:09:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they had become one thing in my mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.02,0:09:07.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the abject immigrant.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.77,0:09:11.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had bought into\Nthe single story of Mexicans
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.22,0:09:13.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I could not have\Nbeen more ashamed of myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.07,0:09:16.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that is how to create a single story,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:16.64,0:09:18.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,show a people as one thing,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.00,0:09:20.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as only one thing,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.00,0:09:22.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over and over again,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.00,0:09:24.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that is what they become.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.79,0:09:28.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It is impossible to talk\Nabout the single story
Dialogue: 0,0:09:28.26,0:09:29.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without talking about power.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.50,0:09:33.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is a word, an Igbo word,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.27,0:09:36.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I think about whenever I think about\Nthe power structures of the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.94,0:09:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it is "nkali."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.33,0:09:42.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a noun that loosely translates\Nto "to be greater than another."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.55,0:09:46.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like our economic and political worlds,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.51,0:09:50.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stories too are defined\Nby the principle of nkali:
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.00,0:09:52.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How they are told, who tells them,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.00,0:09:56.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when they're told,\Nhow many stories are told,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.26,0:09:58.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are really dependent on power.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:00.00,0:10:03.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Power is the ability not just to tell\Nthe story of another person,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.17,0:10:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to make it the definitive\Nstory of that person.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:07.00,0:10:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Palestinian poet\NMourid Barghouti writes
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.12,0:10:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that if you want to dispossess a people,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.00,0:10:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the simplest way to do it\Nis to tell their story
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.00,0:10:17.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to start with, "secondly."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.48,0:10:22.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Start the story with the arrows\Nof the Native Americans,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.41,0:10:24.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and not with the arrival of the British,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.00,0:10:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you have an entirely different story.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.00,0:10:32.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Start the story with\Nthe failure of the African state,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.46,0:10:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and not with the colonial\Ncreation of the African state,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.00,0:10:38.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you have an entirely different story.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:40.00,0:10:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I recently spoke at a university
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.00,0:10:45.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where a student told me\Nthat it was such a shame
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.81,0:10:48.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Nigerian men were physical abusers
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.95,0:10:50.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like the father character in my novel.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.00,0:10:55.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I told him that I had just read a novel\Ncalled "American Psycho" --
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.00,0:10:57.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.00,0:10:59.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- and that it was such a shame
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.00,0:11:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that young Americans\Nwere serial murderers.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.00,0:11:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.00,0:11:12.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.00,0:11:15.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, obviously I said this\Nin a fit of mild irritation.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.00,0:11:17.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.00,0:11:20.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it would never have\Noccurred to me to think
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.22,0:11:23.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that just because I had read a novel\Nin which a character was a serial killer
Dialogue: 0,0:11:24.00,0:11:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he was somehow\Nrepresentative of all Americans.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.00,0:11:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is not because I am\Na better person than that student,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.00,0:11:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but because of America's cultural\Nand economic power,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.00,0:11:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had many stories of America.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.00,0:11:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had read Tyler and Updike\Nand Steinbeck and Gaitskill.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.00,0:11:42.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I did not have a single story of America.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:43.67,0:11:45.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I learned, some years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.40,0:11:49.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that writers were expected\Nto have had really unhappy childhoods
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.77,0:11:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be successful,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.00,0:11:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I began to think about how I could invent\Nhorrible things my parents had done to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.02,0:11:57.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:11:58.00,0:12:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the truth is that I had\Na very happy childhood,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:02.00,0:12:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of laughter and love,\Nin a very close-knit family.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.00,0:12:08.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I also had grandfathers\Nwho died in refugee camps.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.75,0:12:12.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My cousin Polle died because\Nhe could not get adequate healthcare.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.00,0:12:15.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of my closest friends,\NOkoloma, died in a plane crash
Dialogue: 0,0:12:16.00,0:12:18.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because our fire trucks\Ndid not have water.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:19.00,0:12:21.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I grew up under repressive\Nmilitary governments
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.00,0:12:23.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that devalued education,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.00,0:12:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that sometimes, my parents\Nwere not paid their salaries.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.00,0:12:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, as a child, I saw jam\Ndisappear from the breakfast table,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.00,0:12:33.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then margarine disappeared,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:33.52,0:12:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then bread became too expensive,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:36.00,0:12:37.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then milk became rationed.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.00,0:12:42.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And most of all, a kind\Nof normalized political fear
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.68,0:12:44.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,invaded our lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:45.82,0:12:47.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of these stories make me who I am.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:48.46,0:12:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But to insist on only\Nthese negative stories
Dialogue: 0,0:12:52.00,0:12:54.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to flatten my experience
Dialogue: 0,0:12:55.00,0:12:58.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to overlook the many other\Nstories that formed me.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:59.39,0:13:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The single story creates stereotypes,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:02.00,0:13:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the problem with stereotypes\Nis not that they are untrue,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:07.00,0:13:08.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that they are incomplete.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.36,0:13:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They make one story become the only story.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:13.00,0:13:15.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, Africa is a continent\Nfull of catastrophes:
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.60,0:13:18.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are immense ones,\Nsuch as the horrific rapes in Congo
Dialogue: 0,0:13:19.00,0:13:20.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and depressing ones,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:20.65,0:13:25.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,such as the fact that 5,000 people apply\Nfor one job vacancy in Nigeria.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:26.00,0:13:29.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there are other stories\Nthat are not about catastrophe,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.59,0:13:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it is very important, it is just\Nas important, to talk about them.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.00,0:13:34.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I've always felt that it is impossible
Dialogue: 0,0:13:35.00,0:13:37.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to engage properly\Nwith a place or a person
Dialogue: 0,0:13:38.00,0:13:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,without engaging with all of the stories\Nof that place and that person.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:42.00,0:13:45.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The consequence\Nof the single story is this:
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.60,0:13:47.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It robs people of dignity.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.33,0:13:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It makes our recognition\Nof our equal humanity difficult.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:52.00,0:13:56.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It emphasizes how we are different\Nrather than how we are similar.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:57.00,0:13:59.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what if before my Mexican trip,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:59.51,0:14:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I had followed the immigration\Ndebate from both sides,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:03.00,0:14:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the U.S. and the Mexican?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:05.00,0:14:08.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my mother had told us\Nthat Fide's family was poor
Dialogue: 0,0:14:09.00,0:14:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and hardworking?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:11.00,0:14:13.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if we had an African\Ntelevision network
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.12,0:14:16.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that broadcast diverse\NAfrican stories all over the world?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:17.00,0:14:21.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe\Ncalls "a balance of stories."
Dialogue: 0,0:14:21.36,0:14:25.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my roommate knew\Nabout my Nigerian publisher,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:25.36,0:14:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Muhtar Bakare,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.00,0:14:29.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a remarkable man who left\Nhis job in a bank
Dialogue: 0,0:14:29.07,0:14:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to follow his dream\Nand start a publishing house?
Dialogue: 0,0:14:32.00,0:14:35.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the conventional wisdom\Nwas that Nigerians don't read literature.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:35.71,0:14:36.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He disagreed.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:36.99,0:14:40.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He felt that people\Nwho could read, would read,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:40.10,0:14:43.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you made literature affordable\Nand available to them.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:44.67,0:14:46.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shortly after he published my first novel,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.00,0:14:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went to a TV station\Nin Lagos to do an interview,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:50.00,0:14:53.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a woman who worked there\Nas a messenger came up to me and said,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:53.22,0:14:55.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I really liked your novel.\NI didn't like the ending.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:56.00,0:14:59.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, you must write a sequel,\Nand this is what will happen ..."
Dialogue: 0,0:14:59.26,0:15:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:15:02.00,0:15:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And she went on to tell me\Nwhat to write in the sequel.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:05.56,0:15:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I was not only charmed, I was very moved.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:08.00,0:15:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here was a woman, part of the ordinary\Nmasses of Nigerians,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:11.00,0:15:13.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who were not supposed to be readers.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:13.90,0:15:15.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She had not only read the book,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:15.55,0:15:17.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but she had taken ownership of it
Dialogue: 0,0:15:17.38,0:15:20.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and felt justified in telling me\Nwhat to write in the sequel.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:21.58,0:15:24.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, what if my roommate knew\Nabout my friend Fumi Onda,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:25.00,0:15:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a fearless woman who hosts\Na TV show in Lagos,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:28.00,0:15:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and is determined to tell the stories\Nthat we prefer to forget?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:31.70,0:15:34.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my roommate knew\Nabout the heart procedure
Dialogue: 0,0:15:35.00,0:15:37.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was performed in the Lagos\Nhospital last week?
Dialogue: 0,0:15:38.00,0:15:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my roommate knew\Nabout contemporary Nigerian music,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:42.00,0:15:44.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,talented people singing\Nin English and Pidgin,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:45.00,0:15:46.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Igbo and Yoruba and Ijo,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:47.00,0:15:50.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mixing influences from Jay-Z to Fela
Dialogue: 0,0:15:51.00,0:15:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to Bob Marley to their grandfathers.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:54.00,0:15:56.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my roommate knew\Nabout the female lawyer
Dialogue: 0,0:15:56.26,0:15:59.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who recently went to court in Nigeria\Nto challenge a ridiculous law
Dialogue: 0,0:16:00.00,0:16:02.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that required women to get\Ntheir husband's consent
Dialogue: 0,0:16:03.00,0:16:05.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before renewing their passports?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:06.00,0:16:08.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my roommate knew about Nollywood,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:09.00,0:16:13.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of innovative people making\Nfilms despite great technical odds,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:13.40,0:16:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,films so popular
Dialogue: 0,0:16:15.00,0:16:19.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they really are the best example\Nof Nigerians consuming what they produce?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:20.00,0:16:23.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if my roommate knew about\Nmy wonderfully ambitious hair braider,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:23.31,0:16:26.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who has just started her own business\Nselling hair extensions?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:27.00,0:16:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or about the millions of other Nigerians\Nwho start businesses and sometimes fail,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:31.00,0:16:33.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but continue to nurse ambition?
Dialogue: 0,0:16:35.00,0:16:36.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every time I am home I am confronted
Dialogue: 0,0:16:37.00,0:16:39.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the usual sources of irritation\Nfor most Nigerians:
Dialogue: 0,0:16:40.00,0:16:43.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our failed infrastructure,\Nour failed government,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:43.47,0:16:45.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also by the incredible resilience
Dialogue: 0,0:16:45.55,0:16:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of people who thrive\Ndespite the government,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:49.00,0:16:50.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than because of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:51.37,0:16:53.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I teach writing workshops\Nin Lagos every summer,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:54.00,0:16:56.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it is amazing to me\Nhow many people apply,
Dialogue: 0,0:16:57.00,0:16:59.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how many people are eager to write,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:00.00,0:17:01.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to tell stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:02.28,0:17:05.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My Nigerian publisher and I\Nhave just started a non-profit
Dialogue: 0,0:17:05.32,0:17:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called Farafina Trust,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:07.00,0:17:09.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we have big dreams\Nof building libraries
Dialogue: 0,0:17:10.00,0:17:12.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and refurbishing libraries\Nthat already exist
Dialogue: 0,0:17:12.17,0:17:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and providing books for state schools
Dialogue: 0,0:17:15.00,0:17:17.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that don't have anything\Nin their libraries,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:17.12,0:17:19.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and also of organizing lots\Nand lots of workshops,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:19.52,0:17:20.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in reading and writing,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:21.00,0:17:24.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for all the people who are eager\Nto tell our many stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:24.33,0:17:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stories matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:26.00,0:17:27.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Many stories matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:28.00,0:17:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stories have been used\Nto dispossess and to malign,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:32.00,0:17:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but stories can also be used\Nto empower and to humanize.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:36.64,0:17:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stories can break the dignity of a people,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:39.00,0:17:42.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but stories can also repair\Nthat broken dignity.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:44.00,0:17:46.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The American writer\NAlice Walker wrote this
Dialogue: 0,0:17:46.07,0:17:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about her Southern relatives\Nwho had moved to the North.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:50.00,0:17:51.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She introduced them to a book about
Dialogue: 0,0:17:52.00,0:17:54.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Southern life\Nthat they had left behind.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:55.59,0:17:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"They sat around,\Nreading the book themselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:59.00,0:18:04.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,listening to me read the book,\Nand a kind of paradise was regained."
Dialogue: 0,0:18:05.58,0:18:08.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would like to end with this thought:
Dialogue: 0,0:18:08.46,0:18:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That when we reject the single story,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:11.00,0:18:13.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when we realize that\Nthere is never a single story
Dialogue: 0,0:18:14.00,0:18:16.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about any place,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:16.46,0:18:17.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we regain a kind of paradise.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:18.70,0:18:19.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:19.84,0:18:22.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)