To see with fresh eyes! The story of the outsider who comes to town is almost as old as literature itself. So Americanah (2013) [1] by Chiamandah Ngozi Adichie was one more heir to an honourable tradition. Its story of a young Nigerian woman who does not discover her blackness until she migrates to the United States is edifying in many senses.
So what’s she doing in what is generally meant to be a blog about the Sciences? Well, it’s she, like us, is amazed by the phenomenon of tribalism. You know why by now, O readers: it’s hatreds, its waste of time, above all its misplaced budgets, are holding back solutions to things like antibiotic research, which we’d like to see solved.
Now in this interview with estimable Atlantic [2] she riffs at length on this trope. We won’t spoil the interview, which we highly recommend. But get this killer quote:
And Ayad Akhtar, who’s this writer I really admire, says that there’s a moral stridency in the way that we respond to speech, and that there’s something punitive about it. I think it’s true. I think people are afraid and self-censor. The single story—they then impose it on themselves.
Adichie is a Friend of the Open Mind. And that includes all of us-scholars, scientists, teachers, entrepreneurs journalists and above all creative writers. And all the readers and contributors to this blog.
we thank Mr Peter Seymour for this blog
[1] Chimanda Ngozi Adichie Americanah Alfred Knopf 2013
#nigeria #united states #tribalism #empiricism #race
Learning, Science and Society 