I write this piece through the lens of being an African girl and who has been directly affected by the intellectual world, from a historical standpoint, I now have learned how power through literature becomes definitive. And that is by having to “show people as one thing over and over again and that is what they will become,” which was well said by Ngozi (2009) in a TedTalk presentation. In which the work of Wainana (2005) is also an outstanding example of such, as evidenced in his writing there is no form of dialect as the picture of the other is framed from the side of this self-proclaimed power figure.

In contemporary times, this power figure does not have to be an academic scholar, as seen in literature however, may it be this one figure put on an pedestal amongst the rest due to overexposure, overall acceptance and without critique. This was even made apparent in Ngoz’s (2009) work about how she never thought people like her could exist in literature. Being that the standard has sank in so deep that the black girl no longer stands visibility due to non-desirability even from preyful eyes of an hunter. She is probably pounded by jerry-built features especially for being a darker skinned women and so left in rejection. That even colourism has crept up even within the black community.

This overtly signals to me that how society has a problematic nature at best for we can only reconsider after damning evidence that proves otherwise. Which then highlights how easily we can omit our power in order to conform. The level superficialness at an all-time high.

In conclusion, the essence of Bart-Williams (2015) and Ngozi’s (2009) work acknowledge how identities were stolen and marked with inferiority, dependence, stereotypes and indignity, and now in exchange for the recognition of equal humanity especially directed at this one particular group of people. And to also have an overall tolerance and acceptance over differences as even with the Nacirema people.

References

Bart-Williams, M. 2015, 26 Jan. Change your channel | Mallence Bart-Williams | TEDxBerlinSalon [Video clip]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfnruW7yERA. Date of access 5 Mar. 2024.

Ngozi, C.A. critique. 2009, 7 Oct. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED [Video clip]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg.  Date of access 5 Mar. 2024.

Wainaina, B., 2005. Granta. [Online]
Available at: https://granta.com/how-to-write-about-africa/
[Accessed 5 March 2024].