I will be honest; I haven’t read Purple Hibiscus or Half of
a Yellow Sun. I know! I know! Gasp! Shock! My friend tried to convince me to
read at least one book, 3 years ago but I was skeptical. I had never heard of the author and that
particular time I wasn’t in the mood to read. Adiche Chimamanda , for those who
do not know her is a 34 year old, Award winning Nigerian author. She is
International star. I encountered her on a website, www.peceloveproclaimer.org,
an acquaintance directed me to.
I read the transcript of her 2009 TED talk, the danger of a
one sided story. Adichie narrates her own personal experience of the same,
growing up as a middle class Nigerian and living with a certain perception of
their domestic help. Because of things her mother would say, Adichie believed
that since their domestic help was from a poor family they probably couldn’t
actually create beautiful things which they did.
I want you to hear it from her, that’s why I posted the
video.
I just want to pick up from where
she left off. I ask myself what makes me African many times previously on this
blog. But at times I honestly feel if it wasn’t for my parents constantly
ferrying me off to my rural home. And also raising us, speaking our ethnic tongue,
passing on important tales of the life and practices of my ancestors. I am not
quite sure what else would make me proudly African.
For so long as a child I wanted to be the blond and fair haired, blue eyed girl from the
books that I read. I loved the stories of Hansel and Gretel, The ginger bread,
man and Rapunzel who let her hair down. All these stories where not mine, of
where I was from, but they shaped my world view.
My first time on the continent was at the age of 5. People
were stunned that I spoke my ethnic tongue fluently thanks to my mother. I do
not have a strong African accent and for years I Anglo-sized the pronunciation
of African names and words, because I believed it was proper.
I wanted to be white because I considered being Black and African
inferior. I only faced one minor racial experience as a child, which didn’t
really bother me much. But there was a subtle message around me that made me
feel African was not good enough. After watching Adichie, you understand where
it all began. It all began with a story that was told and shared and soon
became legend.
I know better now and overcame the self hating phase. But at
times I now feel that I am not African enough. I look at West Africans. And I a
blown away with how culturally rich they are. Their clothes, their accents,
their pride….if you are an East African you would agree with me, West Africans
epitomize African pride.
But it is a tussle in my mind of what is ‘truly’ African.
Is
it the thick ethnic accent, the garb, living in the village and preparing food
the way it was traditionally prepared. Speaking solely in an African language
and shunning English. But I grew up in a fusion of two worlds of culture, Western
and African, as is the case of most African’s today. You may not have lived in
the West. But you were inculcated through the stories you read, the movies
you’ve seen, or music you like to listen to.
I may not have a thick African accent when I speak English, I
enjoy Hollywood movies, but I still love traditional ethnic music.
I don’t know if there was ever a traditional dress that my
ancestors wore. I wear jeans, t-shirts, trainers, dresses or whatever tickles
my fancy. I don’t understand why getting clothes that fit me is so hard in
Kenya yet the average African women is curvaceous and with a little extra.
After centuries of reading and consuming someone else’s
story, we as Africans may have lost something. But I believe that can be found
and restored. And I believe it is being restored one story at a time.
