Stories Can Break The Dignity Of A

I Write From Real Life. I Am An Unrepentant Eavesdropper And A Collector Of Stories. I Record Bits Of Overheard Dialogue.

If You Don't Understand, Ask Questions. If You're Uncomfortable About Asking Questions, Say You Are Uncomfortable About Asking Questions And Then Ask Anyway. It's Easy To Tell When A Question Is Coming From A Good Place. Then Listen Some More. Sometimes People Just Want To Feel Heard. Here's To Possibilities Of Friendship And Connection And Understanding.

It Is Easy To Romanticize Poverty, To See Poor People As Inherently Lacking Agency And Will. It Is Easy To Strip Them Of Human Dignity, To Reduce Them To Objects Of Pity. This Has Never Been Clearer Than In The View Of Africa From The American Media, In Which We Are Shown Poverty And Conflicts Without Any Context.

I Think Human Beings Exist In A Social World. I Write Realistic Fiction, And So It Isn't That Surprising That The Social Realities Of Their Existence Would Be Part Of The Story.

If I Were Not African, I Wonder Whether It Would Be Clear To Me That Africa Is A Place Where The People Do Not Need Limp Gifts Of Fish But Sturdy Fishing Rods And Fair Access To The Pond. I Wonder Whether I Would Realize That While African Nations Have A Failure Of Leadership, They Also Have Dynamic People With Agency And Voices.