I enjoyed watching the video; it is engaging and informational.

As I watched, I noticed how I

might be guilty of subscribing to the single-story idea as a child, student, and adult. Videos like
this allow us to participate in self-reflection and learn from our own experiences so that our
perceptions can expand and thus become more open to learning new things without baseless
presumptions.

I think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's main argument is that we tend to reduce people to harmful
stereotypes from negative stories we hear about specific people and places. Doing so prevents us
from actually getting to know others. In the example of the boy from her story, because the boy
was poor, she immediately associated the boy with poverty and the stereotypes associated with
poverty. It is easy to associate someone poor with only bad things and forget that they are people
with ideas, a family, talents, intelligence, etc. I have also been guilty of doing this, so hearing her
talk about it hit home.

When she mentioned that US Americans think of Africa as a country because of the language
used when speaking about Africa, I remembered being guilty of this when I was younger because
even in school, teachers would talk about Africa as if it were a country. The same with Europe.
There is also a new discussion happening in South America about what it means for the USA to
be referred to as America despite America being a continent and not a country. I think by doing
this, we ignore the countries within these continents and reduce individuals from these continents
to negative stereotypes, as Adichie discussed. The stereotypes can range from wars to smoking
habits or even cartel problems.

So, the lesson in the video is that we should take the time to know an individual for who they are
and not associate them with pre-conceived stereotypes, as this can also be dangerous. The idea
that we know about an individual because of an article we read or a movie we watched can
prevent us from being open to learning about their culture and interests, especially if they do not
fit the stereotypes we might associate them with.