The danger of a Single Story

One of the generalizations that really bother me as someone from the African Diaspora is the assertion that Africa is a Third World Country. I’ve heard this term a lot and without knowing the meaning of it I didn’t like it because I could tell that it carried a bad spirit and negative connotation. In a world where we are viewed as second class citizens and subjugated under the European power structure I just knew that the ideology behind a “Third World” couldn’t be good. Upon researching the term it states that third world countries are normally defined by high poverty rates, lack of resources and unstable financial standing. The idea that Africa is poverty ridden is a dangerous single story. While I was growing up the mass media doubled downed on this narrative by showcasing commercials filled with African women holding babies in their arms while dozens of flies swarmed around them. The commercials went on to say that for just 69 cents a day you could provide an African child with clean water and food. It is crucial to examine these misleading notions of Africa because this type of imagery will deter anyone from visiting the continent and damage African pride abroad. It would also lead you down a path of miseducation. I say this because the narrative that Africa is poor deserves closer scrutiny because Africa is the most resource rich continent on the planet. Only a pirate would create the narrative that there is no treasure in Africa because they usually suffer from an evil disease called greed.