The Power of Our African Stories
I want to talk about our African stories.
I don’t think I’ve completely cracked the code, but there’s something I want to dig into here.
I have this theory that it’s the power of words and stories that build strong people, businesses, and cultures. These stories create paths for people to aspire to and follow.
Why Stories Matter
Stories are one of the most powerful ways of communicating and passing on information. Jesus himself taught by telling stories. Stories are why word-of-mouth marketing is so powerful—it’s simply people passing on narratives. Stories connect with us on an emotional level. Stories are memorable.
The kind of story you create determines how you feel, respond, react, and receive. We shape our world with the stories we tell and the stories we receive and believe.
A good story isn’t just a narrative—it’s an interpretation of concepts and ideas. It informs the way we perceive the world and interact in it. It becomes part of who we are and helps us interpret and adapt to the world around us. That’s why they say reading your Bible builds your faith. It’s the stories.
Stories appear to be external, but they are profoundly internal. They shape our beliefs and habits and, ultimately, our culture.
This is obvious on a personal level, but I submit to you that it’s also true on a cultural level.
The Stories We’ve Abandoned
We have been quick to abandon our own stories as Africans and adopt the stories of strangers who don’t know us or care to know us. We have believed without questioning that the “modern” way of doing things is always the better way. We have disdained and dismissed our own stories as having no real value.
The fact is, we have so much to offer the world.
Our perspective, our ways, our food, our music, our values, our crazy sense of humor, our sense of tradition, our sense of style and fashion, our family values… We must not be so quick to say “this is old-fashioned” or “this is so local/country/archaic.” Our ways of doing life and family should not be brushed aside. Our inventions and customs deserve to be celebrated.
When we are quick to criticize ourselves and then turn around and declare the “Western” way as always better, we are not telling a good story.
Reframing Our Reality
We can still recapture the essence of who we are as Africans and build up our value and our pride by simply reframing our stories and blending them into our modern reality to make them part of a better future.
It’s a fact that when you look for the bad, you will always find it, and when you expect good, you always find it. We can start by opening our eyes to see the good in us—including our interesting, crazy, and quirky stories.
The African Broom: A Story Re-Imagined
The other day I bought an African broom. The I asked myself, how can I tell a better story about it? This is what I came up with:
- Environmentally friendly
- Biodegradable
- Child-friendly
- Lightweight
- Compact
- Easy to use
- Easy to store
- Easy to clean
- Trusted by millions of homes
- Affordable
- Handmade
- Organic
- Energy-saving
- Needs no electricity
- Aids in exercise and flexibility
- Kills insects
- Cleans cobwebs
- Reaches places where vacuum cleaners can’t reach
And this is just the basics. The features and benefits. If we wanted to sell our brooms to the world, just imagine the the field day that Ogilvy would have with this.
The African broom!
Our local broom. Found in practically EVERY home on the continent. Something so common that we don’t give it a second thought. But this is just a simple example of re-imagining, repackaging, and telling a better story. The words I used above have added value to this ordinary broom, and what’s more, every word is true.
What if we spoke so well of this broom that everyone in the world wanted one in their home? If you look at the description above, who wouldn’t want a house cleaner like that?
The broom is just one small example of an African “thing.” If it has all these wonderful features, why don’t we see it in the homes of people all over the world? I’ll tell you why. It’s because we don’t tell the story. Because we don’t “package” it. Because we despise it—we don’t value it.
This Is About Your Story
This is not about brooms. This is about your story. This is about valuing the things we take for granted. This is about changing the way we tell our stories—by the words we use and by what we believe about ourselves, as individuals and as a people.
When I think of the difference between us as Africans and the rest of the Western world, I believe one of the most profound differences is that they tell a better story and they value their stories. Nobody came and said to them, “You are great, I am going to call you Great Britain.” They stood up and called themselves great, and that is what they became.
Living in the UK for over 10 years now, I see that there is nothing extraordinary about the people here. They just value who they are and tell better stories, and it becomes their reality.
The Power of Perspective
I always used to find it amusing listening to British sports commentators. If you heard them talk about that one single athlete who won the only gold medal for their country, you would think they had won the entire Olympics! In fact, if you hear them talk about the British lady who came fourth in the marathon, you would forget all about the Ethiopians and Kenyans who took gold, silver, and bronze!
On the other hand, we as Africans have become so used to criticizing and putting one another down that it’s practically second nature.
But all is not lost. We can change our story.
The Real Source of Strength
This is the case I make: We have mistakenly thought that it was strength and brainpower and wealth that we need as a people, but I think it’s the ability to tell good stories that makes these nations stand out.
Over the years, we have adopted and adapted Western stories and made them ours, so much so that we stopped valuing our own stories. As Africans, we need to find, remind ourselves of, and remake our own stories—and more importantly, TELL our stories.
A Personal Call to Action
Hear me, please. I am not talking politics or race here. To be honest, this is not just for Africans. I am talking about you as a person. In your family. At work, at home, and in your community. I’m talking about valuing who we are and not being afraid or ashamed to share it with the world.
We have good stories—from our past, present, and our future. We need to tell them, record them, and value them. We can’t go back into the past, but we can open our eyes to see the best in ourselves and give it a voice, package it, and present it to the world.
Eme Bassey is a storyteller. She helps individuals and organizations tell better stories through website makeovers, email marketing strategy, book publishing, podcast production and more. Get in touch.
