WE MUST REFUSE TOTALIZING NARRATIVES

We will not give in to what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls the “single story.” Like a stereotype, a “single story” is the repetitive representation of a community through a single narrative, such that this narrative dominates how the group is perceived. Like a stereotype, a “single story” does not have to be overtly negative to be damaging; all “single stories” dehumanize. We will avoid the erasure of “single stories,” and allow the diverse stories of our humanity to be told by the people who live them.