Nautie Books :: January 2014 - Americanah
There's been a bit of buzz surrounding the name Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on the interwebz. Beyoncé released an album and people were captivated by a voice that wasn't hers.
In Beyoncé's song ***Flawless she samples from a TEDx talk Chimamanda gave titled 'We Should All Be Feminists'. The talk has reached many - and has now reached many more. I hadn't heard it - or had even heard of Chimamanda until listening to the song ***Flawless. Here are the clips from this powerful TEDx Talk found on the song:
“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller We say to girls – you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful otherwise you will threaten the man. Because I am female I am expected to aspire to marriage. I am expected to make my life choices always keeping in mind that marriage is the most important. A marriage can be a source of joy and love and mutual support. But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and we don’t teach boys the same? We raise girls to see each other as competitors not for jobs or for accomplishments, which I think can be a good thing, but for the attention of men. We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings in the way that boys are. Feminist: A person who believes in the economic, social and political equality of the sexes.”
Clearly, I needed to find out more of about this woman! I googled her name - and in addition to finding her TEDx Talk - I found that she was an author - an incredibly well regarded one!
Her most recent novel Americanah is getting rave reviews - and was getting rave reviews WAY before she started blasting from speakers everywhere.
Please join me in reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
I think it will prove to be a great read! Can't wait to hear what you have to say!
“I’m chasing you. I’m going to chase you until you give this a chance.”
Also, check out her TEDx Talk! It's great! (It's about 30 minutes long but WELL worth it!)