Page 104 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 11

COMMUNITY

THE POWER OF

POSITIVE STORIES

Samuel Phillips

He who controls your story, controls your narrative and

he who controls your narrative, controls your reality.

f you write a single-sided story of a those Afrikans who having realized She defines power as "The ability
people over and over again, that is they have both the pen and the not to just tell the story of another person
what they will become after a while. clay to both write their own stories but to make it the definitive story of that
IFor he who holds the pen for writing and also mold their own realities, person."
controls a lot of power just like he who decided, for whatever reason or
molds with clay wields a lot of authority. reasons, to write the wrong sto- From every indication possible, the
Whatever they choose to do with such ries about themselves or even the consequence of telling incomplete
power and authority is left to be imagined stories of those whose intentions stories about a person or a people is
by the one whose story is written by them. are always against the survival of the the creation of stereotypes. Howev-
But imagine for a moment if everyone on Afrikan race. But no more should er, the issue with stereotypes is not
earth realized that they have both the pen we as Afrikans give our power and that they are always untrue, but that
and the clay to both write their own story authority to that which undermines it creates incomplete stories which
and also mold their own reality? and devalues us. For power is in our more often than not, puts aside the
hands to both build or to tear down, good sides of the people whose
For centuries, the definitive Afrkan heal or wound, save or kill etc. stories are being told, while hold-
stories have been told by others, ing to the world like a banner, their
except for a few Afrikans who broke For the first time ever, a short while negative sides.
out of their boxes of limitations ago, I listened to a short speech by
and decided they too have stories Chimamanda Adichie, the Nigerian At Msingi Afrika Magazine, we use
to tell. That for me is what I call a author, in which she was talking the slogan "We tell the true Afrikan
most beautiful realization of self about the power of one-sided story" as both our brand purpose
and power restored. But what about stories or something to that effect. and identity. This slogan for us is

104 | Heal . Restore . Rebirth . Afrika