Why The Most Important Person in Africa is the Storyteller

Storyteller. At its basic level, the word conveys the role of someone who preserves the memories, beliefs, aspirations, experiences of a people, a society, a civilization. Storytelling is the convergence of many disciplines, as many disciplines involve storytelling such as history, sociology, anthropology, photography and of course, literature.

I appreciate the storytelling that is done on a micro-level that requires one-one-one interaction with people on-the-ground.

Researchers say that it’s the ability of humans to tell stories that has greatly contributed to our survival as a dominant species.

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Stunning new images celebrate Kenyan female icon who stood up to colonialists

Mnyazi wa Menza a.k.a Mekatilili was a strong woman known for her fierceness and resistance of colonial rule in Kenya. This photography project represents her life in the Giriama region of Kenya where she lived from the1840s to 1924, according to local sources. In this reimagination, a fearless Mekatilili is pictured readying for battle, defying the age-long patriarchal norms in Kenyan (and generally, African) societies. Women were not known to be headstrong during that time, but Mekatilili could not be silent about the colonial oppression in her community.

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