When Multnomah County Library announced that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,  acclaimed author, poet, and playwright, would be the Everybody Reads selection for 2019, the English department at Central Catholic decided that it would be a great professional development opportunity to hear such an amazing speaker and author in person.

At Central Catholic, many teachers are familiar with Adichie and show students her TED Talk: “The danger of a single story.” It is one of the most popular TED Talks of all time with more than 17 million views, and emphasizes the necessity of representing diverse voices in literature. The lecture in March furthered many of the ideas she began in that talk, while also giving additional stories from her novel, Americanah and her essay, We Should All Be Feminists.

"Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and malign. But stories can also be used to empower, and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair taht broken dignity." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk here: