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Home » We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Full Transcript)

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Full Transcript)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at TEDxEuston

Here is the transcript and summary of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s talk titled We Should All Be Feminists at TEDxEuston conference.

Listen to the MP3 Audio here:

TRANSCRIPT:

My brother Chuks and my best friend Ike are part of the organizing team, and so when they ask me to come, I couldn’t say no. But I’m so happy to be here. What a fantastic team of people who care about Africa. I feel so humble and so happy to be here.

And I’m also told that the most beautiful, most amazing little girl in the world is in the audience. Her name is Kamzia Adichie and I want her to stand up… she’s my niece!

So, I would like to start by telling you about one of my greatest friends, Okuloma.

Okuloma lived on my street and looked after me like a big brother. If I liked a boy, I would ask Okuloma’s opinion. Okuloma died in the notorious Sosoliso Plane Crash in Nigeria in December of 2005. Almost exactly seven years ago.

Okuloma was a person I could argue with, laugh with, and truly talk to. He was also the first person to call me a feminist. I was about fourteen, we were at his house, arguing. Both of us bristling with half bit knowledge from books that we had read. I don’t remember what this particular argument was about, but I remember that as I argued and argued, Okuloma looked at me and said, “You know, you’re a feminist.”

It was not a compliment. I could tell from his tone, the same tone that you would use to say something like “You’re a supporter of terrorism.”

I did not know exactly what this word “feminist” meant, and I did not want Okuloma to know that I did not know, so I brushed it aside and I continued to argue.