IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Renowned Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has suggested that young people should give up social media for about two weeks or more to grow the habit of reading.
According to the ‘Purple Hibiscus’ author, it is the only way to counter the spree of book banning in the United States of America.
Adichie made this suggestion when she received the W.E.B Du Bois Medal from Harvard University on Thursday.
The W. E. B. Du Bois Medal is Harvard’s highest honour in the field of African and African American studies. It is awarded to individuals in the United States and across the globe in recognition of their contributions to African and African American culture and the life of the mind.
The Hutchins Center for African and African American Research had stated that the medal was for people “who embody the values of commitment and resolve that are fundamental to the Black experience in America”.
“The most meaningful thing for me as a writer is to know that I can create something that means something to other people. And so what moves me the most is to hear from people who have read me and who say, your work made me feel seen, your work made me think differently, your work made me feel that I was not alone.
“For the young people who are here, if you care about anything, please care about reading, reading is so important, reading is magical, books are magical.
“And I really think that one of the best ways to counter what seems to me to be a really ugly tsunami of book bannings going around in this country is to read. The only way that we can answer to censorship of books is to read books,” she said.
On giving up social media for books, Adichie said: “And so for you young people, I just want to make a very small suggestion, how about you give up social media for you know, two weeks, three weeks, a month, and read, read, read.”
Other recipients include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Laverne Cox, Agnes Guns, Raymond J McGuire, Deval Patrick and Betye Saar.
Director of the Hutchins Center, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., in an official statement, had said that the 2022 honourees represent “unyielding commitment to pushing the boundaries of representation and creating opportunities for advancement and participation for people who have been too often shut out from the great promise of our times.”
Dubois was the first African-American to earn a Harvard Ph.D. in 1895. Past recipients of the medal have included scholars, artists, writers, journalists, philanthropists, and public servants.