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My favorite librarian used this short excerpt from novelist Chimamanda Adichie's very popular TED Talk as part of a presentation she was giving on religious literacy. In it, she describes the narrow lens of pity through which many -- including middle-class Africans -- view the continent and its people. We both recommend  Adichie's full talk : the medium is truly the message in this case, in that she has much more to teach us than the avoidance of stereotypes about Africa. Millions of viewers seem to agree. We also recommend her novel Americanah , especially the audio version. But her story about stereotypes of Africa is timely, as the  Washington Post  has recently published an essay on the topic by Salih Booker and Ari Rickman of the Center for International Policy. In  The future is African — and the United States is not prepared , they describe demographic and economic trends that will surprise many readers. Africa is often described as though it were a singl...