I have so many thoughts about Ms. Adichie's courageous and thoughtful speech.  I will focus on two connections.  Firstly, I was immediately reminded of the scene in the first Black Panther movie when Killmonger visited a museum in England that had an artifact from the continent of Africa.  He corrected the museum worker who was telling him about the artifact and said that it was stolen from the people.  Honestly, that was the first time that I ever really thought about how many artifacts in museums and private collections were probably stolen from people.

Secondly, her speech made me think of a unit that kindergarten students at my students do at the beginning of the school year that focuses on heirlooms and traditions as a way to introduce themselves to their class and as a way to appreciate the unique backgrounds and families that they represent.  I am thinking about how the Ikenga ties in with that idea and how this unit that the students do could be expanded to include other grades and even faculty and staff as a way of introduction, connection, and sharing.

I appreciate how thought-provoking this speech is. It is one that I want to sit with for a while and revisit again.