Reclaiming narratives through education

Reclaiming the narrative around African cultures, identities and experiences

I come from Nigeria, I was born and raised there. I came to the UK at the age of 17 to study. All my academic work has been a product of this fact - what it means to have such experience, the complexities (and sometimes joys) of having such experience and, ultimately, what happens to people in similar positions who leave their home country to live or study elsewhere.

When I talk about ‘reclaiming the narrative’ I first ask, “What is the narrative?” In my view, the narrative refers to the way my identity and that of my community is shaped by others - usually by people who don’t really understand or share our experiences. This often happens through Eurocentric (Western-focused) education, media portrayals and racist attitudes towards African cultures. These false stories about who we are create feelings of ‘otherness,’ making us feel disconnected or like we don’t belong.

Challenging external perceptions and creating space for authentic African experiences

Reclaiming the narrative, for people like me, is about taking control of how our cultures and identities are portrayed. It’s about restoring pride, dignity and respect to our experiences. Through creative methods in my work, I have grappled with external perceptions imposed, particularly on Africans, through colonial actions and mindsets, academic marginalisation, racist stereotypes and alienation in everyday life. My aim has been to challenge these external narratives and promote a personal and authentic African voice that is reflective of our human dignity and worth.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Coventry University’s Centre for Global Learning, I aim to create spaces for African students to share their authentic experiences, diasporic identities and belonging. Through projects like Race Xchange, we have sparked important discussions on identity and diaspora, highlighted by the Being, Becoming and Belonging conference, and celebrated key milestones like our postgraduate researchers passing their PhD upgrades. I am also involved in the Rethinking Accelerated Learning in the Global South project, which examines accelerated learning and its implications on educational practices, systems and structures in the Global South. By using creative methods - film, poetry and more - researchers for this project aim to generate insights that resonate both in academia and beyond.

I hope for a future in academia in which diverse ways of understanding the world, especially from Africa and the Global South, are valued as equally legitimate. That’s why I am working to create an academic space that supports students and scholars from marginalised backgrounds and helps them feel like they belong.

Visit Dr Emmanuel Effiong Johnson’s website to learn more about his work.