To date there have been more than 4922 deaths caused by Ebola. It is a deadly disease that has overwhelmed the region of West Africa. What’s worse is that Africans all over the world are being discriminated against of this disease. Incidents where Africans -especially from those countries that have been affected (Liberia, Senegal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea) – are on the rise leaving an already ravaged population feeling even worse about their situation. One Liberian-born mother living in the US put her foot down when her daughter came home and told her some of the things her classmates were saying to her. “You are Liberian, so you have disease,” for any African or any parent hearing this from your 9 year old daughter may be too much stomach. Shoana Solomon the mother in question decided to launch an online campaign to end stigmatization against West Africans. So far the campaign has garnered a lot of positive attention and hundreds of thousands of people are participating.
Africans facing stigmatization for various reasons is not something new to the world, but tackling it this way is. As African’s we need to constantly remind ourselves of our beauty and our wonderful heritage with whatever tools we may possess. We must own our nationalities and by extension our problems so we are that much more inspired to find the solutions.
Photo Credits: The Guardian
