{"id":4836,"date":"2017-05-05T09:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T13:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=4836"},"modified":"2025-08-16T17:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T21:48:10","slug":"open-dialogues-open-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2017\/05\/05\/open-dialogues-open-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Dialogues, Open Minds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nMany people want to stand up for their beliefs and values. \u00a0Along the way, they might hurt others who do not agree with them. \u00a0But there are better ways that people can listen to others\u2019 stories. \u00a0On Wednesday, April 12, UMPI celebrated its annual University Day with the theme \u201cMeet in the Middle.\u201d \u00a0Students Lassana and Lossene Dorleh and Brynn Staples gave a presentation called \u201cLost in Translation.\u201d \u00a0They used African literature and music to show how everyone can \u201cmeet in the middle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Dorlehs and Staples are students in Dr. Lea Allen\u2019s Contemporary World Literature class. \u00a0One novel that they have read is Chinua Achebe\u2019s \u201cThings Fall Apart.\u201d \u00a0The novel takes place in the Ibo village of Umuofia in Nigeria, Africa. \u00a0In Part 2 of Achebe\u2019s novel, European Christian missionaries come to Umuofia. \u00a0They build churches and convert many Ibo people to their faith. \u00a0Okonkwo, a main character, clings to his Ibo way of life while his son, Nwoye, becomes a Christian.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Staples discussed the novel\u2019s themes and characters. \u00a0The Ibo people and missionaries try to explain their religions and cultures to one another. Unfortunately language barriers stop both groups from fully understanding the other. \u00a0In one scene, the white missionaries do not realize that the Ibo language does not have words to explain the Holy Trinity. \u00a0They come to believe that the Ibo people are stupid and less than them. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As the novel progresses, Okonkwo refuses to convert to Christianity. \u00a0His friend, Obierika, is the only main character who reaches a compromise. \u00a0He does not want to be a Christian. \u00a0But he respects the missionaries\u2019 right to their religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe Ibo see the church as a direct threat to their society,\u201d Staples said. \u00a0\u201cThe man himself isn\u2019t threatening. \u00a0They welcome him, but many don\u2019t want to convert and lose their way of life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThings Fall Apart\u201d was published in 1959, \u00a0but Lassana and Lossene Dorleh said that the novel\u2019s themes still relate to 2017. \u00a0Many people in power such as politicians have become known for not communicating well with one another. \u00a0One group has their own beliefs. \u00a0The other group holds opposite opinions. \u00a0Often both groups do not want to compromise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Dorlehs used poetry and music to prove their point. \u00a0They read a section of dialogue from \u201cThings Fall Apart\u201d while traditional Nigerian music played. \u00a0Two characters argue about Ibo morals and tradition. \u00a0The Dorlehs then played music from WizKid, a modern Nigerian artist. \u00a0WizKid has many African musical influences. \u00a0He admires 1960s Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cEvery generation has its own revolutionary artist, but that music is always rooted in the past,\u201d Lossene Dorleh said. \u00a0\u201cYou need to look to the future to embrace the past.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lassana and Lossene Dorleh also performed a slam poetry monologue. \u00a0The poem asked: \u201cWhat does it mean to be a man?\u201d \u00a0The brothers explained that their father is a traditional African man. \u00a0He believes that men have power over their wives, \u00a0his culture tells him to act tough and masculine. \u00a0But his sons call themselves \u201cliberal.\u201d \u00a0They believe that women and men are equal. \u00a0They do not think that a man has to use his fist to be a \u201creal man.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Both brothers have decided to merge aspects of African and American cultures. \u00a0They admire how their father, like the fictional Okonkwo, sticks to his beliefs no matter what. \u00a0In their own lives, they have embraced African music, clothing and other cultural aspects. \u00a0But they have also realized that they don\u2019t have to give up their more modern beliefs to respect their father\u2019s viewpoints. \u00a0The themes of \u201cThings Fall Apart\u201d speak to them as readers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cHe was one of the first people to open discourse about a subject like this,\u201d Lassana Dorleh said, about Achebe. \u00a0\u201cNo matter how we look at Okonkwo, we can give him some respect for sticking to what he believes in no matter what. \u00a0He knows himself 100 percent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Staples pointed out that many people, African or not, can relate to the novel. \u00a0Some might feel torn between sticking up for their values and respecting others. \u00a0But Staples thinks that meeting in the middle is possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t have to abandon your own principles to realize that two sides exist,\u201d Staples said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The students\u2019 presentation left audience members with much to think about. \u00a0Elizabeth Butterfield, an UMPI business administration major, thinks that \u201cThings Fall Apart\u201d has many lessons for people today.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI think our leaders need to look at this book and think about how they can be more open-minded,\u201d Butterfield said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Everyone has their own beliefs and values. \u00a0Listening to a different opinion can be the hardest thing to do. \u00a0In \u201cThings Fall Apart,\u201d few characters recognized both sides. \u00a0Today, many people still let their differences divide them. \u00a0Achebe\u2019s novel might be fictional, \u00a0but the story shows that civil discourse can move past time and setting and become what we can all strive for. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people want to stand up for their beliefs and values. \u00a0Along the way, they might hurt others who do not agree with them. \u00a0But there are better ways that people can listen to others\u2019 stories. \u00a0On Wednesday, April 12, UMPI celebrated its annual University Day with the theme \u201cMeet in the Middle.\u201d \u00a0Students Lassana […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8830,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4836\/revisions\/8830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}