* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. We're so used to narratives out of Africa being about war, poverty and devastation, says TED Fellow Wanuri Kahiu....

How does the culture vary across the continent? How has colonialism affected African culture and its development?<br/>
Africa, The Unknown History of Humankind, Part 2

Legendary South African storyteller, Gcina Mhlophe, guides five orphaned children from Eswatini as they collaborate to craft an original fairytale drawn from their darkest memories and brightest dreams. Their fictional character,...

Stories are necessary, but they're not as magical as they seem, says writer Sisonke Msimang. In this funny and thoughtful talk, Msimang questions our emphasis on storytelling and spotlights the decline of facts. During a critical time...

It's difficult to talk about African theater thanks to colonialism. Pre-colonial Africa was home to many spoken languages, and not nearly as many written languages. The chain of oral tradition was broken by colonial policies, and so many...

The United States would be a very different country if not for African-Americans, who played a central role in shaping the country and continue to define it. This Peabody Spotlight takes a look at storytelling that has helped bring the...

South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela dedicates his song, "Thula Mama," to all women -- and especially his grandmother.

Unifier Dyer’s research interest is in Indigenous Knowledge Systems in contemporary literature and creative works on and by women. They completed their MA in African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa focused...

At a time when Jim Crow laws made racial segregation legal across much of the United States, author Richard Wright gave voice to a struggle – as the first African American author to achieve widespread critical and commercial success.

First popularized as a genre of literature in the 1920s, for decades science fiction was dominated by white male authors. That is until Octavia Butler, an African American woman, rewrote the script.

With the success of Black Panther, the term Afro-Futurism got pushed into the mainstream. But what is Afro-Futurism and what is its place in Black storytelling? In this episode we give you the starter pack on answering that question....

Bino and Fino learn about the West African Tradition of the Griot.

The Academy Award - nominated screenwriting duo Keith and Kenny Lucas discuss their latest project, "Judas And The Black Messiah," and what its success means for the future of storytelling on the big screen.

Dr. Howard Stevenson is the Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education, Professor of Africana Studies, and former Chair of the Applied Psychology and Human Development Division in the Graduate School of Education at the University of...

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or...

Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show "On the Road: A Search for American Character."

Long ago, all stories belonged to Nyame, the all-seeing Sky God. But one creature, Anansi, was determined to bring the stories down to Earth. Anansi went to Nyame and requested to take ownership of the world's stories. The Sky God told...

In the vast sweep of history, even an empire can be forgotten. In this wide-ranging talk, Gus Casely-Hayford shares origin stories of Africa that are too often unwritten, lost, unshared. Travel to Great Zimbabwe, the ancient city whose...

In this west African country, wrestling is not just a sport, but a chance at a better life. ➡ Subscribehttp://bit.ly/NatGeoSubShowcasetarget='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Subscribe ➡ Get More Short Film