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It all started with this tweet:

Ever since then, #ifafricawasabar has gone viral with over 60,000 tweets and counting. The jokes, sarcasm, reality checks, and outrageous memes keep pouring in. It’s all about Africans revealing how they perceive other Africans.

What stands out though is the way new writing, ideas, and perspectives can be generated from something as simple as a tweet.

22 year-old Botswana Writer, Siyanda Mohutsiwa who inspired this hashtag is passionate about Pan Africanism. Looking for a lighthearted, but educational way to start a conversation on perspectives of African countries, she sent out that first tweet in faith.

A BBC, CNN, and a Le Monde feature later, the anecdotes show this discussion was appropriately timed.

The struggles facing African countries came to the fore in these 5 tweets that touch on issues of identity, self-perception and a sense of belonging.

Here is a small selection of tweets for your enjoyment:

With this twitter experiment, Siyanda finds herself in the ranks of contemporary author, Teju Cole who has shared engaging narratives through this medium.

 

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Image by no rain corp. via Flickr

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Nma rarely forgets the books she has read and attributes the reading bug to the moment she read Kofi Bentum Quantson’s two part novel, Mama Don’t Die. Ever a literary enthusiast, Nma is also a storyteller. She reveals extraordinary details in the lives of ordinary people and creates narratives for imagined stories.

One Response to “African Twitter Erupts Over #IfAfricaWasABar Hashtag” Subscribe

  1. Hannah July 31, 2015 at 8:53 am #

    I went over there and it’s totally hilarious. Ingenious, huh?

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