I witnessed the power of storytelling in action

Image by Zach Vessels

Over the weekend, I saw Zanzibar trending on Twitter and didn’t think much of it when I clicked the prompt. Little did I know what I was in for.

Through a detailed thread, a young woman described an incident at a hotel in Zanzibar where she was sexually abused by a man who walked into her room in the middle of the night. Read the full thread below:

It’s a disgusting and disappointing story that was sad to read, but this young woman found strength enough to tell it. And in sharing it, she unleashed one of the true superpowers of storytelling that I’m glad to have witnessed.

I’m purposely not going into details of the story because it’s her story to tell and she does so through the thread above. What I am here to discuss is what happened after she told her story.

Reaction

The goal of any story is to get a reaction. The reaction this story received (mostly) was outrage. Women, specifically, (African women, more specifically) reacted with the anger and fury that comes with reading a story that feels…