Our friend group used to gather every month to share jokes, stories, and comedic traditions from our different African cultures - Nigerian stand-up, Ethiopian humor, Kenyan storytelling - and it was this amazing blend of laughter and cultural exchange. But after some heated political discussions last year, we've all been too careful with each other, and our comedy sessions have become polite and surface-level, like we're all afraid to be genuinely funny because someone might take offense.
More people experience this than they realize.
Political tensions have created a climate of over-caution that has sanitized their shared comedic expression.
“Where Are You with African comedy traditions?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.