Last year, as countries around the world went on lockdown in March and April, we saw week after week of record-breaking numbers of people visiting Wikipedia to learn more about COVID-19 in 188 languages. English Wikipedia, our first and largest language Wikipedia, recently recorded its billionth edit. “Wikipedia is only as powerful as the people who participate.”Īs I write this piece, Wikipedia has over 55 million articles in 300 languages - created by a global network of hundreds of thousands of volunteers. It is often a top search result when you look for information, and it drives the responses you hear when you ask your voice assistant a question. This year, as Wikipedia celebrates its 20th birthday, there is no clearer example of the power of open knowledge for all than the free encyclopedia that has become one of the most visited websites in the world.įor many of us, Wikipedia is our first stop when we want to learn about the world. The rise of open technology and mobile connectivity has made information even more accessible across the globe. And information shapes how we perceive everything around us. Numerous cultures around the world, from Native American Indians to African communities on the Continent and beyond, continue to share knowledge through oral storytelling. The power of storytelling hasn’t changed, even if storytelling platforms have evolved in a more digitally-connected world. “As I grew up, I learned that our family tradition of storytelling was part of our cultural legacy as Black Americans.” Our stories were our way of passing down our history, cementing our legacy, sharing knowledge and bridging our past to our present. ![]() We grew up telling stories because many of our great grandparents and great great grandparents weren’t able to or allowed to read. Instead, it was weaved into family tales and songs, and then passed along from generation to generation.Īs I grew up, I learned that our family tradition of storytelling was part of our cultural legacy as Black Americans. This was history, but it had never been written down. Image: Illustrated by Jasmina El Bouamraoui and Karabo Poppy Moletsane, ( CC0 1.0).īefore I knew enough to ask questions, I was soaking up the stories of my father and his brothers who were popular doo-wop recording artists, hearing him talk about how he met and married my mother, and how he and his siblings grew up in the South and moved north during the Great Migration.
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