Today’s Meaning
From Niche to Voice: How African Humanities Gave Me a Mic
At some point, I stopped dreaming in nouns — about what I would become in the future.
These days, I live with adjectives and verbs, thinking only about how and what I will do today.
After reflecting on the long arc of human history, I’ve come to realize that human perception is inevitably limited. If we live our lives chasing dreams of “becoming something” or “achieving something” based on the values of our time, we might unintentionally contribute to outcomes that are the worst, or second-worst, in the grand narrative of humankind.
So I just keep walking — sometimes steadily, sometimes dragging myself forward.
And on days when I manage even the smallest of accomplishments, I try to reflect on their meaning. I believe that’s what makes life feel fuller and more meaningful.
Today, I appeared on a news interview about the Korea-Africa Summit, speaking as a student in African regional studies.
Since my mid-20s, encountering and studying Africa opened my eyes to how much more complex, subtle, and layered the world is than I had thought. The world was never as flat as I once believed.
From that moment on, I made a decision: I would speak into the mic, not for myself, but toward Korean society. Because I didn’t want to be flattened by it. I could see where this society was headed, and it wasn’t good for anyone.
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And so, for the past ten years, even though no one asked or applauded, I kept going simply because I believed it mattered.
African studies alone is considered niche. And I chose to dig even deeper — into the underappreciated field of the humanities.
And now, here I am. An interviewee introduced as an “Africa expert” on a youth-focused news show. Had I thought this was just about me, I might not have gone. Or I might not have even been invited.
But I kept walking because I believed that becoming visible — being acknowledged — might help amplify the direction I believe in.
I know I’m not the most eloquent speaker.
I know my facial symmetry is so off that I make sure to sit where my left side faces the camera (lol).
Still, I also know that the path I’ve walked is one for all of us. And that the people around me who value substance over packaging are the reason I’ve come this far, slowly expanding the breadth of my experience.
So today, I leave this note as a marker of meaning.
(And maybe, yes, I’m making too much of it… but still.)
I’ll take that meaning and use it to keep dragging myself through the slow days ahead.
