Do not be kind to names, be kind to people

Celebrated Ghanaian filmmaker Leila Djansi has shared a deeply personal experience about how she was treated during her travels, urging people to value kindness to others regardless of their social status or popularity.

Taking to Facebook, Djansi recounted her encounter in 2012 when her film opened the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Nigeria. According to her, she had chosen to keep things simple, travelling in comfortable clothes with no makeup, just as “an ordinary girl passing by.”

But when she arrived at her hotel’s sign-in table, the filmmaker says she was met with indifference.

“At the hotel sign in table the staff were laughing and chatting. I greeted. No one looked at me. I stepped back and waited until they were done. Ten minutes later one of them finally looked up. ‘Ehe, what?’” she recalled.

It wasn’t until she gave her name that the staff realized who she was. “She leapt up. ‘Our guest of honor. Madam.’ I just shook my head. She tried to be nice the rest of the festival but that door was already closed.”

Djansi added that the same attitude was repeated by the event programmer, despite months of email correspondence. “We had been emailing for months. I saw her after a meeting. I touched her shoulder to say hello. She brushed me off. Then I said my name. Suddenly it was hugs and shouts. But the first reception told me all I needed to know.”

Reflecting on the painful experience, the filmmaker emphasized the importance of showing kindness to everyone, not only to those with titles or fame.

“Do not be kind to names. Be kind to people. Cos by the time you respond to the name, judgement has been passed,” she wrote.