MyWeku

Whilst I enjoyed reading this article, it is important to note that writing about Africa in the old clichéd way, is slowly changing, mainly due to the number of alternative news sources and the gradual increase in people on the continent writing “their” own stories. Major new networks such as CNN are beginning to pick up on this trend. Their African Voices programme has moved from highlighting the negatives in recent times to more celebration of the positives on the continent. The African Diaspora is also playing a huge role in slowly changing the image and perception of some of the continent. This will take time though, so like many South Africans I hope the World Cup goes a long way in cementing some of the gains made recently!

You write to Africa?
Which Africa?
I ask because your biased letter cannot be read to Africa as a whole.
Though we have a long way to go… we have come from afar.
.

Hello all.

I was not expecting any responses to be honest because I thought this said nothing incisive like some of my other articles. And here is why: I wrote this from that space within us that is beyond trying to change another’s mind, beyond the desire to convince, it’s an exhale into the collective consciousness we call our humanity. So I am surprised, truly.

I choose to contribute to this meta-blog along with this other one where I contribute based in Jo’burg (and that too is a pan-African blog and serves as a networking forum for people) because I was drawn to the concept of community. Implicit in a community is that people will agree, disagree, share views, bring experiences, learn, and sometimes even unlearn. However, what a community doesn’t do is destroy the space for engagement that allows both parties to learn, even if they continue to disagree. In that regard, one has to be careful to distinguish what calls for an engagement and what calls for something to be left alone given it reveals something bigger that is going on with the person making the comments.

So in that regard, let me get down to specifics as per each comment.

@anne thank you for your response and for reading. My whole point was to note that writing “about” Africa in the old clichéd way is changing and must change. However, I still sit on the side of caution that what is being depicted even via CNN’s “African Voices” program is not mainstream just because CNN is mainstream.

I leave with you a Ted.com lecture from Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie: “Danger of a Single Story.” I think it goes to very much what you are saying, that now, due to people having access to writing on their blogs, twitter, facebook, they can share their stories. But even then, we must ask, what is it that we are sharing?

The speech itself it quite good and goes without any explanation. Listening to it I was reminded of the thing I love about the vision we are granted by living between countries and cultures and expectations and possibilities.
Here is the link. Must check it out. Danger of a Single Story

@ada
I don’t think anyone can ever write or speak completely objectively, we are a sum of experiences. I would like to point to you the difference between judgment and discernment. I try to exercise discernment given my travels and interactions. It allows for a deeper space to explore. Discernment is without a moral charge. I am no one to morally judge the actions of another; I can only be a keeper of the consequences of my own actions.

I suppose you didn’t have either the curiosity or time to perhaps read up more about me or visit my own website in order to ask what you ask in your last statement. As to your question if I have ever been to any other place in Africa, as stated in my article above, Senegal. As not stated in my article above: Morocco (but two people, one from Morocco and one from Senegal, on unrelated occasions have expressed that “Morocco is not Africa”, which only makes me take a guess that maybe there are others who hold such a view, however, I have only had interactions with two people who have said such a thing, so I can only assume that there might be issues deeper than meet the eye when it comes to North and South Africa), and finally Swaziland.

My calling South Africa the current jewel of the continent is an extension of the example due to the FIFA world cup being held there “for being the most stable and developed African democracy” and other African nations being compared to South Africa, in terms of GDP and other socio-economic factors. My personal affinity for South Africa is embedded in the fact that I have friends that are not “like family” but my own family considers them an extension of us and vice versa. However, I found Swaziland breathtakingly beautiful despite the highest HIV rate in the continent and poverty—it has the most serene green. And I am told once I get to Zimbabwe the beauty is unparalleled. (I can’t wait). A friend who is in Uganda has shared some lovely pictures of Kampala but not yet sold to go there before exploring other areas.

I am surprised to hear that you have never met someone who has HIV in Africa—the entire continent; I cannot say I haven’t either. But this will never make me assume that you come from such a privileged space to have never encountered with someone who has it (which is not to say the non-indigent do not suffer from HIV). But I would never make that assumption about you from that statement despite how revealing it is of your comfort zone. I am not sure how we can further engage on this topic. I am hopeful that you consider it an important topic regardless if you have never personally met anyone who has been infected with HIV.

You state, “Believe it or not, not all of our politicians are corrupt.” I think that is great. Since you refer to yourself as an “a proud African” I am not sure which country you are referring to.

But I share this with you:

“The presidents of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana are raising the bar for the continent by declaring publicly their commitment to fight corruption. The Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma became the first head of state to declare his assets to the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia went one step further, offering financial incentives for whistleblowers to expose corrupt officials. The Ghanaian President John Atta-Mills has refused to accept gifts from anyone.” You can read more here but also note the comments after that article.
Worldfocus.org Article by Ayo Johnson

But as I said in my article, I was only sent “representatives” from Nigeria and South Africa. I am sure you understood the metaphor, no? Maybe not. Because you state that I ramble on about the ugly realities of bad politicians and HIV crisis but you take my words from me above to say, “Africa […] is so much more than this.” Perhaps you didn’t read that I wrote that?

You mention artists, leaders and politicians who have done great without having left. I was never speaking of them. I called to those who have left or left and have returned to realize that they are in a rare position—almost even have an additional leverage of sorts—to shape how people view their respective countries because often for the rest of the World (western or not) we are the only ambassadors that serve as an interaction. That being said, one has to be cautious that we are and are not representatives of “where we come from.” A paradox of sorts. Requires critical thinking. But if you are busy accusing someone of rambling, being myopic, ‘take your own advice,’ it leaves little room for an authentic engagement where two or more people can learn.

I am not an expert but I read a lot. I just finished reading Justice Albie Sach’s “The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law.” I am sure you already knew that Justice Albie Sach’s was one of the individuals who drafted the South African constitution and recently retired from South Africa’s Constitutional Court, the highest court. A conversation with him a couple of months back was rather illuminating given my background in law, but I still wouldn’t say I am an expert. Another recent book that I finished and highly recommend is “The Architects of Poverty: Why African Capitalism Needs Changing” by Moeletsi Mbeki. And there is much more to be learned where that came from! I specifically stated I don’t collect statistics. I am just someone that others’ share their stories with and I learn.

If you believe there are others more qualified on this topic then you should check them out and subscribe to their blogs or get their books. I do. But that’s not where I receive my stories.
I write to Africa and in this instance you are one of the people who She sends and I wish I could say I learned something from you that I didn’t already know, about your personal stance towards my writing and the topic in general.

I leave you with the following quote by Sir Francis Bacon: “Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.”

@Naomi Please elaborate where you get the idea that the “representatives” are from the continent as a whole. The countries I mention are as specific as I could get. Other than that, the only bias I have is my passion towards Africa—specifically South Africa. I await to explore beyond the three or four countries I have as circumstances will allow.

@ Nii Thanks for your feedback. You ask, “Is it possible to write about the whole of Africa, given how diverse the continent is without seemingly offending some and delighting others?”
Good question because in the same sentence where someone calls themselves an “African” they are asking me which African countries I have been to…

I think before that question can be asked, a more pressing question is “who” is an African? Or if we are to get country specific—“South African” or “Nigerian?” Or is it too soon to ask? Or is it just the right time to ask?

Gratitude for the opportunity to engage and learn.

~a.q.s.

I am re-visiting this article after reading it a couple of days ago. I thought the article was ok but I find the comments and the issues coming to the fore as a result of the article very interesting. Since you are all having a say, I am encouraged to add my two cents, even though I hardly comment on articles 

Firstly, I’d like to state that writing about Africa is complicated. On one hand it is supposed to be ok when we discuss the “positives”. Example I hardly hear any complaints about headlines like “The first African female president …..”; “African GDP increases by ……”; “African footballers double their numbers in La Lira…..”

However, immediately an opinion is voiced under the name “Africa” that is deemed unsavoury by others, we tend to withdraw into the fold or “protection” of our specific countries. Well in xxx we don’t do xxxx…….etc. Point is we can’t have it both ways, can we? This is something that I struggle with myself

That said I do, however, subscribe to the notion that we have to be careful not to paint the continent and its issues with the same broad brush, however, subtly or cleverly that is done.

I especially agree with one sentiment which I believe is expressed in the article: for one from outside Africa to write “about” the continent is undesirable. Not necessarily because an “outsider” could not possibly have the requisite emotional/knowledge base, but for the simple reason that I think it’s time for us to start telling our own stories (I think Nigerian authors, in particular, are taking up this challenge).

In addition, we need to control the means of dissemination of our stories, which is one reason I find the internet a powerful tool. It’s all well and good to watch African Voices or Inside Africa, but what Nkapile Mabuse or Robyn Curnow say is ultimately vetted by Atlanta before it is screened. I’ll tune into BBC’s Swahili Service but know that even though it’s broadcast in one of our languages, we are not necessarily in charge of the content and tone.

That said, I welcome those who write “to” us Africans. I do this in the same way as I would a Kenyan speaking to a Malawian about business development; a South African engineer talking to a Congolese developer about infrastructure. Because we can always learn from those who have explored, examined, and developed. To do otherwise would be arrogant. And ignorant.

Yes, we have a lot to give (and have given a lot) to the world, but unless we accept that we have plenty that we can learn from the world, and from each other, then we are lost.

So, while I undoubtedly disagree with some points raised in the article, I will take what is written “to” us, try to understand how the rest of the world sees “us” (vast a concept though that is), and do my bit to get “our” story out.

Came across this. The comments are worthy of reading. I don’t like to re-invent the wheel; I think much food for thought is in the article as well as in the comments.

Why We Still Need to Write About African Poverty

And I can’t help but wonder what myweku community would have said to this guy who only offers the utmost personal slant on why he thinks he is an African: We are All African

He begins with the quote: “I am an African, not because I was born in Africa but because Africa is born in me.”-William Easterly

and clearly he saw things that are not so nice to talk about, but his passion for potential trumped what’s not right and this is what he is doing:
Elias Fund

Thanks.

~annie

I ask because some of us that find stereotypes in this article probably have nothing to challenge the stereotypes with

I ask because while Europeans tell their children stories of Labs that stretch over 3 countries under ground, we “Africans” tell stories of xenophobia.

I ask because the “Africans” that blame the media for publishing negative stories have done nothing to create their own media, to publish good stories.

I ask because I hope that one day we will realize that poverty is an ailment of the mind and not of one’s pocket.

Its an ailment that manifests itself with symptoms of progresslessness and the need to wait for others to do what we can do for ourselves.

How can we call ourselves Africans when we still need to identify ourselves with the country we are from as though that country belongs to another continent….

If you are a Nigerian that has never left Nigeria, it doesn’t make you any less of an African than the South African who attended the World Cup.

But even so, it doesn’t make us African enough to call ourselves African until we can demonstrate our Africanness with the footprints that we leave in Africa.

Fellow “Africans”, this is my view of “Africans”

“There are a lot of things I’ve learnt from listening in Africa.” says the creator of Wallander who has a new project – helping Africa’s Aids patients to tell their life stories.

must read article. all stories–the beautiful and the ugly– need to be told by anyone–”white” or “black”–educated overseas or not–”African” or “Not” who is sincerely listening.

Henning Mankell, the creator of Wallander, considers the power of storytelling in Africa

thanks,

~a.