Sean Jacobs's Blog, page 564

Everybody wants in on the final

Some coupe decale to warm you up for the African Cup of Nations final later today between Cote d'Ivoire (the favorites) and Zambia (the team everybody is rooting for). Here, here and here are some links to previews and bold predictions on the outcome of the match. Also read our earlier post on the improbable march of Zambia to the final.

February 11, 1990

Today, 22 years ago, Nelson Mandela walked free from a prison outside Cape Town. Four years later, in April, the ANC won South Africa's first democratic elections and in May 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. These were, however, only 22 years in the 100 year history of the ANC. Last month the ANC held a massive party in Mangaung, the place where it was founded in January 1912 by a small group of activists. Hundreds of thousands people headed to the capital of the now Free State province. But this is also a different ANC. Its legacy is not so clear cut anymore and we have covered the personalities that shape it as well as some of its calamities on this blog. Amongst the thousands at the ANC celebrations in Bloemfontein was Prexy Nesbitt, a trade unionist, college professor (he's taught for years at Columbia College) and leading figure in the US anti-apartheid movement as well as the liberation struggles in Angola and Mozambique between the 1960s and the 1980s. He has a long association with Southern African freedom movements. When Prexy returned to his home in Chicago, he jotted down his impressions of the celebrations, of the ANC and South Africa. With his permission we republish it here. We think it is a fitting reflection on the commemoration of a momentous day. –Sean Jacobs

Prexy Nesbitt

To point a moral to a comrade

First pamphlet

It isn't that things are easy,

Nor is it being easy

that's essential.

…  …  …

The effort we make

Is neither great nor small

It is

What it has to be

(Marcelino dos Santos, Vice President PR Mozambique, 1970-81)

Hide nothing from the masses of our people

Tell no lies

Expose lies wherever they are told

Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures

no easy victories.

(Amilcar Cabral, leader,PAIGC liberation movement 1963-73)

 

… I have walked that long road to freedom.

I have tried not to falter;

I have made mistakes along the way.

But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb…

(Nelson Mandela, President South Africa 1994-99)

Introduction

I was quite happy when I received a letter on ANC letterhead in mid-December inviting me to the ANC Centenary Celebration in Bloemfontein January 8, 2012.

It was an honor of a special sort.

My relationship with the ANC goes back a few years. My first exposure to the ANC was when I participated in an Antioch College Year Abroad at the University College of Dar Es Salaam in 1965-66. There, my best friends were South African students, both ANC and PAC, who like me, were enrolled at the University.

I spent a lot of time with them around the ANC and FRELIMO offices then located on Independence Avenue "near the Chinese Restaurant." I used to go in and out of the offices looking for publications and talking to people there. It became a normal thing to see and chat with people like J.B. Marks, Josiah Jele and Oliver  Tambo.

My early ANC "connectivity" was deepened when in 1968 I spent six months in London working with Basil Davidson and Polly Gaster's Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau (CFMAG). During this period I also regularly volunteered in the London Anti Apartheid Movement office (AAM) then located on Charlotte Street, near the Goodge Street tube station. In those days the AAM was run by Ethel de Keyser and she connected me to other leading figures in London like CLR James and his wife, Selma James. But my real education came from working and spending time with people like Joe Slovo, Ruth First, Albie Sachs and Stephanie Kemp, Alan Brooks, Bloke Modisane and Abdul Minty.

The orientation and instruction from Dar Es Salaam and London began bearing heavy fruit when in 1979, I joined the staff of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Program to Combat Racism (PCR) as program director and research secretary. One of the greatest highlights of three years work based in Geneva, Switzerland (the WCC's headquarters) was accompanying then ANC President Oliver R. Tambo to a session of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) discussing the Geneva Accords' protection of prisoners of war and civilian non-combatants. It was a singular honor to be present as President Tambo formally presented the ANC's position on these critical questions.

So, on December 29th this year, I rejoiced when family and friends generously raised the money for me to fly to Bloemfontein, South Africa for the ANC Centenary Celebration in the middle of peak Southern Africa holiday travel time. I did not travel alone for I felt that I was there representing numbers of people across the USA who had actualized my getting there. Neither was I alone in another way, as a Columbia College friend traveled to the Celebration as well, making a photo montage of the festivities.

I

The African National Congress (ANC) was founded January 8, 1912 in Bloemfontein, South Africa (recently re-named Mangaung) at a conference attended by nearly two hundred delegates. Those in attendance were a mix of teachers, clerks, messengers, and traders. Amongst the group was Rev. Walter Rubusana; Alfred Mangena; Charlotte Maxeke an American-educated teacher and graduate of the AME Church's Wilberforce University in southwestern Ohio; and John Langalibalele Dube who would become the ANC's first president.

Originally called the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), and formed with the intent to build a broad following amongst the African people, from its earliest days the ANC was viewed as a threat by the South African government. It is important to note the context of the founding of the ANC. Not a recreational association, the ANC was an organization founded in struggle and for struggle.

In 1910, the various white settler colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State (whose capital is Bloemfontein) joined together to form the Union of South Africa. Eighteen months after the founding of the ANC the Natives Land Act was passed on June 20, 1913, stripping black people of 80% of their land and making black people's physical movement outside their reserves permissible only if they could prove they were performing labor for white people.

For the occasion of the ANC's Centenary Celebration, the National Executive Committee of the ANC (NEC) issued a lengthy political statement entitled:

"January 8 Statement 2012: 

The Year of Unity in Diversity  1912- 2012, Celebrating 100 Years of Selfless Struggle"

Essentially, the January 8 Statement is a narrative of ANC history set within the framework of South Africa's history. After the historical section, with highlights of some key lessons from that history, the statement identifies major challenges that lie ahead. Interestingly, the 1993 Revolutionary Democratic Program (RDP) and the even older 1955 Freedom Charter are identified as the main blueprints to be used as the basis for future work.

The statement's two main emphases for the present period are: 1) transforming the quality of life for all South Africans, especially the poor,  through building the economy and creating jobs; and 2) the empowerment of women.

The last sections of the January 8 Statement are a salutation to ANC people who died in 2011 and various messages of support from:

1)    The ANC Women's League (ANCWL)

2)    The ANC Veteran's League (ANCVL)

3)    The South African Communist Party (SACP)

4)    The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATV)

5)    The South African National Civics Organization (SANCO)

Significantly, there is no message of support from the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) included in this section, however a message of support was placed on the ANCYL web site dated 08 January 2012. (Most commentators felt that, though Centenary organizers alleged that the absence of an ANCYL support message was due to the message arriving too late to Centenary headquarters, the real reason was the continuing conflict between the leadership of the ANC and the controversial Youth League leader, Julius Malema).

The festivities began in Mangaung on a traditional note with a Friday night vigil at the Wesleyan church and the ceremonial slaughtering of a bull – all under the watchfull eyes of chiefs, headmen and healers, most of whom were members of the Congress of Traditional Leaders (CONTRALESA).

On Saturday, January 7th President Jacob Zuma gave a President's Dinner, a formal, catered affair, under a tent with more than 1700 invited guests and additional 'guests' arriving throughout the evening. The dinner began at 4:00 pm and was still going on at my departure around 1:00 am. Cyril Ramaphosa, the former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), now a prominent businessman, was one of two MC's who introduced the twenty speakers during the course of the dinner.

Despite its length and the extensive agenda, the dinner was for me a highlight. The speakers included the current presidents of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Rwanda. Neither President Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) nor President Jose Eduardo dos Santos (Angola) showed up at the centenary. Kenneth Kaunda, past president of Zambia, received a standing ovation as he walked to the speaker's stage singing. Most present knew and were recognizing the tremendous contribution that Zambia and the Zambian people had made in the struggle to end apartheid. Another person who magnetized the audience with his presence was Ahmed Kathrada, the former Robben Island cellmate and close friend to Nelson Mandela. As it developed "Kathy", as he is affectionately known, was the closest to any presence of Mandela at the Centenary festivities. Throughout the weekend, "Madiba" and his giant absence due to his not feeling well was the proverbial "elephant-in-the-room," each and every moment, at each and every event.

But the person who made the dinner a meaningful event was someone who is totally unknown to most non-ANC people and little known to even some of the most ardent South Africa watchers. Her name: Ruth Mompati. She was "not prepared to talk", she said, after finally reaching the stage, delayed as the audience sang a song that was identified as 'her song'. She then revealed that she had just been asked to speak. (Perhaps one of those 'faux-pas' moments when an organizer realizes that the whole speakers platform does not have a woman.)

Ruth Mompati started with the ANC as the typist for Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo in their Johannesburg law practice from 1953-1961. She was a founding member of the multi racial Federation of South African Woman (FEDSAW) in 1953. (Incidentally FEDSAW was a multi-racial organization long before the ANC become one.) During her years in exile and after her military training she was the head of the ANC Women's Section in Tanzania and a member of the NEC. In the early 1980's she was both chief representative of the ANC in the United Kingdom and head of the ANC's Board of Religious Affairs.

Ruth's words to the dinner were spare, clear and from her heart. She basically said we must become the ANC we once were and stop the fighting and corruption. Her eloquence and her message resulted in a standing ovation.

Another speaker who received a standing ovation before he even reached the podium was the venerated Cuban leader, Jorge Risquet who spoke on behalf of Cuba's Revolutionary Council. The applause was an unequivocal statement of gratitude for Cuba's contribution to the Southern African liberation movements and to ending apartheid, a contribution that includes the thousands of Cuban men and women combatants who died fighting apartheid forces in Angola and Namibia.

Another aspect of the dinner that stands out for me was getting to see friends and comrades that I had not seen for years. I ran into Zeph Makgetla and Neva Seidman, a couple that I first met in Lusaka Zambia in 1974 when Neva was in her teens. Since then she has served as COSATU's chief economist and today Zeph, her husband, once a leading Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) cadre is  South Africa's ambassador to Greece. Every time I turned around there was another friend, another comrade, another person who has been my teacher on my own road. The poet Keorapste Kgositsile, who I first met in Dar Es Salaam in 1968 when he was the University of Dar Es Salaam's artist in residence; former Robben Island prisoner with Mandela, Namibian leader Toivo ya Toivo and his American-born lawyer wife, Mrs. Vicki ya Toivo; these three have been like family to me all these years. Marcelino dos Santos, vice president of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and a founder of FRELIMO along with Eduardo Mondlane, made the long trip to Mangaung on the train from Maputo. I turn to greet him and see Josiah Jele, first ANC Representative to the United Nations whom my oldest son is named after. Josiah and I used to discuss jazz together from time to time and munch on samosas in Dar Es Salaam cafes. I turned back to Marcelino but bumped instead into Rev. Frank Chikane and Rev. Molefe Tsele, prominent United Democratic Front (UDF) activists who in the late 1990's left the church ranks and joined the administration of President Thabo Mbeki who succeeded Nelson Mandela.

So many past comrades and friends are now gone. My mind keeps bringing up all those who would have wanted to be  at the Centenary Celebration were they still alive. I think of Mfanafuthi "Johnny"Makatini, once the ANC's chief representative in the United States. I think of Denis Brutus and Alex LaGuma, of Di Scott and Lifford Cenge, the last two being amongst that lengthy list of South Africans who were often the moving force behind local anti-apartheid groups all over the USA. Nevertheless, meeting all these friends and comrades throughout the evening was wonderful… even as I reluctantly realized that this meeting could well be our last encounter.

II

Sunday, January 8, 2012. The Centenary Day in Bloemfontein/ Mangaung was a clear and very hot day. It was the kind of day that attorney Pixley ka Isaka Seme might have wished for when he issued his historic 1911 call to have a congress to unite the various South African tribes. The people responded then. And on January 8, 2012, the South African people responded anew. Estimates vary on the number of people who came to Mangaung but none are less than 100,000. My feeling is that that Sunday almost all 100,000 folk were trying to get into that 48,000 seat Bloemfontein Free State Stadium (renovated in 2010 for the World Cup). What an outpouring of folk! The ramps entering the stadium were packed past over-flowing and young (mostly inexperienced) women with arms locked were desperately trying to keep people moving in and out of the right entrances. Lying along the sides of the ramps were hundreds of older women tired out from long bus and train rides to reach Mangaung. Despite the intensity and confusion, I was struck by what an amazing mobilization it was and how much it was a physical exclamation point to the announcement made by President Zuma during his speech that "the membership of the ANC stands at more than 1 million members."

The impressive numbers mobilized for the Centenary reminded me of a cardinal point once made to me by a Swedish academician about how "participation" was one of the main barometers of a legitimate liberation movement. Watching all those people I thought about all the "challenges" that the ANC felt, all of its weaknesses and failings. I knew that all those people knew all that and then some. And yet they turned out. They mobilized for what, "warts and all," as the expressions goes, was their ANC.

As I watched and listened to President Zuma speak about the ANC's century-long commitment to building a 'non-racist,' 'non-sexist' South Africa, I simultaneously was thinking about two things. The first was a thought about all the white comrades, many of them stalwarts at the ANC, well-known people like Ruth First and Bram Fischer, little-known people like Alan Brooks and Janet Cherry, who in a sense had ceased to be 'white' in my mind. Second, I was thinking that in all the time spent in Bloemfontein for the Centenary, I had not seen white people from Bloemfontein. In fact, international "whites" from Sweden, France, Germany, the USA and the UK, in the VIP delegation were the only white people I saw. It was as if the local whites had, after renting their homes to the visiting black delegates and gaining great profits, (some rentals were as high as $3500/two days) exercised a pre-emptory 'white flight' and left the city to those who wanted to call it Mangaung, instead of its "proper name," Bloemfontein. It brings up the fact that outside of urban centers like Cape Town and a few progressive pockets. Many areas of South Africa, especially in small towns and on the farms, are yet populated by whites who live as if apartheid never ended. Thus, the reality is that making South Africa truly "non-racist' is a major hill yet to be climbed.

After listening to President Zuma's stadium speech, I read it very carefully. It was not the ANC at its best. For instance, one of the points he makes is that a major strength of the ANC is its capacity, when necessary, to critically review its performance and renew itself. The Morogoro Conference in 1969 was such a moment. The quality of race relations and the quality of gender relations in South Africa today constitute a challenge in South Africa's historical odyssey. Though there is an increasingly visible black middle class, race relations are glossed over as if everything is "dandy." Simultaneously, the levels of rape and violence against women are totally unacceptable. Both race and gender relations are "unfinished business" that should be high on the government's agenda (and in my opinion should have been highlighted as priorities in the President's speech).

Long time NEC member, Pallo Jordan, in a persuasive article written for South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper January 5 2012 points critically at another arena where the ANC has much work yet to be undertaken, i.e., the arena of personal gain and careerism. He quite accurately situates it within the growing class struggle dynamics intensifying within South Africa today. He cogently notes:

"The tensions within the ANC, so often cast as competition for elective posts, are rooted in the changing material conditions of life of the various strata that today make up its constituency and reflect recently acquired social mobility by black South Africans."

Former Minister Jordan (in an obvious reference to the historical trajectory of the Pan African Congress) continues on to comment that it has been the capacity of the ANC to see the evil and 'grasp it by its horns' that has "ensured that the ANC remained relevant while other movements dithered, then withered".

More substantive input and commentary was provided by yet another source  — one that had long traveled the path of liberation with the ANC in the South African struggle. On December 28, key activist church people in South Africa issued Kairos Southern Africa: Theological and Ethical reflections on the 2012 Centenary Celebrations of the African National Congress. (The entire Kairos statement is an attachment to this reflection.) It was dubbed in brief "A Word to the ANC, in these times" and was issued  with the following sense of responsibility and earnestness': "(we pass these words on)… in a spirit of appreciation and gratitude for you…where we can raise some concerns as friends… especially given the levels of poverty and inequality in our country…"

"We also [pass these words on] knowing that many Christian leaders were involved in the formation and nurturing of the ANC over the years and we therefore continue to feel a sense of responsibility for its existence and what it does…"

The Kairos statement continues on to congratulate the ANC as the oldest and one of the most resilient liberation movements on the continent. It then very candidly notes some of the church's role supporting colonialism and, on the other hand, the role of some of the churches in bridging early instances of rebellion against colonialism (like the Ethiopian religious movements) with the emergence of modern nationalist movements like the ANC in the 1910's and 1920's.

The statement then lists some nine selected major "concerns." Two concerns that stood out to me were: 1) corruption including how political parties are funded; and 2) being in solidarity with the oppressed across the world, "especially those in Africa as well as the Palestinian people." The statement concludes (with an obvious bow towards Dr. Martin Luther King and his world-renown "I have a Dream" speech) putting forward a dream for South Africa  and a ringing condemnation of today's new global Mammon (money).

The Kairos Statement — a response to the ANC Centenary Statement — reminded me that steadily, the issues in South Africa and those in the United States assume greater and greater symmetry. Years ago during the anti-apartheid struggle years, a good friend of mine, a former Antioch College colleague named Norrie Davis, created a wonderful poster. It showed two sets of manacled hands and underneath was the caption "Freeing South Africa, freeing ourselves." The Kairos Statement also reminded me that there is a great mass of South Africans who are yet prepared to mobilize anew for the values that underlay  the centuries- long struggle to end white supremacy and apartheid.

South Africans yet struggle against economic oppression, inequality and patterns of institutionalized race and gender injustice. It is no longer a system called 'apartheid' that is the enemy but rather new manifestations of global, neo-liberal capitalism. And the longer South Africans struggle, the more it appears that, with some altered clothing and different languages, it is "the same enemy, same fight" as here in the United States.

H/T: Allison Swank

Music Break. King Mensah

Some mellow Togolese sounds and a sunny video.

Surfer dude

Surfing as leisure and a sport has historically been associated with whites in South Africa, though that's not necessarily true in practice. In fact a few documentary films (for example, "Taking back the waves"), the new feature film "Otelo Burning" and the work of photographer Richard Johnson (scroll to the right) have pointed to a long tradition of surfing among young black people in South Africa's coastal cities.*  So, I always wondered when some creative director would pounce on the idea to commodify that history and struggle for recognition. Well, Cell C, a mobile/cell operator has done so now as part of its "Be Now" campaign targeted at young people with an ad focusing on"budding" semi-pro surfer Avuyile Ndamase from the Eastern Cape province.

* The recent documentary, "Whitewash," interrogated similar themes in surfing in the United States.

Tech Apartheid

Our tech posts never stray from tweeting new data on Twitter and Facebook usage on the continent–but now and then–as occasional readers of Gizmodo and Kotaku–we pause:

The first story  involves a Christian extremist search engine app, named Chacha, powering Android's most popular Siri competitor, Iris. Gizmodo reports that users looking for information on abortion, evolution and rape, are fed rightwing propaganda. Apparently when you ask Iris "is abortion wrong?" the Android app will answer: "Yes, abortion is wrong. The Lord has said, "You shall not murder," (Exodus 20:13). The life that is growing within the mother is a child, a baby. The Bible looks at the life in the womb as a child. Thanks!" Gizmodo also reports this:

But there's more. Pushing it, I asked "are whites superior to blacks?" This was the answer:

"Whites are NOT superior to blacks. Just different. [Gizmodo's emphasis] Like Dr Verwoerd and the original, genuine policy of apartheid always said."

Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 until he was killed in 1966. Verwoerd created the concept of apartheid and implemented it. He also banned anti-Apartheid movements, like the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress.

This all matters as one of Chacha's main investors is Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon. Chacha itself was  founded by Scott Jones, the inventor of Gracenote, the music database that powers parts of Apple's iTunes.

The second story from Kotaku, involves the latest version of popular video game Minecraft. Basically players are greeted

with the sentence "You are a NIGGER", if they switch their language settings to Afrikaans, the native language of South Africa and Namibia.*

Part of the problem is Minecraft's developers Mojang rely on "user-submitted translations of the menus and other text." Now, who are those users?

* BTW, Afrikaans is only one of about 20 odd native languages in Namibia and South Africa combined.

50 Cent goes to Somalia

So rapper 50 Cent (accompanied by American journalists) was in Somalia and Kenya this week to visit people living in refugee camps displaced by the civil war with Islamic militants. Expect lots of '50 in Somalia' reports on US television. 50 Cent, who joins a long line of celebrities helping Africans (he is being touted as the 21st century celebrity humanitarian already) handed out food and danced with the children. He also had enough time to pose for what looks like a movie poster shot with children (above) and a soldier (below), and to promote his energy drink Street King. If his Facebook page receives 1 million "likes" by Sunday, 50 will donate an additional one million meals.  And he'll sell more Street King in the process. 

Chipolopolo

Written by Elliot Ross

Everyone wanted to see Cote d'Ivoire play Ghana in the African Cup of Nations final on Sunday. A heavyweight clash between the two West African giants, it held the promise of a meeting of "golden" generations. The Ivorian veterans against the Ghanaian whipper-snappers, Drogba versus Ayew, Yaya Toure against Agyemang-Badu. Everyone wanted to see it.  Everyone, that is, except those who have been following the progress of a Zambian side that has lit up the tournament at every stage. They might only have one player at a top European league (winning-goal specialist Emmanuel Mayuka ), but the Chipolopolo have played the best football, scored (some of) the best goals, and produced by miles the best goal celebrations at CAN 2012. Their success hasn't been lucky or accidental. They haven't had an easy route to the final. They have simply been brilliant.

On Sunday they could be crowned African champions. It would be the first time a Southern African nation has held that title since Bafana Bafana in 1996.

If the Zambians take the trophy back to Lusaka, it will be a hugely meaningful victory. The last time the Zambians were this good was the late 80s and early 90s. A hugely promising young side humbled Italy at the Olympic Games in Seoul, but the entire team was killed when the plane they were traveling in crashed in Gabon en route to a qualifying match in 1993. Legendary forward Kalusha Bwalya (African player of the year 1988 and the hat-trick hero against the Italians) was the only player not on the flight, and the sole survivor. He is now the President of Zambia's FA.

"It was written in the stars that we had to return to Gabon in order to honour the memories of the national side wiped out in 1993," said coach Herve Renard.

"Twelve million Zambians wanted us to go the whole way to Libreville. As soon as we arrive in Libreville, we will go to the spot where the plane crashed, not far from the stadium. It is imperative we play for them, for Zambia, because it is a fantastic country."

Pre-tournament, Zambia were rated as rank outsiders to win the tournament. A friend in Johannesburg bet R1000 on them to win the Cup before the semi-final with Ghana yesterday, and got odds of 8-1, ridiculously long for any team at the semi-final stage, and especially so for one as impressive as Zambia.

Their captain and talisman is Christopher Katongo, a bustling striker with a deadly finish and good heading ability. Orlando Pirates midfielder Isaac Chansa, TP Mazembe's Stophira Sunzu and Free State Stars keeper Kennedy Mweene have been excellent, but it is the dazzling Emmanuel Mayuka who has really caught the eye with a series of terrific performances. A substitute in the semi-final, he must be a starter on Sunday.

One of the most free-flowing and positive teams in the tournament, Zambia are likely to deploy the same counter-attacking style on Sunday that saw them overcome Senegal in the group stage.

Cote d'Ivoire, of course, will have other ideas, but even as overwhelming favourites they will need to step up their game if they are to overcome Chipolopolo. With such a great chance at finally winning a trophy, it would be nice to see Drogba and co come out to score goals in the final, and unleash their more attack-minded players, such as Seydou Doumbia and Emmanuel Eboue, both more or less unused so far. More likely is that they will persist with a defensive formation and look to close out a narrow victory.

In truth, both the Ivorians and the Ghanaians have looked burdened by the enormous expectations placed upon them. Nervous and over-cautious, neither side has really taken the competition by the scruff of the neck, and if the Ivorians had faced Gabon instead of Mali, they might well have suffered the same fate as Ghana.

One shot project

This is Hache. Oh, and the DJ. And that's your music break.

Shameless Self Promotion

Two Africa is a Country contributors–Neelika Jayawardane and Kathryn Mathers–have pieces in the latest issue of Transition, the Harvard creative writing magazine. That's the cover above with the theme "Blending Borders." Neelika's article "Everybody's got their Indian," (you need a subscription) is on racial politics in postapartheid South Africa. Though she's been meaning to write about this topic for a while, I know this visit to South Africa let to the piece. Kathryn's has a similarly provocative title, "Mr Kristof, I Presume." (Hers you can read in full. The link takes you a PDF of the article.) Here, before you click away, is the first page of Kathryn's article:

I do not want to write about Nicholas Kristof. The sheer banality of his representations of Africa paralyses me. His columns and blogs about Africa in the New York Times are repeatedly under fire for their poor research, careless reading of studies on Africa and blatant generalizations. This allows him to repeat troubling and problematic tropes about Africa and about how Africans need foreign help. Yet student bodies across the country culture frequently invite him to speak on their campuses. Saving Africa has become a favorite hobby for celebrities and ordinary Americans alike. And journalists like Nicholas Kristof who write endless stories about Americans doing good in Africa are central to this shift. Kristof even got to bunk down with actor George Clooney in Chad so that they could report back about the conflict in Darfur across the border.

Kristof's representations of Africa in the New York Times, therefore, seem more in tune with those media outlets not known for good journalism or social critique. Yet my global development classes are full of students who believe that he speaks to their concerns and it is his writing that shapes their goals for doing good in the world. All of the copies of Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book Half the Sky were checked out of the libraries of nearby universities last summer. My students know that there are problems with the development and aid industries and can even offer biting critiques of celebrity interventions in aid programs in Africa. But they believe that they can do it better, that their generation understands the failures and can solve them, and that their intentions are pure enough to overcome the cynics. Their confidence is made possible in part by the examples of individual young Americans just like them establishing and running educational, health and technological programs in Africa trumpeted by a serious journalist like Kristof in a serious newspaper like the New York Times. Kristof's writing about humanitarianism in Africa makes possible a very limited but accessible form of aid by asking his readers to focus on what they can do and the importance of one individual saving another. So no I do not want to write about Nicolas Kristof. But I must because he has claimed such an authoritative voice in conversations about Americans' relationship to Africans that he has somehow made the act of writing about them an actual intervention in the lives of poor people in the world …

Africa's first 21st century global pop star?

Nigerian D'Banj–a combination of outsize showman, confidence, flash, little politics and affecting personality–could be Africa's first global pop star of the 21st century. He draws big crowds on the continent and regularly plays the diaspora circuit in cities like London. Perhaps the clearest sign of that he is about to be a bona fide pop star is that he was recently signed by Kanye West's label and one of his hits, "Oliver," is doing better than well on UK pop charts. Now it is getting the cover version treatment from artists as diverse as a British boy band (who changed some words in the song) and mainstream R&B singer, Estelle. But this is not out of the blue. He's had the Snoop Dogg remix already, Wyclef called him the "African Michael Jackson" (I know, bear with me) and D'Banj won every major award on the continent (MTV Africa, etc), while American or British awards show gives him the "best African/international star."  On cue, D'Banj will be performing live in New York City later this month. (He shot a promo specially for that event.) He does this while singing in a mix of Yoruba, Nigerian patois and English and his Naija life references. (His producer Don Jazzy should also take some of the credit for his success, btw.) The thing about D'Banj is that he knows and expects this. His recent music video, "Entertainer," is basically a mash up of him telling us all this (people fainting, posing shirtless like Fela, the jewelry, video models, hotels, etcetera):