How Not to Write About Africa - Binyavanga Wainaina - narrated by Djimon Hounsou

(RED)Wire's 2nd edition came with this awesome short - here is the blurb.

When Bono edited the Africa issue of Vanity Fair, it included an essay written by Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina. Through that, we became aware of another piece he'd written for Granta a number of years ago called "How (Not) to Write About Africa." Director Jesse Dylan and his company FreeForm worked with Binyavanga and the Beninois actor Djimon Hounsou to create this filmed performance of the essay. Thanks to W Hotels for the location and Kenyan musician Ayub Ogada for the music.
Read the entire essay at http://www.granta.com/Magazine/92/How...

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[aiwudaho]

Good one! For a broader perspective, see Achebe's book, "The Education of a British Protected Child." Also google an article, titled, "Engaging Africa Beyond Disaster Pornography, Humanitarianism, and Afropessimism."

Achebe writes that the problems is historical: “ their centuries old obsession with lurid and degrading stereotypes of Africa has been bequeathed to the cinema, to journalism, to certain varieties of anthropology, even to humanitarianism and missionary work itself.”

[Mark Meynell]

thanks very much for the suggestion... sounds fascinating

[Dipstikk]

I'm glad I got into racial politics. Videos like this have really opened my eyes to new things.

Thank you for sharing.

[havah350]

You're right but there are also homeless starving people in developed countries and don't even start me on the Americans' reluctance to a free health system. My point as a West-African woman who lived in both Europe and North America: enough with the eurocentrism and other white savior complex B.S. that permeate every Western depiction of Africa and its people! Compassion yes, pity and paternalism no!

[Milkah Warigia]

Aren't problems such as Aids and Aids orphans a global phenomenon? Why is it hi-lighted in Africa alone? Aids is not synonymous with a color or continent.

[John Glassford]

HI TastyPlainPizza, I am a mzungu a white Kenyan I am African too. I agree with you re the waste land and how Africa is seen at times. However there is still poverty, slums and AIDS orphans. 2 million in Kenya alone are orphans due to AIDS in Africa 2 million die each year from AIDS. 55% are women. I have lived there many years and these orphans have no help other than what we, you and I can give them. I live in Australia now going home in 2015.

[galen page]

so my english teacher told me to do my own version of this for homework and then we read them aloud in class i saw some of the worst stereotypes from people of their own race

[GwazaJuse]

We African people have a lot to learn from European people of all tribes.

[nairda431]

I really love this video, I know how hard it is sometimes to feel without seeing,

and how difficult it is to see without feeling, I think it's hard to write something better, everything is understood if you write with your heart.

[Sorrytodisappointyou]

I can show you vintage images of African peoples (Nigeria) using xylophones, flutes, and the rest. In Igbo (a language of Nigeria) the flute is called opi and xylophone ngelenge, banjo is ubo akwara, harp is une. There are whole traditional genres around these instruments. I think this is one of the problems in generalising Africa.

[Marc Kruger]

i am from from africa and although there are xylophones, flutes, harps, they are not tradtionally african. it is onlu fitting that they play the mbira, drums and clap as is the culture of many regions of africa and the video does display the stereotypical nature of how hollywood portrays africa, thereby the drums are fitting for this video

[1001orpheus]

Even to?