February 6, 2013
"Today, the ‘savage nature’ of Africa is still on display, in American headlines: ‘Uganda’s rebels in murderous spree,’ ‘Congo a country of rape and ruin’ ‘Africa’s Forever Wars.’ Sometimes the savagery doesn’t come from the ‘savages’ themselves. It comes from poverty—’NIGERIA: Focus on the scourge of poverty’—or disease—’AIDS at 30: Killer has been tamed, but not conquered.’ Other times, all the savagery blends together: ‘Starving Babies, Raped Mommies, Famine in Africa—Do you care?’ All I can imagine from these headlines is that Africa—all 54 countries, all 11.7 million square miles of it—must be a very deadly place. But I’ve lived there. It’s not."

—

Jina Moore, “The White Correspondent’s Burden.” (via utnereader)

This is a problem that I’ve seen more than one commentator bring up.  Western coverage of Africa tends to paint the entire continent as a chaotic, war-torn locale where starvation, poverty and political violence are ubiquitous.  To be fair, I think there is plenty of poverty and violence that does exist in Africa, and worth being concerned about.  But there are also places in Africa that do not meet this description.  And it’s always helpful to keep a little perspective when reading the endless stream of bleak reporting on Africa’s affairs.

2:16pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZMMjnxdXmOdL
(Notes: 91)
  
Filed under: politics africa 
  1. mickeymousehasgrownupaclown reblogged this from utnereader
  2. bellaknoti reblogged this from cwnerd12
  3. allofthestuffandthings reblogged this from eclectically-minded
  4. dctvny reblogged this from utnereader
  5. eclectically-minded reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  6. developingnations reblogged this from utnereader
  7. idyllictorture reblogged this from utnereader
  8. iunderthink reblogged this from cwnerd12
  9. green-grass-pink-lillies reblogged this from mademoisellealiyah
  10. raisethestorm reblogged this from dom72
  11. sl0thosaurus reblogged this from utnereader
  12. rickiricardo520 reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  13. babestat reblogged this from muchtoocynical
  14. muchtoocynical reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  15. analemma reblogged this from utnereader
  16. doctorscientist reblogged this from utnereader
  17. mischiefmanagedhere reblogged this from utnereader
  18. dom72 reblogged this from utnereader
  19. lightinwinter reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  20. supriyahearts reblogged this from cuckoo--nest
  21. ari-the-nerdy-lez reblogged this from letterstomycountry