Beauty in all its colors

Oscar winner and Kenyan Lupita Nyong'o’s speech on the need of different images of beauty - 50 shades of beauty perhaps?

The danger of a single image of beauty are not unlike the dangers of a single story.

Africa needs no saving - just less negative stereotypes / África não precisa de poupança - apenas menos estereótipos negativos

What the real map of Africa looks like - it’s big!

Did you have any idea Africa was this big?

If not, this might be the reason why:

(If you can’t see the video, click here).

International aid: A matter of perspectives / Ajuda internacional: Uma questão de perspectiva

 

(esquerda) Os meninos na America são obligados a passar 8 horas sentados nas aulas, depois eles são drogados quando movem-se ou fazem barulho demais, e sua principal fonte de diversão é a televisão.

(direita) Isso é horrível! Deveria-mos pedir doações para eles.

What would you like your country to be famous for?

I loved this initiative by INGO Oxfam asking people the question of the title. Another initiative to challenge the stereotypes about African (and other) countries, an issue that we commented in previous posts here and here.

I wonder if any has asked: What would Mozambicans like their country to be famous for?

Eu pergunto aos moçambicanos: O que é que eles quiseram que os estrangeiros / o mundo soubesse sobre o seu pais?

African men challenge negative stereotypes

It seems I’m not the only one tired of African stereotypes. In this funny video, four young African men challenge the stereotypical portrayals of African men in Hollywood movies:

The video is part of a series challenging two-dimensional representations of Africa and African people, by a NGO called Mama Hope. You can check here the other videos that are part of the campaign called “Stop the Pity, Unlock the Potential.”

If you happen to come from a place beyond US borders, you are familiar with the problem. The world according to Hollywood tends to be... inaccurate should we say? (simplistic? naive? incorrect? unsophisticated? plain wrong?). To challenge those single stories, just remember to go beyond the Hollywood movie (or the news).

What a single story looks like

Just finished posting about the danger of a single story and I run into a perfect example of how a story, very effectively told, even if with the best intentions can reinforce that single story of Africa the helpless, Africa the dangerous.

These last days a very well crafted documentary, part of a campaign against warlord Joseph Kony, went viral in Facebook, twitter and other social media:

A quick video response appeared, this time from Rosebell Kagumire, a blogger from Uganda, clarifying a few points that provide a more rounded picture of what has been going on in her country. [I'll be summarizing part of what she says in Spanish soon]

I had already seen the same concerns raised by my friend Corinne Segura on a FB comment: “It's pure hubris when 3 white college students think they know how to stop a conflict in Africa. By Sending 100 US troops? Oh yeah, that has always worked. We don’t know the situation over there and the best solution. There are African scholars and governments working on this, there is an African Union and a United Nations - Where are their voices? [...] We need more humility and better information on how to support this fight. It’s great to raise awareness but an American NGO that supports a foreign military and builds schools, and acts condescending like they are the saviors??? .... Um, no thanks”.

Many other voices have been either to criticize or defend the video. If anything, the whole issue served to really drive the point home: a single story, not Africa, is dangerous.

The danger of a single story / El peligro de una única historia

But, ... isn’t it dangerous?

That’s about the most common first question I receive when telling people I’m going to live in Mozambique for a couple of years. A close second: And aren’t you afraid of getting sick?

Danger. Violence. Disease. 

One has to wonder why are these the first thoughts people have when hearing “Africa.” 

In this video, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie does a wonderful job of exposing the process that take us to believe in a single story, and why it is so important to look beyond it.

We just completed the SKWID (Skills for Working in Development) pre-departure workshop -developed and facilitated by the Center for Intercultural Learning. There, we watched that TED Talk video again.

Not only is the consideration of multiple stories very relevant to prepare us for our upcoming journey, it also is the underlying link of the postings in this blog. During the next two years, I’ll be looking to tell the other stories of Africa: the stories of success, creativity, entrepreneurship, resourcefulness, care, richness, empowerment.

The other stories that are also Africa.