Submitted by ggevalt on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 11:23pm.
Kiripi Katembo Siku, an art school student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a film maker with ingenuity and a mobile. He circumvents the restrictions and government censorship in Kinshasa, the country's capital, by attaching his mobile phone to a toy car, setting it to film, and then giving it to a girl to pull behind her on a piece of string as she walks through the streets of Kinshasa.
Submitted by Calliope on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 10:00am.
I'm looking for people who might collaborate on works about Africa to help raise awareness, I've got some ideas, but I'm looking for other people who are interested to help. If you're interested it would be great especially since you've been there.
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the immensity of the sea.
~Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Submitted by cjgolferboy5 on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 9:55am.
Here is the post that I was telling you I would put here. I'm sorry that it just gets cut short, but the seven minutes that I had to write this went by very fast.
Africa. Many people connect it with the Sahara, Okavango, or the great wildebeest migration. But there is so much more to Africa than what meets the eye.
First, there are millions of people in Africa that are well below the poverty line. These people live in nothing more than sheds made of cardboard boxes and plastic trash bags. They live hundreds to a street and only have limited water and restroom supplies. They play in the streets with deflated soccer balls, with bare feet and exposed electrical wires.
Then there is the majesty of landmarks such as the migration of the Right Whale, the imposing peak of Table Mountain, and the bleak Robber Island. There is Mount Kilamanjaro, Victoria Falls, Madagascar, the list goes on and on with brilliant, stunning landmarks.
There is the food that a small fraction of people outside of Africa ever get to experience. Ostrich, kudu, kingclip, are just a few of the exotic options available that contain protein. There are many more plants, many coming from the feinbos, “fine bush,” that contain medicinal and protein and vegetable options.
Submitted by cjgolferboy5 on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 9:46am.
I do agree with all of you about the violence in Rwanda and Somalia, but there are so many more things in Africa that are just pure beauty. I visited Africa last summer, and I experienced the beauty of Victoria Falls in Zambia,Mala Mala Main camp in South Africa, the ever expanding Okavango Delta in Botswana, the fynbos of South Africa near Gaansbai, and relived the experiences of inmates on Robben Island in the Atlantic Ocean, off of the coast of Cape Town.
I have a piece that I wrote on Vermont Writes day that I will post soon after.
Submitted by Calliope on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 9:53am.
Africa is a wonderful place, I've never been and I think you're very lucky to have gone, but I know people who live there. It is true there are many wonderful things there, but there are also a lot of terrible things, some of which could be easily stopped. There are diseases that could be easily prevented, and there could be better education. I think education is one of the main roots of the problems in Africa.
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the immensity of the sea.
~Antoine de Saint Exupéry
If you haven't seen War Dance, I highly recommend it. It is one of the best documentary films I've ever seen. It both inspired me and saddened me, filled me with great joy and saddened me deeply.
As an aside, the film company that distributed this film, ThinkFilm, has gone out of business as the independent film world continues its own retraction and meltdown in changing economic conditions.
Submitted by lmcisaac on Mon, 04/06/2009 - 3:13pm.
I'm really happy to see this discussion going and wanted to post a couple of links to organizations that work with youth to help them figure out how to action some of the feelings Magz and others are experiencing as they learn about places like Rwanda. I'll keep working on this list, but here's a bit to get you started.
What Kids Can Do
A cool website with loads of interesting things to read about what kids around the world are doing to help to make the world a better place. Under "Resources" you'll find a long list of really great links to all kinds of organizations. "Global Education and Action" and "Service Learning, Citizenship, and Justice" are the two with most relevance to this discussion.
Global Youth Connect. An organization that empowers youth to "advance human rights and create a more just world." They have a special project on Rwanda.
If we were in said situation, we probably wouldn't be alive, let alone on an international digital network, using a site dedicated to improving the artistic abilities of teenagers to contemplate the problems of other people thousands of miles away. Long story short, genocides were only classified after safe people had enough free time to classify them.
I'm not suggesting to brush it off as normal, however; I'm suggesting that you take it as normal when confronting it. There are sets of solutions to the problem- solutions you can take from history and its endless supply of suggestions. Break it down and make it a science. That is what this is, after all: a scientific study of human hate.
Although I don't believe in human duty, I highly respect your dedication to service. Best of luck with the letter; I believe in the power of personal appeal.
Submitted by Magzdoodle on Sun, 04/05/2009 - 3:51pm.
I understand that it is human nature, and I understand that this has happened before and history repeats itself.
I just don't understand how there can be such hate and violence and people don't want to do anything about it, people don't want to help save the lives of others. Think about how terrifying it must be to be in Darfur right now! How can those people have even a fraction of happiness? They have nothing except for terror. I find it extremely inhumane to be aware of this suffering and to just brush it away because it's "normal". If we were in the shoes of these civilians, wouldn't we want some extra help? Wouldn't we be begging for someone to just help and end all the terror?
As humans, it just seems like it is our duty to protect others when they are so desperate, when they need us so badly. It bothers me that this is not a mutual belief with most people in the world, or even the country.
I think I will write that letter... I feel like I just need to do something.
It is human- maybe even primal, animalistic and basic- nature to improve one's own stature at the expense of others. Things like this have happened everywhere in the world. It's a natural stepping stone for a country going through social development- it's just that, in this case, they've been stuck on this problem for a tad longer than usual. But as for the rest of the world: Europe's Holocaust was just the tip of the iceberg, a result of countless other genocides over the centuries. Asia had the anti-Buddhism and Communist movements. England had the slaughtering of Protestants and Catholics every time a monarch of different alignment took the throne. Russia had the Great Purge. The Balkans had the racial wars of the 90's. Turkey had the Armenian Genocide. The Middle-East went through a big anti-Kurdish time back in the 70's when the Islamic Revolution hit Iran. The US had the Ku Klux Klan, the Trail of Tears, and countless other events. Latin America is still going through rebel movements that killed thousands in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. In order to get to where they are today in terms of social stability, every one of these countries had to suffer through major bloodshed. That is the norm.
History repeats itself. Sure, we can send money to charities that help, maybe alleviate the problem for a select few, but only the nation in charge, through direct action, can fix this. That, or the Janjaweed will become the government. Those opposed will move away or be imprisoned and killed. The country will move on. Again, history repeats itself.
If anything, I suggest you write a letter to the US embassy in Sudan. They're in more of a position to help fix the problem than Obama or our domestic administration ever will be.
Yes, history repeats itself. That doesn't mean it should. If we can do something to stop that, we should. The problem is how. We're a bunch of teenagers on a writing site, talking about how horrible it is over there. We can talk all we like. Good intentions have no impact. If they did, the world would be a lot less painful.
Geist, you say below you do not believe in human duty. What do you mean by that? Do you have no desire to help people, or do you prefer to attribute that desire to a different source?
I believe in the natural and evolutionary instinct to help one's self first.
It's hard to overcome, but I believe it's innate.
Until our surroundings become so advanced and secure that our basic needs are no longer essential, they will still be there, back in the reptilian part of our noggins. I, as a sort of societal neurotic, sort of revert onto these instincts out of my own will. I do not trust much about what keeps humanity together.
I admire those who are secure enough in their own lives to help others. I'm just not one to do it myself.
But, see, then there are those who prefer to help one's species, despite the personal risk. You "do not trust much about what keeps humanity together." Nor do I, but I see that as a reason to do something--to strengthen "what keeps humanity together". I know I've lived a very sheltered life. I'm lucky. It's random chance that I was born to a family in Vermont and not in Darfur. I have an advantage--I'm capable of helping people--and I feel obligated to use that advantage (somehow) to do something for those who are not so lucky.
It's guilt, perhaps. A whole species' worth of guilt.
Submitted by Magzdoodle on Sun, 04/05/2009 - 2:39pm.
Okay. So I feel like I did that wrong, but whatever.
I just finished writing a research paper on Rwanda and Darfur. In the middle of my research one night, I got extremely mad and I couldn't handle it anymore. I yanked out a piece of paper and began to write a letter to Obama. It got late, so I put it aside and haven't finished it yet.
But I have a question: Will writing one letter really do anything? Will anyone actually read a letter that a high school kid sends the president? I feel like those letters just get thrown in a pile and forgotten, like the ones to Santa Claus.
What really got to me was something that I read about how in Darfur, the Janjaweed kill all the men in the villages, then rape all the women. It just really, really disturbed me. I mean... these men have enough hate to slaughter so many people, then they rape the wives and daughters of the men they just murdered. They get some form of pleasure out of these horrible actions. And it just sickens me.
Submitted by imperfect on Sun, 04/05/2009 - 4:54pm.
Well said, Magz.
I totally agree with you. Right now I am going to write a letter to President Obama about this.
It just might do something. *lightbulb appears over head*
I'm going to go on www.freewebs.com and make one about this. maybe someone will come across is and want to help. Maybe I could make a facebook (well my mom could make me one since I am only eleven).
-sirius
(yes, It is pure evil.)
__________________________________________________________________________
Its OK to have butterflies in your stomach,
Just let them fly in formation.
Submitted by imperfect on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 6:47pm.
Make a website, make a facebook, sell some cookies. give all the money to some organization.
to be honest, my knowledge on this topic is mere. All i know is that it needs to be changed.
Not all africa is bad regarding the forum name.
-sirius
__________________________________________________________________________
Its OK to have butterflies in your stomach,
Just let them fly in formation.
Awareness does nothing unless there's action attached. People know about it on Facebook. They understand the issue. They can throw all the money they want at the problem, but that gets siphoned off by middlemen wanting to make an extra penny along the way, and even when it's there, how do you give it to the people in need?
This is not a new issue, as I've said before. Making a website or facebook won't help. In fact, I know people who are even put off from the issue by attempts to spread it.
If you want a handle on how the US has tried to fix this problem in the past, watch the movie "Black Hawk Down", about Mogadishu.
The exact same problem as Darfur, and the exact reason as to why we're not helping them.
I haven't read the entire thread on this topic, just yours and the two or so before it.
I've seen first hand some of the awful conditions in third world Africa.
I want to help.
My cousin and I are trying to work out a fundraiser to send books to a library in Ethiopia. It's supposed to be a school fundraiser and the books are going directly to the library. I know this because my dad's brothers are taking it there. My advise for fundraising and giving money is to do it through your school. Get a group to do something and get the students motivated to help. Find a good program to give your money too, well known ones I'd think.
As for Darfur. There aren't words for how horrible it is.
Submitted by lmcisaac on Thu, 04/09/2009 - 9:32am.
I haven't seen the movie, but I get really nervous when people turn to Hollywood films as the sole source for understanding other parts of the world, history or current events. I gather from the few reviews I've read that this film was very realistic, and I'm sure that a lot of the basic facts around which it was constructed are true. Nevertheless, as with any source, you have to ask why it was created, and what the filmmaker's agenda was. Through what lens(es) did they view the place/problem/event they wrote about/filmed/photographed? Once you've considered those questions, you are better positioned to evaluate the extent to which a source can be considered an authority on the subject at hand.
I also want to caution people about generalizing about an entire continent from one place on it. Africa is very large and very varied. There are certain themes that come up in the US mass media when you look at different parts of the African continent, but many others are barely mentioned.
One way to get around the problem of the stereotypes and overly simplistic views that dominate so many US portrayals of Africa is to look for African voices and listen to what they have to say about their homeland. Read African literature and watch African films. Do you get a different picture from them? What kinds of variety do you see across the continent?
So here's a challenge -- What are the dominant images of Africa that Americans have? Where do these images come from? Do they reflect the continent as a whole, or just a particular view of it? What other images and stories can you find that counteract some of the predominant stereotypes about Africa?
If you've read any literature or seen films made by Africans that made you think about Africa in a different way, please share it!
Submitted by Magzdoodle on Thu, 04/09/2009 - 10:13am.
I never really knew anything about Africa until this year. We read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe in English class. I really liked the book because there were so many ideas in it that I never knew happened, like throwing baby twins into a clay pots in the evil forrest. There were so many different beliefs, and I found it very interesting. Then like everyone else in my class hated the book because "the names were hard to pronounce" (which made me really annoyed) and no one seemed to realize that the book was real, that things like that actually happened.
Then I did a research project on Darfur the other week and I learned soo much.
Hm. I can't really think of a way to wrap this comment up. Soo... yeah, Things Fall Apart was definitely a good eye-opener.
Check this out...
Kiripi Katembo Siku, an art school student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a film maker with ingenuity and a mobile. He circumvents the restrictions and government censorship in Kinshasa, the country's capital, by attaching his mobile phone to a toy car, setting it to film, and then giving it to a girl to pull behind her on a piece of string as she walks through the streets of Kinshasa.
I'm looking for people who
I'm looking for people who might collaborate on works about Africa to help raise awareness, I've got some ideas, but I'm looking for other people who are interested to help. If you're interested it would be great especially since you've been there.
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the immensity of the sea.
~Antoine de Saint Exupéry
7 Minutes Worth of Writing On Africa
Here is the post that I was telling you I would put here. I'm sorry that it just gets cut short, but the seven minutes that I had to write this went by very fast.
Africa. Many people connect it with the Sahara, Okavango, or the great wildebeest migration. But there is so much more to Africa than what meets the eye.
First, there are millions of people in Africa that are well below the poverty line. These people live in nothing more than sheds made of cardboard boxes and plastic trash bags. They live hundreds to a street and only have limited water and restroom supplies. They play in the streets with deflated soccer balls, with bare feet and exposed electrical wires.
Then there is the majesty of landmarks such as the migration of the Right Whale, the imposing peak of Table Mountain, and the bleak Robber Island. There is Mount Kilamanjaro, Victoria Falls, Madagascar, the list goes on and on with brilliant, stunning landmarks.
There is the food that a small fraction of people outside of Africa ever get to experience. Ostrich, kudu, kingclip, are just a few of the exotic options available that contain protein. There are many more plants, many coming from the feinbos, “fine bush,” that contain medicinal and protein and vegetable options.
Africa is not what it seems like.
I do agree with all of you about the violence in Rwanda and Somalia, but there are so many more things in Africa that are just pure beauty. I visited Africa last summer, and I experienced the beauty of Victoria Falls in Zambia,Mala Mala Main camp in South Africa, the ever expanding Okavango Delta in Botswana, the fynbos of South Africa near Gaansbai, and relived the experiences of inmates on Robben Island in the Atlantic Ocean, off of the coast of Cape Town.
I have a piece that I wrote on Vermont Writes day that I will post soon after.
Africa is a wonderful place,
Africa is a wonderful place, I've never been and I think you're very lucky to have gone, but I know people who live there. It is true there are many wonderful things there, but there are also a lot of terrible things, some of which could be easily stopped. There are diseases that could be easily prevented, and there could be better education. I think education is one of the main roots of the problems in Africa.
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.
Jorge Luis Borges
If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the immensity of the sea.
~Antoine de Saint Exupéry
A movie to recommend...
If you haven't seen War Dance, I highly recommend it. It is one of the best documentary films I've ever seen. It both inspired me and saddened me, filled me with great joy and saddened me deeply.
For more info: http://www.wardancethemovie.com/
To buy the film and support assistance to the region: http://www.shineglobal.org/
A related link: http://www.amref.org/
As an aside, the film company that distributed this film, ThinkFilm, has gone out of business as the independent film world continues its own retraction and meltdown in changing economic conditions.
gg
resources for social action
I'm really happy to see this discussion going and wanted to post a couple of links to organizations that work with youth to help them figure out how to action some of the feelings Magz and others are experiencing as they learn about places like Rwanda. I'll keep working on this list, but here's a bit to get you started.
What Kids Can Do
A cool website with loads of interesting things to read about what kids around the world are doing to help to make the world a better place. Under "Resources" you'll find a long list of really great links to all kinds of organizations. "Global Education and Action" and "Service Learning, Citizenship, and Justice" are the two with most relevance to this discussion.
Working Together 2 Make a Difference Site created by a Australian teacher, writer, Web activist and mentor. Great projects discussed here.
Global Youth Connect. An organization that empowers youth to "advance human rights and create a more just world." They have a special project on Rwanda.
lm
If we were in said
If we were in said situation, we probably wouldn't be alive, let alone on an international digital network, using a site dedicated to improving the artistic abilities of teenagers to contemplate the problems of other people thousands of miles away. Long story short, genocides were only classified after safe people had enough free time to classify them.
I'm not suggesting to brush it off as normal, however; I'm suggesting that you take it as normal when confronting it. There are sets of solutions to the problem- solutions you can take from history and its endless supply of suggestions. Break it down and make it a science. That is what this is, after all: a scientific study of human hate.
Although I don't believe in human duty, I highly respect your dedication to service. Best of luck with the letter; I believe in the power of personal appeal.
I understand that it is
I understand that it is human nature, and I understand that this has happened before and history repeats itself.
I just don't understand how there can be such hate and violence and people don't want to do anything about it, people don't want to help save the lives of others. Think about how terrifying it must be to be in Darfur right now! How can those people have even a fraction of happiness? They have nothing except for terror. I find it extremely inhumane to be aware of this suffering and to just brush it away because it's "normal". If we were in the shoes of these civilians, wouldn't we want some extra help? Wouldn't we be begging for someone to just help and end all the terror?
As humans, it just seems like it is our duty to protect others when they are so desperate, when they need us so badly. It bothers me that this is not a mutual belief with most people in the world, or even the country.
I think I will write that letter... I feel like I just need to do something.
It is human- maybe even
It is human- maybe even primal, animalistic and basic- nature to improve one's own stature at the expense of others. Things like this have happened everywhere in the world. It's a natural stepping stone for a country going through social development- it's just that, in this case, they've been stuck on this problem for a tad longer than usual. But as for the rest of the world: Europe's Holocaust was just the tip of the iceberg, a result of countless other genocides over the centuries. Asia had the anti-Buddhism and Communist movements. England had the slaughtering of Protestants and Catholics every time a monarch of different alignment took the throne. Russia had the Great Purge. The Balkans had the racial wars of the 90's. Turkey had the Armenian Genocide. The Middle-East went through a big anti-Kurdish time back in the 70's when the Islamic Revolution hit Iran. The US had the Ku Klux Klan, the Trail of Tears, and countless other events. Latin America is still going through rebel movements that killed thousands in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. In order to get to where they are today in terms of social stability, every one of these countries had to suffer through major bloodshed. That is the norm.
History repeats itself. Sure, we can send money to charities that help, maybe alleviate the problem for a select few, but only the nation in charge, through direct action, can fix this. That, or the Janjaweed will become the government. Those opposed will move away or be imprisoned and killed. The country will move on. Again, history repeats itself.
If anything, I suggest you write a letter to the US embassy in Sudan. They're in more of a position to help fix the problem than Obama or our domestic administration ever will be.
EDIT: Some interesting occurrences:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_the_Desert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_of_American_indigenous_p...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9e
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities
Yes, history
Yes, history repeats itself. That doesn't mean it should. If we can do something to stop that, we should. The problem is how. We're a bunch of teenagers on a writing site, talking about how horrible it is over there. We can talk all we like. Good intentions have no impact. If they did, the world would be a lot less painful.
Geist, you say below you do not believe in human duty. What do you mean by that? Do you have no desire to help people, or do you prefer to attribute that desire to a different source?
I believe in the natural and
I believe in the natural and evolutionary instinct to help one's self first.
It's hard to overcome, but I believe it's innate.
Until our surroundings become so advanced and secure that our basic needs are no longer essential, they will still be there, back in the reptilian part of our noggins. I, as a sort of societal neurotic, sort of revert onto these instincts out of my own will. I do not trust much about what keeps humanity together.
I admire those who are secure enough in their own lives to help others. I'm just not one to do it myself.
That makes
That makes a sort of sideways sense.
But, see, then there are those who prefer to help one's species, despite the personal risk. You "do not trust much about what keeps humanity together." Nor do I, but I see that as a reason to do something--to strengthen "what keeps humanity together". I know I've lived a very sheltered life. I'm lucky. It's random chance that I was born to a family in Vermont and not in Darfur. I have an advantage--I'm capable of helping people--and I feel obligated to use that advantage (somehow) to do something for those who are not so lucky.
It's guilt, perhaps. A whole species' worth of guilt.
Okay. So I feel like I did
Okay. So I feel like I did that wrong, but whatever.
I just finished writing a research paper on Rwanda and Darfur. In the middle of my research one night, I got extremely mad and I couldn't handle it anymore. I yanked out a piece of paper and began to write a letter to Obama. It got late, so I put it aside and haven't finished it yet.
But I have a question: Will writing one letter really do anything? Will anyone actually read a letter that a high school kid sends the president? I feel like those letters just get thrown in a pile and forgotten, like the ones to Santa Claus.
What really got to me was something that I read about how in Darfur, the Janjaweed kill all the men in the villages, then rape all the women. It just really, really disturbed me. I mean... these men have enough hate to slaughter so many people, then they rape the wives and daughters of the men they just murdered. They get some form of pleasure out of these horrible actions. And it just sickens me.
Well said, Magz. I totally
Well said, Magz.
I totally agree with you. Right now I am going to write a letter to President Obama about this.
It just might do something. *lightbulb appears over head*
I'm going to go on www.freewebs.com and make one about this. maybe someone will come across is and want to help. Maybe I could make a facebook (well my mom could make me one since I am only eleven).
-sirius
(yes, It is pure evil.)
__________________________________________________________________________
Its OK to have butterflies in your stomach,
Just let them fly in formation.
Yes, it is pure evil. That
Yes, it is pure evil. That is understood.
But, for the interest of debate, tell me, how do you propose one would solve this?
Make a website, make a
Make a website, make a facebook, sell some cookies. give all the money to some organization.
to be honest, my knowledge on this topic is mere. All i know is that it needs to be changed.
Not all africa is bad regarding the forum name.
-sirius
__________________________________________________________________________
Its OK to have butterflies in your stomach,
Just let them fly in formation.
But the places we want to
But the places we want to help are.
Awareness does nothing unless there's action attached. People know about it on Facebook. They understand the issue. They can throw all the money they want at the problem, but that gets siphoned off by middlemen wanting to make an extra penny along the way, and even when it's there, how do you give it to the people in need?
This is not a new issue, as I've said before. Making a website or facebook won't help. In fact, I know people who are even put off from the issue by attempts to spread it.
If you want a handle on how the US has tried to fix this problem in the past, watch the movie "Black Hawk Down", about Mogadishu.
The exact same problem as Darfur, and the exact reason as to why we're not helping them.
never have seen that
I'll look in my library.
your right though.
__________________________________________________________________________
Its OK to have butterflies in your stomach,
Just let them fly in formation.
I haven't read the entire
I haven't read the entire thread on this topic, just yours and the two or so before it.
I've seen first hand some of the awful conditions in third world Africa.
I want to help.
My cousin and I are trying to work out a fundraiser to send books to a library in Ethiopia. It's supposed to be a school fundraiser and the books are going directly to the library. I know this because my dad's brothers are taking it there. My advise for fundraising and giving money is to do it through your school. Get a group to do something and get the students motivated to help. Find a good program to give your money too, well known ones I'd think.
As for Darfur. There aren't words for how horrible it is.
~Special
Again, I suggest you
Again, I suggest you read/watch Black Hawk Down. It will give you a good idea of what you're up against.
Images of Africa
I haven't seen the movie, but I get really nervous when people turn to Hollywood films as the sole source for understanding other parts of the world, history or current events. I gather from the few reviews I've read that this film was very realistic, and I'm sure that a lot of the basic facts around which it was constructed are true. Nevertheless, as with any source, you have to ask why it was created, and what the filmmaker's agenda was. Through what lens(es) did they view the place/problem/event they wrote about/filmed/photographed? Once you've considered those questions, you are better positioned to evaluate the extent to which a source can be considered an authority on the subject at hand.
I also want to caution people about generalizing about an entire continent from one place on it. Africa is very large and very varied. There are certain themes that come up in the US mass media when you look at different parts of the African continent, but many others are barely mentioned.
One way to get around the problem of the stereotypes and overly simplistic views that dominate so many US portrayals of Africa is to look for African voices and listen to what they have to say about their homeland. Read African literature and watch African films. Do you get a different picture from them? What kinds of variety do you see across the continent?
So here's a challenge -- What are the dominant images of Africa that Americans have? Where do these images come from? Do they reflect the continent as a whole, or just a particular view of it? What other images and stories can you find that counteract some of the predominant stereotypes about Africa?
If you've read any literature or seen films made by Africans that made you think about Africa in a different way, please share it!
lm
I never really knew anything
I never really knew anything about Africa until this year. We read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe in English class. I really liked the book because there were so many ideas in it that I never knew happened, like throwing baby twins into a clay pots in the evil forrest. There were so many different beliefs, and I found it very interesting. Then like everyone else in my class hated the book because "the names were hard to pronounce" (which made me really annoyed) and no one seemed to realize that the book was real, that things like that actually happened.
Then I did a research project on Darfur the other week and I learned soo much.
Hm. I can't really think of a way to wrap this comment up. Soo... yeah, Things Fall Apart was definitely a good eye-opener.