One of the best parts of my South Africa trip was the rushed 5min-1hr slots with my roommate who is from Nigeria, where we’d either be rushing about trying to get cleaned up after coming back from our projects in Amaoti & Bhekuwandle before tea and the last minutes of the night before we went to sleep. We had many conversations and prayer times together about ‘Africa’ and ‘the West’.
Some of these conversations I mentioned when I posted a TED talk I love by a very wise woman, Chimamanda Adichie, talking about The Danger of the Single Story. It was a topic that came up a lot with us.
Well it came up in conversation at smallgroup the other night. One of my bug bears I share with Ms Adichie is people referring to Africa as a country. I hear so many sweeping statements like the famine in Africa, the wars in Afghanistan and Africa.
But did people in other continents refer to the war in Former Yugoslavia as the ‘war in Europe‘?
Africa is huge. I’ve had the privilege of visiting two countries in Africa.
Morocco. South Africa.
These two countries are so diverse even within their country boundaries, never mind be so different in many ways despite both being part of Africa. When I describe the culture or the language or the social issues going on in each country I don’t describe it as being something in Africa – because it’s just one country. Africa is an entire continent.
But yet when talking of some of challenges some countries or regions of certain African countries we generalise it to being in all of Africa. And all we seem to hear about Africa is of war, poverty, lack of education, AIDS, homelessness, malnourished children, unparented children and the rest. Our media has a lot to answer for. As do the people educating our children. Teaching and enforcing negative views and stereotypes.
It’s not that these things are necessarily untrue, but as Chimamanda says, to tell only these stories – they flatten people’s experience, they rob people of dignity.
And so one wise dude in our smallgroup pointed out to me the lyrics of the song by Band Aid – ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ written and released to raise money to help with the famine in Ethiopia during the 80s and released again 20 years later. I looked and listened to that song with fresh eyes, and just thought it was such a patrionising, negative and misleading view of Africa. I kinda hope who ever wrote the lyrics is properly ashamed of what they’ve written.
I’ve emboldened certain lyrics to make a point.
It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid.
At christmas time we let in light and banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of Joy
Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time.
But say a prayer, Pray for the other ones.
At Christmas time it’s hard but when you’re having fun…
There’s a world outside your window and it’s a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of Doom
Well, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you.
And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time
The greatest gift they’ll get this year is life.
Ohh…. Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?
Here’s to you… Raise a glass for everyone
Here’s to them Underneath that burning sun
Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?
Feed the world… Feed the world…
Feed the world, Let them know it’s Christmas time again.
Feed the world, Let them know it’s Christmas time again
To the lyricist. I’d like you to go visit ‘Africa’. I think you’ll find in most places they have a better idea of what Christmas is all about that most of us in ‘the west’. A girl who attends Powerpoint tells me that the children she is spending time with in Ghana are excited for Christmas and teaching her new carols. The ‘other’ ones? We are all people. There may be dread or fear in certain parts of that great continent for varying reasons, but also great joy, peace and resilience. There may be tears at times, but also much more smiling, generosity, love and kindness than I’ve ever seen in the UK. There will be snow on Mount Kilimanjaro. And while we’re on topic – there probably won’t be much snow this Christmas in Australia either, seen as it’s summer in the southern hemisphere and all. Do you wonder if they don’t know it’s Christmas either? And you need a geography lesson. There are many rivers in Africa. And lots of things grow. Not just crops and plants, but other important things too.
Don’t get me wrong, we absolutely should share the stories of pain, suffering and the rest. Help is needed. But should we really be so patronising? Because that’s what I think we can be as we focus on only the negatives, and the differences.
Incidentally, I posted that I’d taken this song off my Christmas playlist. One of my facebook friends – I can’t remember which country in Africa she is from originally – says she finds that song insulting. I can totally see why.
Though I commend a person’s desire to make a difference and raise money for a good cause, to write a song like that to do so just shows ignorance to be honest.
Rant over.
While I like the song, it has nothing to do with the lyrics – they have definitely always annoyed me for the reasons you have pointed out here. Much as I disliked the song “Stop the War In Croatia” released in 1990, I did at least respect the fact it was very specific.
It’s funny how protest songs are always very very specific (think Sun City in 1986), whereas these “do good” songs are always so sweepingly generalised, isn’t it.
And I think Bob wrote the lyric, with Midge Ure providing the music. I’m almost certain it wasn’t the other way around…because Midge usually writes melodies I like and Bob never has
The problem I now have is that it’e neither the original or the 2004 remake that gets stuck in my head…it’s the 1989 Stock Aitken Waterman version. I love SAW (much to Diane’s extreme annoyance) but their version of DTKIC was REALLY cheap. Nooooooo
Since I’m living in “Africa” it is encouraging to read this. Loving your thoughts, loving that you’re challenged to consider “otherness’ in a different light…and loving that you’re challenging others in the same way. It is good. This adventure is already challenging a lot of thoughts and preconceived notions in me. For the better. For sure. Loving the snow, too! xoxo
You can’t judge things in the past by the standards of the present. Without Bob Geldof writing that song FAR FEWER people would ever have heard about the famine in Africa. You’ve got to remember that although the 08’s isn’t that far away, footage from Africa of a famine was practically unseen.
As for calling Africa ‘Africa’, I wouldn’t think anything of it is someone in another continent thought of me living in Europe ie if an African living in Europe thinks of me as a European living in Europe, basically they’re right. Most of Europe is actually pretty damn similar…
@Tony – if you read my post you’ll see that I did not say anything about the intentions. Intentions I hope were good to bring light on a serious issue. And I do not think there is a problem with calling Africa ‘Africa’ but I, along with many of my African brothers and sisters, get annoyed about Africa being referred as a country. If you watch Chimamanda’s talk she mentions how an airline talks about supporting charities in ‘India, Africa and other countries’. That is the sort of thing I’m talking about.
As for Europe being similar…um, I’ve experienced a lot of European countries, and uh….I’d have to disagree. Sure there are similarities between countries. Some share language.
And as for judging things in the past – I’m pretty sure by 2005 we’d seen a lot about some of the challenges faced by many in African countries. Most of the folks I know who have been and lived in parts of ~Africa find that song highly insulting. For sure, use music and art to bring these things to light. But there are better ways of doing it.