All Rock, No Action. An African lawyer and journalist on Live8

[non sociopath skin]

A hard-hitting and thoughtful article which left me feeling very uncomfortable.

The Skin

NYT July 15, 2005
All Rock, No Action
By JEAN-CLAUDE SHANDA TONME
Yaoundé, Cameroon

LIVE 8, that extraordinary media event that some people of good intentions in the West just orchestrated, would have left us Africans indifferent if we hadn't realized that it was an insult both to us and to common sense.

We have nothing against those who this month, in a stadium, a street, a park, in Berlin, London, Moscow, Philadelphia, gathered crowds and played guitar and talked about global poverty and aid for Africa. But we are troubled to think that they are so misguided about what Africa's real problem is, and dismayed by their willingness to propose solutions on our behalf.

We Africans know what the problem is, and no one else should speak in our name. Africa has men of letters and science, great thinkers and stifled geniuses who at the risk of torture rise up to declare the truth and demand liberty.

Don't insult Africa, this continent so rich yet so badly led. Instead, insult its leaders, who have ruined everything. Our anger is all the greater because despite all the presidents for life, despite all the evidence of genocide, we didn't hear anyone at Live 8 raise a cry for democracy in Africa.

<snip>

Don't they know what is happening in Cameroon, Chad, Togo and the Central African Republic? Don't they understand that fighting poverty is fruitless if dictatorships remain in place?

Rest at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/opinion/15tonme.html?th&emc=th

[LibertyorDeath]

1. Makes a hell of a lot of sense IMO

Rec

[necso]

2. For those concerned about the plight of Africa,

let me recommend (again) a book: "Squandering Eden: Africa at the Edge", by Mort Rosenblum and Doug Williamson.

It furnishes a somewhat less comforting perspective (from the actual "ground") on those feel-good efforts to "aid" Africa.