An Open Letter To African Writers, Artists and Creators of the 21st Century - By Ann Daramola on October 3, 2013 Over the past ten years, as the internet has brought our world close and expanded our awareness of each other, we have seen how Africa is being reshaped in the public mind. Since 2008, conferences have been organized, articles written and entire websites dedicated to the so-called rebranding of Africa. Five years after attending my first Barcamp Africa event, unironically held in Google’s California headquarters, the articles and conferences and websites have only increased. The Problem There is, however, a fundamental problem with striving to ‘rebrand Africa’. For the sake of this argument, in a contemporary context, we take branding to mean the set of stories that describes the problems an institution, organization, or individual solves, who they serve and how they solve and serve. A brand, therefore, is not merely a logo, but a coordinated effort to communicate multiple stories to multiple audiences in order to achieve a set of goals, usually financial. Historically, you can only brand what you own, and a brand announces to the community who owns the branded object. The questions now shift. Who owns Africa? To whom is the brand announced? Who benefits from the brand Africa as it stands now, and who will benefit from a rebranding? Current rhetoric also falls under this line of questioning. The term now is that Africa is rising, which begs the questions: when did it fall? Who is responsible for its falling? From where is it rising? And to where is it going? Again, we see a shifting in the narrative. Africa’s rising is a subjective one, relative to one’s relationship with Africa. If you are able to locate yourself in a temporal, spatial, economic and academic position that is above Africa, then you’re quite literally looking down on Africa and commending it for its efforts in rising to your level. Are you, African, insulted yet? No? Very well, let’s continue. The Myth of Africa Neither of these subtle ideological narratives are as damaging as the foundation on which they are built: Africa. Ah, Africa, this continent in between the East and the West, the North and the South, this continent comprised of all peoples from those spatial locations, this continent that is geographically larger than most of those locations combined, this continent that is both visible and invisible in the marketplace of ideas, this continent that is anthropologically regarded as the birthplace of humanity yet ideologically regarded as behind the rest of the world by Africans and non-Africans alike. Africans exist within the myth of Africa, one that has reduced the continent to a country and even to a city, as writer Mensah Demary cleverly surmised. This myth is dangerous for Africans existing within and without the continent. By erasing the multiplicities of African countries, tribes, languages and peoples, this myth erases the agency inherent to each category and intersection. So when we read that Africa is rising, we are lulled into a false sense of comfort by the myth. We rarely have to ask questions like: which Africa is rising? Is it the Africa that is dying of extreme violence? Or the Africa that is dying of extreme poverty? Or the Africa that is dying of extreme sickness? Or the Africa that is dying of extreme fundamentalism? Or the Africa that is being bought up by multinationals? Or the Africa that is being militarized by foreign troops? This Africa is not rising. But, this Africa is not monolith, either. There is the maker Africa, the Africa with electricity and high rises (you know, the one we show off to our friends here in the west to counter the images of Africa With The Huts and The AIDS), the Africa with shiny cars and early technology adopters, the Africa with brilliant musicians, fashion designers, scientists, and more. That Africa is rising. Keepin it Real As Africans, we have internalized the myth of Africa and created entire identities around it online and offline. The internet has amplified that myth so that we are content to identify as a global African, one of a single story who rejects the African single story in the same breath. But the global image of the African also erases the many things that make us different. This isn’t to say we should not identify as one, in solidarity for the Great African Plight, but to acknowledge who wins and loses by the way this identity is being constructed. This argument is directed to Africans because these are our stories that are being melted into one. West Africa, East Africa, South, North and Central Africa are distinctly different in their identities, but rendered the same in the global public. We must challenge that public rhetoric, not because we are not all African (because, for better or worse, we are), but because we are all many different kinds of Africans. Our different Africanesses have different problems that require different solutions. A myth of Africans presumes that what works in a South African country will work in a Central African country and this is not always true. Are you still with me? Yes? Great, because I have more questions. The Solution How do we push against the myth of Africa that is over a century old? How do we, in a sense, rebrand Africa? As we saw earlier, the question of branding is the question of ownership, audience and power. I want to emphasize that, above all, Africa is for Africans and every effort of rebranding and storytelling must come from Africans and must be for Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora. Any effort by any non-African is a play for power. The important of this cannot be stressed enough. We are currently seeing a systematic occupation of African human and natural resources by foreign forces because African leaders are lured away from this truth. This is African land and African peoples have been its caretakers for millenia, since before, even, the formation of western and eastern societies. It is our birthright as Africans to keep the land for generations to come. The solution I propose for complicating the myth of Africa is simple. There is not one Africa; there are many Africas. That’s all. Where ever you see the word Africa, simply replace it with the term “The Africas” and watch how the myth unravels. “The Africas” preserves the continental identity while also critiquing the monolith myth by producing in the readers’ and writers’ minds an image of multiples: multiple countries, multiple languages, multiple peoples, multiple problems, multiple solutions. When we identify as Africans from The Africas, we are immediately asking the audience to ask the question, “Which Africa?” And that is the goal: to force the reader and the hearer to lean in and to check their myths. I don’t know if this is the correct solution, so I need the help of African writers, creators, curators and artists to further interrogate it. I’m asking African content generators to use the term in one or more of their pieces going forward, to feel it out, and to respond to this idea with their own set of questions. I want African creators to do this because these are our stories that are being folded underneath the myth of Africa. I want us to see each other and to celebrate our differences while working towards meeting our continent’s challenges in solidarity. I want us to own our narratives, our stories and the platforms on which they are built and distributed. The Africas. Let’s try it. “Rebrand the Africas.” “The Africas are rising.” What do you think? by Ann Daramola on October 3, 2013
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 13:27:24 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015