Also, check me at: kameelahwrites
This is a follow-up post to Sokari’s ‘Faking Africa and Stories of Vanity‘

Bono has declared:

‘I represent a lot of people [in Africa] who have no voice at all…. They haven’t asked me to represent them. It’s cheeky but I hope they’re glad I do.’

I am not at all glad that you are representing Africa’s poor nor am surprised that yet another privileged white man has elected himself as the voice for poor Africans who obviously cannot speak for themselves. Never mind the millions of poor in South Africa leading the biggest strike since Apartheid to win better wages. Never mind the hundreds of grassroots movements throughout sub-Sahara Africa that are working to secure some level of sustainability. It is not that Africans have nothing to say, it is simply that no one is listening. And, why is no one listening? Because they are being distracted by a washed up rock star who has undemocratically trotted across Europe influencing unilateral decisions without bothering to consult with the people who will be affected by the great white hope.

The agency of many Africans is suppressed because people like Bono decide to marginalize these voices. Instead of challenging the power dynamic that relegates the voices of Africans to the periphery, he jumps right into the power mix and reifies this relationship and then pronounces that Africans have no voice as if he is disconnected from this reality. How wonderfully convenient and disgustingly pompous. The craziest thing about Bono is the way in which he attempts to position himself as some radical, as someone who has challenged the Western world. He has not challenged the Western world at all; he has just made it easier to ignore African voices and has further legitimized the outsourcing of international relations and economic policy to celebrities who have taken a patronizing and fetishized obsession with Africa. Maybe it is the trend to be a political celebrity, or maybe celebrities are bored, or maybe…(?) When trends escalate from a passing (yet, still insulting) fancy to a major deciding factor in the lives of Africa’s poor, that is when I have a problem.

Sokari wrote about this before, but really who died and made the washed-up Bono the representative for the poor and struggling in Africa. Speaking about the G8, Spiked editor Brendan O’Neill writes:

Who or what was this stately presence at Heiligendamm? It wasn’t a state at all, or even a pseudo-state like the Vatican. It was one Paul Hewson, better known as Bono, the sanctimonious wraparounds-wearing lead singer of a wrinkling Irish rock band that hasn’t made a decent album since 1987 (though I suppose 2000’s All That You Can Leave Behind was okay). He has gone from being the singer of really serious songs for Africa, who gyrated and screamed on the world stages provided by Live Aid in 1985 and Live 8 in 2005 to ‘raise awareness’ about African poverty, to the semi-official representative of the African poor, the widely recognised ‘conscience of Africa’ who is invited to put pressure on world leaders and hold them to account.

[…]

Bono’s view of G8 dominated much of the news coverage, with serious media outlets running headlines such as: ‘U2’s Bono: G8 Not Keeping Money Promises To Africa’; ‘G8 Africa Pledge Is A Smokescreen, Says Bono’; ‘G8 Reaffirms Aid To Africa; Bono, Geldof Say It’s Old Money’

[…]

Campaigning on African poverty is something that ‘gives me a sense of purpose, something to work for’, as a contributor to Bono’s Vanity Fair puts it (21). Or as Paul Theroux bitingly argues: ‘Because Africa seems unfinished and so different from the rest of the world, a landscape on which a person can sketch a new personality, it attracts mythomaniacs, people who wish to convince the world of their worth.’ (22)

I think Paul Theroux is spot-on! Africa is on the hot list because it is imagined as this mysterious and uncharted terrain upon which those in search of purpose or recognition can gain some sort of importance for having discovered, conquered or civilized.

Indeed, we could just as easily ask what earthly right the G8 itself has to discuss and determine what should happen in Africa’s poorest countries. Like Bono, no G8 leader has ever been elected by the nations of Africa.

Here O’Neil makes an excellent point. So in a lot of ways, Bono strategically inserts himself into the legion of unelected bodies who make decisions about Africa a) without any accountability to African people and b) without recognizing Africa as a heterogeneous space and Africans as people intelligent enough to speak up for themselves.

This nastiness of Bono is that it is not an isolated event, in fact O’Neill argues that it is ‘facilitated by the unholy marriage of politic that s and celebrity.’ He couldn’t be closer to the truth and Mick Hume speaks about this more in ‘When Celebrities rule the Earth.’ O’Neill calls Bono a ‘celebrity colonist.’ What is your take? I think such an appellation is too easy, hastily obscures some realities and segregates Bono’s actions from the larger picture. Colonialism was an economic, psychological and socio-spatial project that was not reliant on one lone pioneer, but rather dependent on an intricate network that works to facilitate the initial penetration, create myths and alternate realties to legitimize the said penetration, and is monopolized with the task of keeping the empire alive without explicit outposts. With that said, I think that Bono is a pompous and paternalistic character that has recast the century old narratives of the helpless Africa. However, I find that his actions are just what the doctor ordered. The way neo-colonial ties were maintained in the 90s are not the same way they are maintained today. So yes, most definitely we have a form of celebrity colonialism–a rather glamorized bastardization of old school colonialism, but our critique must move from a problemitizing of Bono to a complete problemitizing of the way Africa is cast, recast and marginalized in the global community–we must look at the ways in which white men have become the most important Africans.

Bono
Africa
Neo-Colonialism
G8

Ricky Gervais on faking it and dying after listening to a U2 cassette in Kibera, Nairobi (thanks Annwen)

and just in case it was missed - Bozo on himself in his latest “African Adventure”. Funnily enough it’s called “Vanity Fair”.

which apparently includes a pull-out supplement on uber-expensive jewellery titled: ‘Fire and Ice: 72 pages of ravishing rocks, ginormous gems and fancy fripperies’ (20). The jokes write themselves.

Videos aside, Joshua from African Path sent me this article from Spiked “Welcome to the People’s Republic of Bono: The G8 should change its name to the G9. Because if this year’s summit in Heiligendamm, Germany was anything to go by, there’s a new member of the pack.”

Bozo holding court with world leaders to hammer out what is good / bad for Africa

Bono had an extraordinary amount of influence at the summit. And it wasn’t simply a case of greying world leaders wanting to be photographed with ‘rock royalty’ in an attempt to make themselves look with it and cool, as some reports claimed (not realising that Bono is as uncool as it gets) (5). In fact, Bono held serious meetings with US president George W Bush, German chancellor Angela Merkel, new French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian PM Romano Prodi. According to reports, these were ‘tough meetings’ at which Bono and his people ‘rowed’ with world leaders over strategy, aid and their commitment to Africa (6).

What concerns me is the slavish endorsement of this man. Why are our leaders some of whom were present at this summit (Mbeki and Meles and 3 others ??? Shame but Euros love them even if we know better. But who are we? Just a bunch of African citizens) are silent or at least the media are not reporting that they spoke. Come to think of it what would Meles say? “give me more guns so I can terrorize my people even more or better still extend my role as a US lackey and invade Zimbabwe”? Or Mbkei could shout “I gave you BEE - what more do you want? that all of your have jobs and houses? that the white farmers still own all the land so what?” Either way the emphasis is on these two rock stars with diamond studs + a bunch of grey suits talking about us as if we are children - worse actually talking about us in our presence as if we are not there. Spiked quotes some of the media reports

Bono’s view of G8 dominated much of the news coverage, with serious media outlets running headlines such as: ‘U2’s Bono: G8 Not Keeping Money Promises To Africa’; ‘G8 Africa Pledge Is A Smokescreen, Says Bono’; ‘G8 Reaffirms Aid To Africa; Bono, Geldof Say It’s Old Money’ (14). Not only did Bono have ‘numerous sources’ reportedly agitating at the summit table; not only did he apparently influence the position of various states during ‘very, very tense meetings’; he also set himself up as the public moral arbiter of the G8’s achievements and

The mere fact that this man has more power to speak for Africa than our own leaders should seriously concern Africans especially as in 10 days the AU meeting to discuss the United States of Africa (USA - maybe there is some meaning in that a possible union of African states also ends up as USA) will take place over two weeks in Accra. Will Bozo who has superseded BobG as THE AFRICAN SPOKESPERSON be invited to advise us on how to form our union?

Sad thing is that a glossy magazine that is not even read by the regular Black population of the US of A let alone those of us outside the metropolis of capitalist consumerism is falling over itself over a few glossy photos of Africa that bears no relation to any reality. Ululating in orgasmic ecstasy over one white man who has the damn arrogance to speak for them. Malcolm X asked “What will they give us in 1965″ Well in 2007 they have given us one white man and one race neutered black man - some damn progress!

Tags: RED Campaign; Comic Relief; African Union Summit; United States of Africa;

It will come as no surprise to any living soul on this planet that not only is poverty not history, the likelihood of it ever being so is probably less now than 10 years ago.  The only thing that HAS  been made history is all that Geldof/Bono/G8 crap of 6 months ago. Somebody made millions out of all those plastic white bands - what happened to that money?   If you have one I suggest you burn it and burn it quick.  On second thoughts better not burn it as it is probably full of toxic fumes and non-biodegradable thus not only was it a waste it is also an environmental hazard.   Looking at the site they even tell you how to wear it - talk about spoon feeding the masses.

Gary Younge writing in Monday’s Guardian states

"Between them the US, EU & multinationals will  conspire to either abandon the poorest nations to the fate of the market or entrench them in poverty while denying them valuable market access to the West own vulnerable sectors" and that pretty much sums up the whole globalisation/trade/aid game that is being once again played out this time in Hong Kong."

All this is taking place on the eve of a billion dollar consuming extravaganza that will last for the next two weeks,  in West at least. The multinationals with be rubbing their hands in glee as they rack up windfall profits!  I saw an advertisement to day in Granada which said  "its Christmas, borrow 3000 euros" - thats was it plus a phone number - sickening!

No  I don’t have the  answers - this is just another rant. But I am thinking about it!

Tags:WTO   Make Poverty History Xmas

A number of blogs having recently been taking hits at Jeffrey Sachs.   Weichegud! ET Politics  responds to Sachs’ statement on Ethiopia being a divided society..

"Political divisions are natural, indeed healthy. They are part and parcel of democracy. But the hate and distrust that are on view in Ethiopia’s multi-ethnic society are beyond normal. They are social ills that need mending. Few countries in the world have been able to make multi-ethnic societies work peacefully for all"

with 

"It is beyond belief that Sachs actually uttered those words. He has swallowed the spoon-fed EPRDF bullshit, and then he wants to lecture us, us who have felt the brunt of Ato Meles’ malicious ethnic policies on the genesis of “abnormal hate”? One commentor on the last blog hit the nail square on the head: Liberals do jerk off to anyone who fits their perception of the ‘underdog.’"

and   Kenyan Pundit

And finally, one of my favorite rant targets Jeffrey Sachs. OK, maybe he is an easy target because, ultimately incompetent African leaders are largely behind the problems that bedevil Africa, but I keep piling on him because of how much (bad) influence he carries among people in the West who could otherwise be part of the group that helps shift attitudes towards development in Africa and because of his coddling of leaders who play along with his superstar status.

It is not just his "kowtowing" to the likes of Zenawi and dismissing the impact corruption has on development, he is also spouting "a false history of poverty". Verdana Shiva points out that "as one of he world’s leading economists, head of the Earth Institute and in charge of a UN panel set up to promote development", when he speaks people listen and so to his book, "The End of Poverty". So when he implies that poverty is a product of being "left out" rather than being "sold out" or as Shiva puts it "robbed", you begin to ask what the hell is this guy up to? what is the point of this because there must be a point since he is influencing development policy in the west.

Shiva also points to "two of the greatest economic myths of our time" which I think are important as they very much explain how we have bought into development as always being positive without thinking of what we are actually loosing as communities and people and how we are becoming so disconnected from our environment.

Myth one "First, the destruction of nature and of people’s ability to look after
themselves are blamed not on growth, but on each other. Poverty, it is
stated, causes environmental destruction. The disease is then offered
as a cure: growth is supposed to solve the very problems of poverty and
environmental crisis that it has given rise to in the fi rst place"

Myth two "the assumption that if you consume what you produce, you do not really
produce, at least not economically speaking. If I grow my own food, and
do not sell it, then this does not contribute to GDP, and so does not
contribute towards ‘growth’. People are therefore perceived as poor if
they eat the food they have grown rather than commercially produced and
distributed processed junk foods sold by global agri-business. They are
seen as poor if they live in self-built housing made form ecologically
adapted natural materials like bamboo and mud rather than in cement
houses…….
Because these poor don’t share in the perceived benefits of economic
growth, however, they are presented as ‘those left behind’.

What makes poverty is that people are no longer able to live "off the land" instead they are forced into becoming consumers.  People no longer have access to resources such as water and land because these have been appropriated and or destroyed by by mega corporations and industrial agribusiness.

"Because of dumping and trade liberalisation, farm prices in India are tumbling, meaning that the country’s peasants are losing $26 billion each year; this at a time when ‘development’ is all the while creating markets for costly seeds and agrichemicals. Unable to exist in the world that has been created for them, these now poverty-stricken peasants are committing suicide in their thousands. Patents on medicines increase the cost of Aids drugs from $200 to $20,000, and cancer drugs from $2,400 to $36,000, for a year’s treatment. Water is privatised and global corporations profi t to the tune of $1 trillion by selling once free water to the poor. So, too, the $50 billion of ‘aid’ trickling North to South is but a tenth of the $500 billion being sucked South to North thanks to interest payments and other unjust mechanisms in the global economy imposed by the World Bank and the IMF"

The truth is painful but ending poverty unfortunately requires sacrifices from the global community - those that have will have to think of having less in order for those that don’t have to have more - there isn’t another way… "If we are serious about ending poverty, we have to be serious about ending the systems for wealth creation which create poverty by robbing the poor of their resources, livelihoods and incomes".
Back living in the city after three years living in rural Andalucia with very little commerical consumption,  I  am amazed not just at the level of consumption but the all encompassing drive to consume.  Every living moment seems to be spent consuming something - food, drink, entertainment, clothes, things…. a frenzy of selfish consumption with complete disregard to the environment and to the needs of others.

Tags:Make Poverty History

Remember last summer, G8, Geldof, Bono et al, white wrist bands, music in the park and oh yes something about debt, poverty and Africa? Well guess what it is now official  (before it was just a bunch of spoil sport renegades speaking!).  Live 8 - it was all a load of Tony Blairs’ dirty washing. Yes suckers the shit has hit the proverbial fan and lets hope it flies to all corners including the aforementione people.  But please be warned - do not hold your breath.

Tags: Africa  G8 Geldof 

Make Poverty History