Fall 2005
As Angelina Jolie walked down the corridors of the venue housing the 2005 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, she turned the heads of many world leaders. Surely, prime ministers and international businessmen alike had not anticipated the attendance of such a glamorous, beautiful woman. She had arrived in Davos for the purpose of lobbying for African (and other third-world) causes. Since then, Angelina has actively drummed up support for Africa and has even adopted an Ethiopian child. Brad Pitt, Bono, Will Smith, and Oprah Winfrey have also lent their philanthropic support to African causes.
(art by Matt Kudry)
According to Dr. Ayele Bekerie, Cornell’s director of Africana Studies, this understanding has yet to fully develop. Bekerie says that Africa’s problems have been addressed in a “piecemeal” fashion. He believes that a concerted and continuous effort on the part of the world powers is needed to address the root causes of Africa’s problems. For example, although the Live8 concert series forced world leaders to recognize Africa’s problems, their response was still quite limited. Over one million people attended the Live8 concerts, and billions watched the event televised, yet the response of world leaders was only to halve Africa’s debt. Although this might sound like a formidable stride in the right direction, it is actually just a baby-step. Many African countries are constantly accruing new debts and had stopped making payments on their previous debts. An article published in the RockRap Confidential newsletter poses an interesting question regarding the recent aid to indebted African nations: “If you only have a quarter in your pocket and I say you owe me $50,000,000, what difference does it make if I decide you only owe me $25,000,000?”
Live8 was strongly supported by media stars, which, in turn, generated public interest. But the public did not understand that the governmental response to Live8 reflected the common tendency of first-world nations to “patch-up” Africa’s problems instead of addressing the root causes. Many root causes, including political instability, exploitation and misuse of resources, and ethnic tensions, were triggered by colonialism. The former major colonial powers, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, comprise of half of the G8. Of course, some progress is better than no progress. Yet the former colonial powers have a mandate to fix the problems they have created. It is disturbing that such a wildly popular event only provoked a lukewarm response on the part of leaders of countries who are, in part, responsible for Africa’s current problems.
Film has also contributed to the recent popularization of African causes. The movie Hotel Rwanda reminded viewers of the horrors of a genocide that had occurred ten years before the film’s release. Yet, ironically enough, while Hotel Rwanda was exposing viewers to the horrors of mass murder, similar atrocities were occurring approximately 900 miles north of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Since 2003, campaigns of ethnic cleansing, sponsored by the Sudanese government, have been carried out against non-Arab peoples in the region of Darfur. Studies estimate that nearly 300,000 people have been killed, and more than 1.8 million have been displaced from their homes.
Even though Hotel Rwanda created massive interest among the general public, a widespread ignorance of Africa’s problems is obvious. Although steps are being taken in the right direction, African problems are still being neglected. According to Bekerie, these problems “cannot be fixed by movie stars”; world leaders must unite to create solutions. Perhaps if they would stop ogling Angelina, and start listening to what she is saying, legitimate progress could be made. Otherwise, Africa might be waiting a long time.