Why do you repeatedly gloss dissent on Kony 2012 as "liberal" and "intellectual"? Have you not noticed that Ugandans--including Acholis in the north and even former abductees--have spoken out against the project?
Eze's piece is very disappointing.
Prof Eze says:
Whoever chooses to discuss Africa's victimhood should do well to begin from the real victims of global greed and callousness, from the perspectives of the abducted children, of the victims of war, years of dictatorships; these real victims are eager to accept relief from any person, from anywhere.
I find it very sad and demeaning that Eze believes that Africans is so pitiful and desperate that they will gladly take any assistance regardless of the consequences.
As noted above, this is false. Many Ugandans have been making the point that they are in a post-Kony rebuilding phase. Yes, everyone wants Kony captured but the Uganda depicted by K2012 is at least five years in the past...
And whilst we are on the topic of US govt. benevolence (oxymoron), its pretty clear that Iraqis and Afghanis aren't feeling the "international" (read: imperial) love. Millions have been killed, injured, displaced in the name of "democracy." Nowhere in the essay does Eze bother to mention that the US military has consistently undermined democracy in Africa, indeed all over the world. Why didn't he bother acknowledging the important role the US has played and continues to play in the chaotic Great Lakes?
On Friday, March 30, 2012 6:15:00 AM UTC-4, Ikhide wrote:
-- And whilst we are on the topic of US govt. benevolence (oxymoron), its pretty clear that Iraqis and Afghanis aren't feeling the "international" (read: imperial) love. Millions have been killed, injured, displaced in the name of "democracy." Nowhere in the essay does Eze bother to mention that the US military has consistently undermined democracy in Africa, indeed all over the world. Why didn't he bother acknowledging the important role the US has played and continues to play in the chaotic Great Lakes?
Here is a another puzzling passage from Prof. Eze:
These were Caucasians, Hispanics, African Americans, Asians. My students. Why did they do this? Were they releasing the unbearable pressures that build in a system built on pillage? I didn't get that impression. I got the impression that they were genuinely smitten by people's suffering. And that is beautiful.
These were Caucasians, Hispanics, African Americans, Asians. My students. Why did they do this? Were they releasing the unbearable pressures that build in a system built on pillage? I didn't get that impression. I got the impression that they were genuinely smitten by people's suffering. And that is beautiful.
It bears repeating that Ugandans, or at least some Ugandans, are saying NO!. To be fair, Prof. Eze admits that his optimism about an international love fest might be deemed by some as optimistic. Fine. But how could he not notice that he is conflating the (wholly plausible) empathy that some Americans citizens might have for African problems with the brutal and vicious calculations of AFRICOM and the corporate elites that they service?
kzs
On Friday, March 30, 2012 6:15:00 AM UTC-4, Ikhide wrote:
Please, whatever you do, take time out to read Professor Chielozona Eze's perspective on the Invisible Children's KONY 2012 video. Eze, who himself survived Biafra as a child looks at the critics of the KONY 2012 video coolly in the eyes and tells them a few truth. This one is a must read. Please read and share. And while you are on his blog, subscribe to it. Eze is one of Africa's quiet literary revolutionaries, promoting the literature of Africa, one blogpost at a time. Applause. Read and share please. The world must hear of the atrocities going on in Africa while Western liberals and many African intellectuals overdose on navel-gazing.- IkhideStalk my blog at www.xokigbo.comFollow me on Twitter: @ikhideJoin me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment