Madonna in Malawi: Material Girl Lacks Substance (pt 1)

Madonna in concert Image via Wikipedia

When the news that Madonna was going to get involved in Malawi came out, many Malawians were excited.  All of a sudden Malawi was on prime time news networks all over the world. Prior to her involvement, many Americans had no idea which one of the Hawaiian Islands it was, “Maui?? … Oh it’s in Africa? … Did you mean Mali?” Although there were people in the country that may have not heard her name, the ignorant clichés stating that Malawians had never heard of her prior to this are largely untrue and serve as ethnocentric commentary on the level  of ‘remoteness’ of a country that has never heard of the “Material Girl”. In fact, many Malawians were dancing to her hit song, “Holiday” in the 1980’s and her other songs thereafter. Therefore when she actually decided to take a holiday, Malawians thought, "it would be so nice". So it was no surprise that when Madonna’s inner Angelina Jolie came out, so did her Malawian fan base (this now included many new fans). Suddenly the whole country became one big musical. No, not Elvira; Madonna became Malawi's Nancy and David Banda became her Oliver! So Malawians did what came 'naturally', they went into song and dance with their laws in order to accommodate her. Naturally, she came back for an encore, "Chonde Sir, May I have some more?" and then came little Chifundo (err...Mercy for the sake of the countless English speaking editors who couldn't quite wrap their tongues around her real name, and took the opportunity to anglicize it when possible). Madonna's adoption all in all was met with  relatively little resistance. Malawians supported this – after all, she was just trying to help orphans and the logic of the public was straightforward - if the orphans needed parenting and someone was willing to take care of them, there was no harm.

Many Malawians ignored the voices of reason from civic society that cautioned the logic of circumventing Malawian laws on  technicalities in order to allow one celebrity adoption to happen. Malawian law at that time was that the adopting parent must have been a resident of Malawi for eighteen months. The judge ruled that she had established residency by owning property there and did not have to live there permanently.  Foreign adoptions had been illegal in Malawi because they have lead to child exploitation in the past.  Under the guise of foreign adoption, children become victims of human trafficking and are sold as sex slaves, are made to appear in pornographic videos, or have been sold as laborers on farms. Therefore the objections to the adoption were legitimate concerns. Does one subject a child to a childhood full of rationed portions of food in a poor African nation or does one subject a child to a limitless supply of sex in Europe's red light districts? The Oliver Twist type living conditions are an unfortunate reality for many African children (mainly girls) that get trafficked from these areas. Even in the absence of an international trafficking ring, I can recall the story of the Ethiopian girl, Hana, that was adopted by the Williams parents that punished her to death due to their Christian beliefs modeled after teachings of Pearl (Read Hana Williams story). She was left to sleep in the barn, not given food for several days, and was hit daily with a plumbing tool. Therefore, whilst not all adoption is bad, not all of it is good either.

Proud to be a Malawian (Photo credit: cajean2)

The other fear was that Malawi would be branded as a haven for orphans period. There was a fear that it may become fashionable to adopt a Malawian baby. Malawi would be branded as the next "place to adopt orphans" after Russia, China, and Ethiopia. As Oprah would say in a situation like this, "you get a baby! you get a baby! every-body gets a baby!" It is no coincidence that a few years later, in the show Grey's Anatomy, when Dr. Meredith Grey was looking to adopt, the writers chose Malawi as the birthplace of the baby (Incidentally, Grey's Anatomy is another popular show that comes on in Malawi, so please hold the narratives about the Grey's Anatomy writers writing a show about adopting a baby from a country that has never seen the show because people are too poor to own T.V's). I am not sure if the writers did their homework on that too. It is unclear if their intention was to highlight the plight of Malawian orphans or if they were trying to encourage adoptions from Malawi (for parents willing to splurge on $20K to home there for the purposes of establishing residency), or if that was just the first country name that came in to their mind, thanks to Madonna. They named the baby Zarah, an atypical name for a Malawian (..and please, its possible but not probable for a Malawian to be named Zarah, the writers corruption of Sahara perhaps?). Interesting to note as well is how little Chifundo is now being called Mercy by the Press (Mercy is the English translation of Chifundo, so this would be like calling a girl named Isabella "Beauty" due to a familiarity with the English version of her name). However, beyond the Malawian baby name games, it seems like the message is quite clear, "Want a Cute Baby. Go to Malawi".

Image via Wikipedia

The warning signs that all was not right with the whole spectacle were there from the start. Madonna fit right into the stereotypical situation of the unseasoned celebrities visiting Africa. She took photos with orphans. Check.  She raised funds for the her Charity "Rasing Malawi". Check. She wore a colonial hat. Check. She wore Khaki and Army pants (was she going to re-colonize us or join an imaginary freedom fighter group?). Check. She wore a Chitenje .Check Plus. She bought souvenirs. Check. She looked up Malawian adoption laws. Uncheck. Madonna publicly stated in interviews that, “Malawi didn’t have adoption laws”.  No adoption laws? Had she landed on Pluto I wondered? She played right to the stereotype of the “lawless “African country.  Needless to say, Malawi did have adoption laws but there were loop holes which her Malawian lawyer was able to exploit. The laws of course, were more easily exploitable because of her status as an influential celebrity from the global North. So when mother Madge wanted to literally “raise” Malawian children, she was met with a lot of resistance but more importantly, overwhelming support. Her Malawian fan base stirred so that Malawian orphan's stomachs could stir too. It was a hot topic on Malawian listserves, blogs … and the Facebook page, “Malawians in support of Madonna” went up instantly, consisting of Malawians in Malawi and Malawians around the world. Many Malawians even donated money to Raising Malawi. There were a lot of voices trying to weigh in from all ends but the loudest voice weighing in came from the Malawian government’s gavel. Therefore, Madonna ended up adopting a Malawian child, and then another - Raising Malawi. Check.

Then Madonna’s inner Oprah came out.

(Next: Part 2 )

African Immigrants In North America: Making The Grade, But Not The Corner Office

African students play an important role in institutions of higher learning and later in contribution to R&D in the workforce. Together with Caribbean immigrants, they make up the majority of the 'black' minorities at Ivy League schools. Image via Wikipedia

Africans immigrants to North America are always presented as hard working, friendly, education-focused minorities that adapt well to their new host countries. This image of the hard-working African immigrant is often presented as a stereotype that is in contrast to the stereotype of U.S. born African (Black) Americans (See: The Myth of the Black Immigrant Privilege). In fact, the majority of Africans come to North America do come for the purposes of education more than any other reason. This has led to a situation where more than one-third (36.6%) of African immigrants to the U.S. have a bachelor’s or higher degree. When it comes to education, African immigrants as a group have a higher education rate than immigrants from the West Indies, Asia, and Europe. When compared to U.S. citizens more Africans in the U.S report having a college degree than U.S. born minorities (Asian, Latino, and Black Americans). (See: studies: World Bank, Economic Policy Institute, JBHE) In fact, the stereotype in America popular culture of the genius Asian model minority student, is statistically more likely to be an African student from the continent (See: Direct comparison in Asian-Nation). In fact, in Ivy League colleges in the U.S., recruitment of 'Black' students is made up largely of Black students of African and Caribbean heritage (See: articles in Huffington Post, The Grio) . Africans in the U.S. are doing significantly better in educational attainment rates where 36.6% have a bachelors degree compared to 29.5% White Americans who are also the privileged majority and have the most access to the power institutions in the U.S.  Marriage rates for Africans were also similar to White Americans too (marriage typically indicate higher income). According to a World Bank study on the African Diaspora in North America, Mobilizing the African Diaspora, similar trends can be seen in Canada. Many Africans use education as a means to finding work and ‘improving their lives’. One would assume that having high educational achievement levels would mean an increase in economic factors for African immigrants to the U.S. However, recent studies show the opposite.

Contrary to popular belief about affluence levels for African immigrants in the U.S., recent study has concluded that Africans in the U.S. are currently not doing significantly better than other immigrants overall, Black immigrants or U.S. born citizens (Black, Asian or White). In the Mason and Austin (2011) study, “The Low Wages of Black Immigrants: Wage penalties for U.S.-born and foreign-born black workers”, the study concludes that Africans in the U.S are not fundamentally better off than all other groups including African-Americans. African Americans currently thought of as having the highest rate of unemployment and poverty rates.  It also concludes that Africans are economically more similar to African Americans. The rate of Africans falling into poverty in the U.S. is more similar to that of African-Americans. Lastly, it concludes that unemployment rates for this demographic are similar to that of African Americans. Africans in the U.S. are also currently earning lower wages then African Americans. Whilst Africans are doing better than African Americans in terms of poverty, unemployment, and marriage rates, it is not significantly better in spite of higher education rates. It is interesting to note that in the study conducted by the World Bank, Mobilizing the African Diaspora, for African immigrants that migrated to Canada, the high education levels of African immigrants are reflected in the level of pay or opportunities. For the African diaspora in the U.S though, despite high education rates for Africans, economic factors aren’t tallying up when it comes to getting the corner office. This even though in both countries, Africans were more likely to report having the highest rates of education and higher rates of working as professionals then other immigrant populations.

African students receive the early years of their education from home institutions and are recruited overseas for work and further education. Image via Wikipedia

One explanation for this is that Africans still continue to face discrimination in the U.S. because of color (‘race’), nationality, and legal requirements. Stringent immigration laws barring opportunities for legal employment for many students may factor in for U.S. that want to transition to the workforce. The recession has also influences this recent phenomenon. In an article that appeared in the Huffington Post, “Foreign-Born Blacks Hit Hardest Of All Immigrant Groups By Jobs Crisis” it was reported that the U.S. recession that began in 2007, affected all Black people in the U.S  because they faced similar discrimination in the job hiring process. For Africans, discrimination in terms of wage/salary and job hiring was worse than that of African Americans. There has been increasing unemployment for Africans too. By 2009, greater numbers of African immigrants than any other group lived in a household with an annual income below the federal poverty line. The Migration Information Source reports that based on the U.S. census, the majority of Africans in the U.S work in service occupations like construction, extraction and transportation (30%), compared to 12.5% that work in management, business, and finance professions that pay more. Africans here were more likely then any other immigrant group however to report working in professional jobs. This suggests that despite high education rates, Africans are getting jobs that are not reflecting their qualifications and/or that they are overqualified for. The difficulties faced in legal immigration and/or obtaining work permits may help explain these patterns as well since we don't see the same phenomena in Canada, where immigration laws allow for smoother and more transparent legal work authorization process. It would also be beneficial to access other obligations that may contribute towards Africans living below the poverty line like obligations in their home country.  This may include contributions towards buying assets, homes, businesses, or other investments and funding education for relatives. Although the Mason and Austin (2011), suggests that the prominence of the African degree may be one reason as to why Africans are not getting higher jobs, it is important to note that many Africans do get in to Masters/Phd degrees in African institutions and are recruited to higher education or work. In a small poor country like Malawi as an example, many Malawian doctors and nurses are recruited overseas with their Malawian degrees. As an example, there are more Malawian trained doctors in Manchester, U.K than in Malawi itself.

Education has always been important to Africans, and it is seen as a ways to upward mobility. But as we can see, there are limits to how far it can take African immigrants. For many this has been the case, but as immigrants to new countries, Africans will still always face the same levels of economic discrimination that the native born minorities face. Over time, we will need to continue to monitor data to see if factors for second and third generation Africans will converge with those of native born Black minorities. As Fanon notes:

"When a bachelor of philosophy from the Antilles refuses to apply for certification as a teacher on the grounds of his color I say that philosophy has never saved anyone. When someone else strives and strains to prove to me that black men are as intelligent as white men I say that intelligence has never saved anyone: and that is true, for, if philosophy and intelligence are invoked to proclaim the equality of men, they have also been employed to justify the extermination of men.” - Frantz Fanon

 

--  A version of this article, "Africans Immigrants In The US: Making The Grade, But Not The Jobs" was posted on Group blog, Africa on the Blog on Nov 28, 2011.

Miss Fufu Strikes Back: Decoding How Jay-Z and Eddie Murphy (Re)invented An African Archetype

Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) in concert -Image by NRK P3 via Flick

As I walked out of a store in Silver Spring, Maryland a few years ago, a 30 - something African American gentleman, tried to strike up a conversation with me. Unfortunately for him, the first words that came out of his mouth were, “excuse me, Miss Fufu…” to which I promptly interrupted, “I don’t eat fufu, I am not from Nigeria!”. I then continued to walk past him. His immediate response was apologetic,  “my bad … my apologies, I didn’t mean anything by it”.  Even though this misguided suitor’s intention was not to insult or do harm, his statement carried a lot of baggage. Firstly, his statement projected the stereotype in America that Africa was one country - and that country was Nigeria. Secondly, the idea that he thought I ate fufu because I looked African was misplaced. My denial about eating fufu to him did not stem from a desire to disassociate myself with African food, but rather a desire to be didactic about cultural truths. Having come from southern Africa, I was not too familiar with what exactly fufu was at that time, but I was able to locate it as a West African, specifically Nigerian dish. As I pondered on my drive home about stereotypes about Africa, a few thoughts about African stereotypes raced through my mind. His statement reminded me of how little Americans new about the continent and made me think about where there stereotypes originated. In brief, he had stereotyped me as a young, black, African female - I had become the new stereotypical African archetype, Miss Fufu.

It was during this same year that Jay-Z’s hit song “Girls, Girls, Girls” was playing on the airwaves. The line that stood out to me (and probably to impressionable stranger) when I first heard this song was:

I'm like: "excuse me Ms. Fufu, but when I met your ass
You was dead broke and naked, and now you want half"

These lines from Jay-Z play into popular stereotypes about Africa in a fundamental way. It speaks to popular stereotypes image of Africans being ‘poor’, ‘primitive’ and lacking ‘civilization’. Through this line, Jay-Z takes on the role of Kipling's ‘White Man’s Burden’ - civilizing his African girlfriend. He also becomes an oppressor of women because he feels that his wife is not entitled to half because of her country (continent) of origin – Sending a clear message that African women do not deserve to have material or emotional support because they are somehow not deserving of this because of an association with the stereotypes of ‘poverty’ or ‘coming from nothing’. These lyrics follow, and are a response to a preceding line in the song:

I got this African chick with Eddie Murphy on her skull
She like:"Jigga Man, why you treat me like animal?"

These lines preceding lines set up the players in the song, an African female that is somehow ‘wearing a (bone) skull’ of Eddie Murphy and whom is being treated like an animal by ‘Jigga man’ (another name for Jay Z). The description of the ‘skull wearing’ incidentally, is reminiscent of  his wife Beyonce’s infamous (and equally offensive) ‘tribute to Africa’ photo shoot where she dresses in black face and wears bones, animal print and tribal paint. For well traveled celebrities that have been to the continent (ie Tanzania, and South Africa), it seems that broadening of cultural horizons in the Knowles-Carter household, has so far served to reinforce stereotypes. This line is equally problematic because it plays in to power dynamics between the global North and Global South. Here, he presents himself as famous American rapper in a relationship with a poor African girl that he mistreats. It sends the message that African women are like animals, and such need to be treated accordingly. To show how his attitude translates in his everyday actions, it reminds me of a video that I saw years back of Jay-Z literally treating journalist/girl like an animal by physically assaulting (hitting) her for taking his photo (see Video:Jay-Z assaults African journalist). In some reports, critics have said this occurred in South Africa though this is unconfirmed. For young African women, this type of representation can be damaging at multiple levels ranging from domestic violence to paternalism. From a feminist perspective, it also reminds us of unequal gender roles in relationships. The African woman in this song gets oppressed (treated like an animal), for being female, black and African. The rest of this song is equally ethnically biased and misogynist because he proceeds to name racist and sexist stereotypes about women from all over the world. In fact in this song, no woman in this world is left untouched - the Latino woman who love cooking rice, the Chinese woman bootlegging his music, the African-American woman that snaps her fingers and swings her neck, the list goes on (See lyrics). So how did it come that Jay-Z thought it was okay to treat African women like an animals on video and in real life?

Eddie Murphy Image via Wikipedia

I found out later that with these lyrics, Jay Z was making reference to the famous comedy skit in ‘Raw’ done in the 1980’s by comedian Eddie Murphy (This was his tribute to Africa).  In this skit, Eddie Murphy recounts how he marries an African female from the 'bush' called ‘umfufu’ that he can control. This is a problematic stereotype about indigenous nomadic peoples and the nature of relationships in Africa. It feeds into the popular stereotype of the ‘submissive’ African woman and her stereotypical ‘abusive African man’ (She should be ‘used’ to being treated like that because that how African men treat their women!) Mr. Murphy’s comedy skit, unfortunately, was reproduced from comedy to music. Some may argue that it’s 'harmless' entertainment but the problem here is that in the entertainment industry through Hollywood, music, comedy etc... Africans are only portrayed in one way (backwards and uncivilized) and it is almost always negative. Nevertheless, the problem with ethnic comedy is that comedy is relies on stereotypes. In order for people to find a skit funny, they need to ‘understand’ the stereotype – they need to have a preconceived notion of the subject of the joke. In this case, it is obvious that Jay Z understood the joke based on his understanding on Africa. This is a clear example of how popular stereotypes about Africa are reinforced in mass media outlets like music and live ‘entertainment’ and transferred to the general American public. It is unfortunate that both Eddie Murphy and Jay Z have a large African fan base too. I find it unfortunate when Africans are forced to participate in their own stereotyping or when Africans can’t (or don’t) do more to protest against these offensive stereotypes on music stations like MTV Base (MTV Africa) and perhaps, Channel O. For some reason, when it comes to Africa, the entertainment industry in The U.S. thinks stereotyping is okay. These characterizations are than internalized by the American public, like the man in the store in Maryland. The stereotype is also used as a lens when commenting on the validity of Nomvuyo Mzamane's case against Oprah by another minority blog contributor on the Black Gay Gossip blog article, "Ms. fufu is Suing Oprah".

Jay Zs bestselling book, "Decoded" Image by Urban Mixer via Flickr

A few weeks ago a flier advertising Jay Z’s book ‘decoded’ was sent to one of the teaching assistants (and faculty). The Amazon book review by Juliet Disparte reads “it is a rare glimpse of the unexpectedly deep meanings behind the most recognizable rap lyrics of the last decade”. In the growing wake of university courses that touch on Jay Z, I wondered what lessons Jay Z wanted me, as a young African female teaching assistant to convey to students about decoding his lyrics. I had first heard about the book on a promotional episode of “Oprah”, now I cant help but wonder in what manner Jay Z and Eddie Murphy would talk to the young ladies at her academy in South Africa there during there publicized philanthropy trips, “Excuse me, Ms Fufu? I donated school books, now you want half?”

‘Arab Spring, African Fall’: A Reawakening

Image via Wikipedia

Uganda's infamous dictator, Idi Amin

For some reason I thought it would be much easier to find a compiled list of African dictators online. Africa has been branded as the ‘continent of dictators’ along with Asia and Latin America since the waves of independence from foreign control. Even though the world’s dictators are spread across four continents (Europe’s dictators rarely ever get a nod), Africa is more often associated with dictatorial rule than its counter parts. Indeed, the continent has been home to its fair share of notorious dictators like Idi Amin, Kamuzu Banda, Al Bashir, Mengistu Mariam and Robert Mugabe. But African leadership is transforming. By looking online and trying to piece together a complete list of dictators, it looks like there are 17 dictators left out of the 48 countries on the continent:

• North Africa – Algeria, Chad, (North) Sudan, Morocco
• East Africa – Somalia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea
• West Africa – Guniea, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia
• Southern Africa – Angola, Zimbabwe, Swaziland
• Central Africa- Congo, Central African Republic

It should be noted that the classification of who is considered a dictator varies by definition and list (one analyst, went as far as listing the number of African autocratic states as 39). Even though Africa is commonly seen as the continent that wrote the ‘dictator’s handbook’, the majority of autocratic leaders today, are largely in Asia. Across different lists of autocratic governance and across different indices that measure levels of freedom enjoyed by citizenry, Asia seems to currently bear the brunt of tyrannical rule. This is even more so since Africa lost four dictators this year. It’s not often that Africa is given credit for teaching and/or upholding the ideals of democracy. Dictatorships in Asia, which have already been inspired by events in North Africa as seen in the ‘Arab Spring’, can (and should) continue to draw parallels and learn from the long history of anti-dictatorial revolts in Africa by its citizenry.

Image by cactusbones via Flickr

Arab Spring in Egypt was a paramount event.

African dictators have been falling this year. This year, Africans have witnessed the fall of Moburak, Laurent Gbaghbo, Ben Ali and now, Ghadaffi. Although some African leaders tried to hold out a candle for Ghadaffi, even the African Union has now conceded that the he is no longer the leader of Libya. By examining the list, it appears within the continent, North, East, and West Africa have a lion’s share of countries led by dictators. It is clear that at the beginning of this year, the numbers of dictators within Africa, were disproportionally in North Africa. In fact, according to Judy Smith-Höhn, a senior southern Africa researcher at a Pretoria-based think-tank the ISS Sub Saharan (SSA) countries like Malawi and South Africa, experienced the events witnessed in North Africa this year, in the 1990s and yet people are constantly trying to use protests that occurred recently in countries like Malawi, as southern Africa’s `Arab Spring’ (Irin News). As an example, in southern Africa (consisting of nearly 14 countries), Zimbabwe, Angola, and Swaziland are the last remaining dictatorships. So it is also fair to say that North Africa too should have been able to draw parallels and learn lessons from the history of anti-dictatorial movements in southern Africa by its citizenry. When protest led to Kamuzu Banda and De Klerk’s National Party left power, we should have also looked to North Africa asking, “is North Africa next?”

The events in the Middle East that began in North Africa have to an extent been unfairly called the “Arab Spring”, “Arab Awakening” or “Arab Uprising” which by description alienates African countries. Many of the participants are both Arab and Africans or are Africans who are simply not Arab. This terminology marginalizes the millions of people and perpetrates the stereotype that all North Africans are Arabs or the even more problematic one – the claims that Arabs are not Africans even though they are physically on the continent. It also means that when the ‘Arab Spring’ started, a large part of the world initially looked towards the East (Syria, Bahrain etc...) and not at what was occurring in neighboring countries in the South. African presidents though saw the connection. They knew that their disgruntled citizens could once again take to the streets. African presidents’ continent wide, reflected on their own governance, began to panic and preemptively protect the status quo – even the ones that were not dictators! In democratic Malawi, a university professor was even investigated and fired for comparing the conditions in North Africa to conditions in Malawi. African presidents knew that their sleepy (but not asleep) citizens would rise.

In SSA this year, we have seen an African reawakening happening in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Swaziland and Uganda to name a few. It could have easily been termed the “African Fall”. In fact, the successful revolutions this year, so far have only been on the African continent. However, the power of media attention to sustain a revolt is important to a movement, and without much international support, SSA revolts didn’t turn in to televised revolutions. Instead, the western international media gaze was focused on what their governments have been holding their breaths a long time for - regime changes in much of the Middle East. Although this inspiration to overthrow current leadership has largely been viewed as an impact of the Arab Spring it’s also important to note that many countries in SSA had been ridding themselves of their dictators or other unpopular leaders for a long time. Fighting for democracy on the continent is not something new – it has been only 50 years since the struggles against the colonial rule (essentially, foreign dictatorships) and many of those freedom fighters still remember those battles. The recent struggle for independence seeping across the continent is about gaining independence from our own home bred leadership. We are witnessing, what I hope is the reawakening of Africans and the start of an ‘African Fall’.

--A version of this article was published on African on the Blog

Johnson Sirleaf: Transforming Liberia Through Traditional African Leadership Roles

Image via Wikipedia

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, Tawakkul Karman of Yemen and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson for ‘their work on women's rights’. When Liberia’s Johnson Sirleaf was announced as the Nobel Prize winner for 2011, the headlines worldwide noted that Africa’s ‘first’ female president had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Johnson Sirleaf however, is the second female head of state from Africa. This honor should be rightfully accredited to Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry of Liberia. She was the head of state from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997, and succeeded by the notorious Charles Taylor. Sirleaf Johnson made history as the first ‘elected’ head of state for Liberia. Perry became head of state after Wilton G. S. Sankawulo stepped down as head of state (chairman) though the Council of State of Liberia. Liberia has the distinction of being the only African country in recent history to have two female heads of state and this is usually ignored in commentary in efforts to build up the image of Sirleaf Johnson as a pioneer in women’s leadership in Africa. It also reinforces the stereotype that African leadership tradition is inherently gendered (women and men had strict roles), and has traditionally excluded African women until western feminism came to ‘free’ African women from their men. This is the narrative that we usually hear from western countries, unfortunately, it is also the narrative that we hear from within the continent. It is important that when people talk about ‘African traditional culture’, they are not talking about ‘African colonial culture’ and passing it off as an African tradition that is timeless and was ‘always there’. We need to distinguish between African traditional culture and African colonial culture because erosion of leadership roles for African women came at the hands of foreign control, and is anything but ‘traditional’.

Image via Wikipedia

Queen Cleopatra of Egypt

Africa’s true traditional culture has always been inclusive of women’s leadership. The African continent has had a long history of female leadership ranging from Queen Cleopatra from Egypt to Queen Nzinga of Angola. In fact, in traditional African culture, prior to colonialism, female leadership in Africa was not an anomaly. We need to remember that traditional African culture has always been more gender neutral then western culture. Gender roles in African culture have also been traditionally more fluid, and this includes female leadership. Prior to colonialism, women in Africa held roles as priests, spiritual leaders, head of clans or ‘tribes’, and other socio-political organizations (since there were no ‘nation-state’ as we know them today). This is not to say that there was no system of patriarchal domination in Africa. The point is, that in terms of gender equality African women had more equality in the areas of land inheritance, property ownership, tracing lineage (matriarchal, matrilineal and matrilocal residence societies existed), and leadership roles. They also had their own systems of checks and balance so that male power was ‘in check’. For example, this includes traditions like postulating (bowing) to both men and women Priests leadership roles or bowing to females that were older. When foreign influence came to the continent, so did foreign ideas of gendered leadership roles. The European and Islamic tradition of inequality that was strongly patriarchal was forced on African traditional cultures so African women saw that now, they could no longer own land, inherit land, become priests, or trace their heritage through the female’s lineage. This means that African women actually lost their rights to be leaders as a result of colonization.

The gender inequalities that African women are experiencing today in terms of leadership are a result of European and Islamic colonization in Africa. They ‘gendered’ roles in leadership and exacerbated existing gender inequalities. Now, through Johnson Sirleaf, we hear of people celebrating the ‘progress’ African women are making in gaining leadership roles denied to us by our men. The steps that women like Johnson-Sirleaf and Perry are taking, are steps towards reclaiming progressive traditional gender roles. African feminism is about regaining rights that were lost. Perry and Sirleaf are stepping on the shoulders of a long tradition of African leadership that is often overlooked or forgotten because it ‘just doesn’t fit in’ to the stereotype of leadership roles for Africa that we like to cling on to. Just as Perry’s position as the ‘first’ head of state in Africa (which was barely 15 years ago) has just been forgotten by popular media and Africans on the continent, one hopes that Sirleaf’s role is also not forgotten in the near future like the countless African women that were leaders on the continent. At this juncture, questions like, ‘Is Liberia ready for a female head of state?’ shouldn’t have been making headlines in countries like Liberia or in any other country. Traditionally speaking, as Africans, we have always been ready for female leadership.

Miss Universal English: The Language of Beauty, The Beauty of Language

Whilst changing the channel on September 13^th 2011, I stumbled across the 2011 Miss Universe pageant.  When they announced that Miss Angola, Leila Luliana da Costa Vieira Lopes, was a finalist and I saw she was getting a lot of the audience support, I decided to watch it until the end to see if the crown would for the fourth time, land on the continent (South Africa, 1978; Namibia, 1992; and Botswana, 1999). Although Miss Angola had a relatively small delegation of 3 people in the audience, I also noticed that she was popular and had support from most the audience and rightfully so. She was attractive, congenial, and seemed to genuinely be ‘true to herself’. So out of curiosity, I went to the web to find out why she was the clear crowd favorite from the beginning and what people were saying about Miss Lopes.

Amongst the responses were the usual and customary supportive comments that one would expect ‘she’s beautiful’, ‘congratulations’ ‘she deserved it’. There were also the comments from those that had other favorites, ‘I liked Miss China’…or ‘Ukraine was my favorite’ etc… The comments that I didn’t expect to find was commentary over her response to the Q&A since she had answered it decently enough.

Question: “If you could change one of your physical characteristics, which one would it be and why?”

Lopes answered: “Thank God, I’m very well satisfied with the way God created me and I would not change a thing. I consider myself a woman with inner beauty. I have my principles. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family and I plan to follow this through the rest of my life.”

The comments weren’t largely directed towards the content her answer, but towards her decision to deliver her response in Portuguese and through the use of an interpreter. Even though I knew she was from Angola, I thought she would most likely answer the question in English since most Africans are multilingual and are usually conversant in one of the ‘International’ languages like English or French. At international events, African representatives like presidents, government officials, scholars etc…do not use interpreters when speaking to international audiences unless they do so purposefully or strategically. Indeed, the language that one chooses to use in today’s society can be highly political, contributing to how others are going to perceive, and subsequently treat you. For Africans who often get the ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane’ stereotype, language here, is used as a form of cultural imperialism  and this makes it even more problematic. So most of the time, we find African representatives feeling that they need to speak English in order to legitimize their ideas, sound intelligent, or simply to be taken seriously by their western counterparts. There seems to be a stigma towards Africans that do not speak the 'Queens English', which is an extension of the colonial cultural legacy. There is also often the associated assumption by non-Africans that one’s ability to speak English is a reflection of one’s ability to think. These negative perceptions seem to be directed disproportionally at Africans (no one vehemently faults Japanese, Polish, Brazilian, French or Iraqi for the same inability). This stigma towards Africa is reflected through comments made by the general public online websites after the pageant (See Comments: Showbizblog, Tumblr, Pinoyhalo, Ricky).

According to the commentary across these blogs, there was a pattern of suggestions from the general public that was advocating an ‘English’-only language policy for pageants. This was problematic because this was not the ‘Miss England” pageant, and the idea that anyone should conform to a hegemonic language at an international event being held in Latin America is ludicrous. It was also problematic that some of these comments were coming form voices in the Global South – notably, the Spanish speaking Philippines (Some going as far as suggesting that Miss Philippines Shamcey Supsup, should have been picked because “she spoke English” (See: Pinoyhalo). For Miss Angola, these comments were compounded by her African identity - Some non-Portuguese speaking, were making reference to her speaking her “native” language over an “international” language (Native here, being a code for ‘African’).  They thought she was speaking an indigenous Bantu language of Angola and not the “international” Portuguese language! It is clear from their comments that because she was speaking in her “African” native tongue, this act being frowned upon –These commentators seemed more fixated on the Angolan’s failure to speak English because she was Angolan. It didn’t seem that there real interest was promoting English. There interests were prompting English relative to an African language. Had they known it was Portuguese, I wondered if they would have made assertions over the importance of speaking an “international” language (as opposed to an African one)? I wondered if the same comments were made for the reigning Miss Mexico, Ximena Navarrete, when she won and if she perhaps, spoke in Spanish during her Question and Answer portion. Notably, one such comment (that had 13 ‘likes’) came from readers of the online version of the Spanish language television network, Telemundo, which prides itself for its substantial Spanish language programming. I didn’t discount that there may have been other factors. I thought about how much this had to do with the persistence of mental enslavement for previously colonized peoples. As an example, it many have been an epitome or reflection of how people in a country like the Philippines viewed Filipino English speakers - in high esteem and at the detriment of indigenous languages like Tagalog or Filipino. 

Statements regarding the idea that the translator somehow  “improved” her answer and that her central idea somehow 'gained intelligence' through translation also surfaced. Based on this, there are clear associations that people make about of the ability to speak English and perceived Intelligence.  Ability to speak the English language though is not a reflection of intelligence. If Lopes wanted to speak in Umbundu, or Kikongo, she should have the universal right to do so without backlash or assumptions about her intelligence or linguistic abilities. It is often rare that I hear the same demands to speak English being made to German, French or Portuguese candidates in “international” competitions. If West Europeans are exempt from this lingual scrutiny why are people from the global south subjected to it? Why do people from the global South subject each other to it as well? This keeps these languages (including Portuguese) that were imposed on people dominant in the world. Some argued that most people understand English and that’s why they advocated this, but going by that logic, Miss Universe should be broadcast in the beautiful language of Madarin (See: the top 10 languages). 

Its clear was that because Lopes chose to speak in Portuguese, everyone further assumed that she could not speak English – even those on the blogs that defended her right to speak the language of her choice. After some investigation, I discovered that Miss Angola is a business management student at a university in England where she has been residing for a few years. She was also Miss Angola – UK in 2010. As a true diplomat and strategist, Miss Angola made a sound decision and showed her linguistic beauty by speaking to a room filled with majority Portuguese speakers in Portuguese!

There are around 5000 languages in use today. There is no universal language. There shouldn't be one. language is a reflection of ones culture (See: Sapir Whorf hypothesis). Differences in language lead to differences in experience, thought and ideas. Requiring the world to speak English will lead to a world where everyone think and act like the English. The problem with this being that they are not all English and will never be English. The other problem with that is that it will suppress ideas that can only manifest or be understood in the context of a particular language, and hence culture. The beauty of this world is that we all speak different languages and no one should be forced to speak another.

Red, Black, and Green: Why Oil Exploration on Lake Malawi May be a Bad Idea

The new scramble for Africa’s oil can aptly be summed up in the three colors of the Malawian flag, ‘Black, Red and Green’. Oil or ‘Black Gold’ in Africa, makes up about 10% of the world’s proven oil reserves, “Libya's 41.5 billion barrels of oil reserves and Nigeria's 36 billion barrels are both twice the size of China's proven reserves and just under twice the size of US reserves” (AfricatheGoodNews).  The current rush for Africa’s oil is proving to be lucrative for oil company investment.The oil exporting countries of Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Chad, Sudan, Nigeria, Congo Republic and Gabon alone have enjoyed an average GDP growth of 7,4% from 1996-2005. This means that there is plenty of Green money to be made - and green here doesn’t not mean environmentally friendly nor innocent.

It is no wonder then that with the current oil crisis that is on-going in Malawi, Malawians from many sides of the political arena are looking towards oil exploration as a positive solution to the current fuel crisis. Proponents of oil exploration have argued that it will bring prosperity, help improve infrastructure (build schools and hospitals etc…) and more importantly, end the fuel crisis that has been plaguing the country. Opponents of oil exploration are largely citing environmental concerns. Although environmental concerns are important, it is equally imperative that other factors are considered, particularly the political economy. There is need to have further public debate inclusive of social, economic and political concerns so that Malawi does not repeat mistakes made by other African countries that have experienced the ‘curse of oil’. Malawians need to be educated about what becoming an ‘oil producer’ really means so that they can make informed decisions about moving towards becoming an oil producing country. Oil discovery should not be simply seen as the great savior for Malawi’s socio-economic problems. One should not ignore the fact that the discovery of oil (like most mineral resources) in African countries has largely been a curse. Oil prosperity in Africa has been limited to a select few individuals and large oil companies. Studies have shown that in almost all countries where oil has been discovered in Africa, the average standard of living of the majority has gone down and oil corruption has risen (i.e Chad, Gabon and Nigeria). In Nigeria’s case, we should recall that it was revealed that Shell oil had infiltrated every level of the government in order to exert its influence on that country’s government. The practices of oil companies and their Nigerian counterparts have disrupted good governance in Nigeria, business, and civil life. Its discovery is often viewed as a ‘curse’ for many people in that country – Particularly, to the people that come from the oil producing region.

 Although governments argue that they will undergo the necessary environmental assessments, the reality is that assessments are often rubber stamped in the face of the potential for billions of dollars that oil company’s promise to bring or due to corruption (ie Russia’s Sakhalin project went through environmental impact basement but led to the depletion of fauna due to the corruption within the body charged with overseeing the environment). Even when thorough assessments are done, there are no safety guarantees because pipes often burst due to poor maintenance by oil companies. Oftentimes they use old pipes in African countries or just don’t maintain them due to cost or negligence. Oil spills in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region equivalent to the Gulf spill have been occurring yearly. Oil companies have failed to clean up their spills, often blaming sabotage by ‘rebels’ (angry villagers wanting justice and/or militia groups wanting money, many that were initially trained by the oil companies).  In the case of the recent court case that the Ogoni people in the Niger delta region won, it is estimated that the environmental impact is so large that it would take years to clean up. In an ocean, spills can spread for miles but it may only take one such spill to cover Lake Malawi with oil. One spill could potentially end aquatic life and livelihood for people that depend on the lake for generations to come. It will also mean the death to the lake-based tourism industry that is supposed to be one of the catalysts for Malawi’s development goals.

Although the continent is likely to attract $50 billion in investment in the oil sector alone by the end of the decade, Oil does not necessarily mean prosperity and development across Africa. Profit Sharing Agreements that are signed between governments and oil companies often mean that the oil company provides the capital and pays the government back only when they have recouped their costs. Often, crude oil is pumped out of the country and refined elsewhere as an export. Since there are no refineries in Malawi, Malawi would need to buy back its own oil at a premium such a situation would not resolve our fuel crisis. Rather it is reminiscent of colonial systems of mercantilism and extraction.  Oil companies have had years of experience in developing extractive practices that lead to underdevelopment in Africa – they have the resources, capital and lawyers to take on many poorer African governments or local bodies. There has been little or no development in the oil rich Niger-Delta region. The Niger-Delta is one of the poorest in the world since oil money doesn’t trickle down to the region.  In Gabon, oil has lead to mass importation of costly foreign foods at the expense and/or neglect of local agricultural industries. Most of these imported goods are too pricey for ordinary Gabonese to benefit from them even though the country can afford to import them – again, it is the poor that lose out. Thus a young democracy like Malawi would need to have above average governance in African terms to manage this resource. African countries have failed to manage resources in a way that benefits trickle down to the poor people due to internal and external factors. Malawi’s institutions would need to be mature enough to withstand global forces of globalization, neo-colonialism and western hegemony in order to prosper from oil money. 

Lastly, it should be noted that where there has been oil in Africa, there has been conflict or ‘blood oil’. This brings us to the last color- Red. The red blood of Africans has been shed continent wide over this resource. This includes on-going instability in Nigeria, Angola, and Sudan. It includes countries like Libya and Uganda where oil/oil exploration created environments conducive to government systems of central control. Malawian institutions would also need to be strong enough to withstand these internal forces. The amount of resources and wealth that oil brings makes for a good breeding ground for greedy dictatorships and militarism to rise within a government. Oil has the ability to turn politicians into oil mongers. Control of Oil may be a catalyst for future power struggles and war in peaceful Malawi. The Late President Kamuzu Banda, who ironically was a dictator, intentionally did not allow drilling on the shores of the lake because he knew it would bring instability to his government and to the country. Whether he did this purely to secure his own leadership or for the greater good of the country is debatable. Nonetheless oil exploration needs to be closely examined in 'Red, Black and Green'. . It’s important that the country looks at experiences of their neighbors and not repeat their mistakes so that Malawi’s fuel crisis doesn’t become an outright oil crisis.

-- A version of this article entitled, "Malawi's Potential 'Curse of Oil' " appeared in the opinoin column My Turn in the Malawi newspaper, The Nation on August 15th, 2011 - Ms Tinga