"Poor Africa"

"We have helped perpetuate the narrative that Africa is a burden. This way of thinking has been around for decades."

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda sees an urgent need to change the way the world thinks of the people of African countries. It's a pathetic image, a picture of needy and helpless people with no skills and no resources.

Listen to the lyrics of this well-known song from 1984, well-intended but condescending:



"Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow" -- what?? Things do grow in Africa. Composer Bob Geldof seems to say that the West must feed and take care of the poor Africans because they can't take care of themselves.

Co-dependent much?

(cont'd tomorrow)