![]() ![]() Boko Haram is not the main story in Africa or even in Nigeria. Those poor people need our help.īut this is more or less the opposite of the truth. But sometimes the implication of the conversation has been this: Africa is this dark and lawless place where monstrous things are bound to happen. It’s great that the kidnappings and the massacres are finally arousing the world’s indignation. There’s been something similarly distorted to some of the social media reactions to the Boko Haram atrocities over the past week. End with a quote from Nelson Mandela involving rainbows. Be sure to show how profoundly you are moved by the continent and its woes, and how much it has penetrated your soul. The animals, on the other hand, should be depicted as wise and filled with family values. The children should have distended bellies and flies on their faces. Wainaina had other tips: The people in said book should be depicted as hungry, suffering, simple or dead. ![]() If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.” An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. ![]() “Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. “Always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title,” Wainaina advised. In 2005, Binyavanga Wainaina published a brilliantly sarcastic essay in Granta called “ How to Write About Africa,” advising people on how to sound spiritual and compassionate while writing a book about the continent. ![]()
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