Writing for the Ones Who Suffer History, Not Those Who Make It: An Aggressively Afrocentric Ishmael Beah at Politics and Prose

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child soldier Africa, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ishmael Beah, Kony 2012, Long Way Gone, Mende, Oberlin, Paul Theroux, Radiance of Tomorrow, Sierra Leone, Taiye Selasi, UNICEF

I’ve heard prominent authors such as Paul Theroux, Taiye Selasi, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speak at Politics and Prose since launching this blog.  The independent bookseller continues to impress me with the number of African or Afrocentric writers it hosts.  This Friday, Ishmael Beah, a former Sierra Leonean child soldier, who shot to prominence with his autobiography Long Way Gone, spoke at P&P to promote his just released novel, Radiance of Tomorrow.

Back from Lisbon and Londown Town: Biltong, Salazar, Museums, and Kony 2012

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African books, biltong, British Airways, Brussels, Kony 2012, Madri, Paris, Portugal, UK, urban planning in Africa

I’m back from a holiday trip to Portugal and England (with a very brief foray in Madrid) – unexpected travel conditions also had me touch down in Paris and Brussels, so in about 10 days I managed to touch down on the land of all of the post WWI European colonial masters.

My trip had no Africa focus at all, but nonetheless, the continent popped up in a much more prevalent way than one would observe in the US/DC.  Lisbon had Tuareg bars (see above picture) and its museums had numerous odes to Portugal’s African ‘discoverers’ of centuries past.  There was curiously little mention of Salazar, who led the colonial wars in these museums however.  Even the British Airways inflight magazine had references to Liberia, Namibia, and African literature.

Whither Zimbabwe’s Elections and CAR’s Political Transition in DC?

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Central African Republic, Enough Project, Great Lakes Policy Forum, Invisible Children, Kenya elections Zimbabwe comparison, Kony 2012, mineral wealth CAR, Obama on Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, South Africans in CAR, US policy on Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe elections

Zimbabwe’s July 31^st election and the political transition following the March coup in the Central African Republic are two issues that have been conspicuously absent from debate in DC Africanist circles.  My thoughts on both:

Zimbabwe: The lack of discussion surrounding the elections in Zimbabwe is particularly puzzling.  It is an Anglophone country, it borders South Africa, where the US has immense interests, and it is a place where many figures of import in DC likely have personal exposure to – they may have visited on safari, perhaps they went to school with someone from the country, or maybe they just get worked up by the antics of Robert Mugabe.

There have been a few local events, such as this one I went to at Freedom House, as well as a Congressional hearing, but this pales in comparison to the attention that Kenya received in the months before its elections.  I can only suppose that ‘Zimbabwe fatigue’ has settled in.  In any event, this lack of coverage bodes ill for Zimbabwe’s future – those inclined to abuse power will probably feel emboldened to do so.  Obama briefly spoke on the need for reforms in Zimbabwe during his recent visit to South Africa, but even his criticism did not generate much discussion.

Central African Republic:  The lack of interest here is not unsurprising.  The country is Francophone, landlocked, and has been mismanaged throughout its history, so despite its mineral wealth, the coup probably did not impact the prevailing status quo in regards to Western interests.  Most tellingly, I have not even been to a CAR event to which I can provide a link to a post on Africa in DC (though I did hear of a protest in front of the White House).

However, there are other angles that makes the extent of Washington’s hands off approach somewhat unexpected.  Following the incredible success of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 documentary, the AU dedicated forces to tracking down Kony and they are being supported by a small contingent of US forces in Central Africa (I believe the Americans are based in Uganda, though Kony is widely suspected of being in CAR).  Unrest in CAR is undoubtedly good for the Lord’s Resistance Army – why then are civil society groups not agitating for greater US engagement in the country?  Perhaps this is because active DC organizations focusing on Central Africa, such as the Enough Project and the Great Lakes Policy Forum, do not include CAR in their analysis.

Over a dozen South Africans lost their lives defending the previous CAR administration, a development that may also have significant repercussions.  Finally, the transfer or power through military means is increasingly decried across the continent as it clashes with the Africa Rising narrative, I am surprised that there have not been louder murmurs regarding the need for a prompt democratic transition.

Again, I suspect the silence here bodes ill for the CAR’s future.