Kenya: “I am African” Aids campaign criticised
Written byAndrew Heavens
Mshairi had a dig at a new HIV/Aids fundraising campaign that uses posters of celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow wearing face paint and beads next to the slogan “I am African”. “If she is African, I am Plutonian,” she commented.
Written byAndrew Heavens
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Warped identity politics. If Gwyneth and Sara Jessica and Richard Gere and, yes, Janet Jackson and Tyson Beckford, too are claiming an atavistic African ancestry–which is what the campaign claims: That ALL OF US are, at the level of our DNA–African (We Are the World), then they should be prepared to go to sub-Saharan Africa to take part in some of the real work necessary to combat the unimaginable horrors that these unfortunate populations suffer under. Not just money for drugs, but help in administering them, patient care, education, etc. It would also be nice if Iman and her ad agency would cease in romanticizing a pre-colonial Africa–replete with tribal make-up and trinkets–and allow us a glimpse of the postcolonial nightmare of sub-Saharan Africa where Nikes have replaced sandals and American football jerseys, baseball caps and American blue jeans have replaced traditional garb. We must never forget that in this particular postcolonial nightmare big pharma is the wolf at the door and that its blood lust for profits is what has brought Iman and ‘I Am African’ to billboards everywhere.