The lunatic rabbits

What a good read! This is probably my read of the year.

I did procrastinate starting Dipo Faloyin's Africa is Not a Country: Breaking Stereotypes of Modern Africa as I usually do with unfamiliar topics out of worry of being overwhelmed, but I needn't have worried, because it's such a good primer into learning (a little, admittedly) about modern African nations, with very crisp chapters on the how's they got where they are, the big issues that frustrate them on the global stage, and what can be done about that.

Faloyin's style is so readable, witty and funny but also unflinchingly clear about the injustices and trauma of what was done and continues to be done. The book's earlier chapters covers the colonial powers' great grab for Africa, and how that led to the old story of borders cutting through ethnic groups willy nilly, and the difficulties of having to cope with those borders after independence, and the machinations of those borders and of the colonial powers that led to the types of Big Men that grabbed power. Acknowledging the warlord stereotype and explaining the circumstances that made that happen (often the father of independence -> authoritarian pipeline), and then expanding into the ways that that's not all there is.

There's a chapter on white saviour issues and pop culture, of the perception of Africa in media, in movies, in the ways that some charities chose to present their story in order to gain donations, with an informative look into Band Aid and We Are the World. I completely missed Band Aid because it was not a thing here at all, but Faloyin gives context and consequences of such stereotypes to those working on the ground. The whole Kony 2012 thing is explored, too. And like, I was aware that Black Panther was meaningful for them and the diaspora, but Faloyin really gets into the reasons why, and how the movie did the work. He mentions Coming to America as another black-led movie that did the same (although very much of its time) almost solely because of Eddie Murphy's star power, with Faloyin pointing out the jokes were not at the expense of African culture, but American. But also just as important to remember is that both movies only feature fictional nations, not real ones.

Other topics he goes on about: Jollof rice (this is SUCH a familiar food discourse to me, lol), Cup of Nations, the theft and delayed repatriation of African artifacts, the ways the language used to discuss African nations has changed but not changed enough, and the success stories on the ground that should be supported instead of intervention. I actually think that Faloyin could've been more combative, but he does such a good presentation of his view of the issues.