person:teju cole

Nigeria, Ebola and the myth of white saviours, by Robtel Pailey
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/11/nigeria-ebola-myth-white-saviours-201411654947478.html

In a 2012 article published by The Atlantic, Nigerian writer Teju Cole exposed the white saviour industrial complex for what it is: a pathology of white privilege.
(...)

At the height of Ebola, the myth of the white saviour has resurfaced again and again, framing Africans as infantile objects of external interventions. The white saviour complex has placed a premium on foreign expertise, while negating domestic capabilities.

We’ve been assailed with images of mostly white foreigners flown out of the Ebola “hot zone” with the promise of expert care abroad.

(...) While the US has been scrambling to address the few cases of Ebola on its shores with a series of policy missteps, Nigeria showed that it could be done by an African country on its own terms.

(...) Some narratives erroneously attributed Nigeria’s success to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Yet, Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie responded with a sharp smack-down of this “lie”. She openly criticised The Washington Post and The New York Times for deliberating concealing the fact that local, not international efforts, had contained Ebola. For instance, it was a Nigerian woman, Dr Ameyo Adadevoh, who insisted on isolating the country’s first Ebola patient before eventually succumbing to the virus herself.

(...) One thing Ebola has exposed about the white saviour complex is that it is voracious and unapologetic.

(...) In her celebrated essay, “Can the subaltern speak?”, Gayatri Spivak rails against the problematic narrative of “white men saving brown women from brown men”. In actuality, no one has the capacity to “save” another human being. Believing that one can is the greatest form of self-delusion and narcissism.

Contrary to the dominant Ebola foreign intervention narrative, Liberians, Guineans, and Sierra Leoneans are not waiting around idle, eager to be rescued by white saviours. While we welcome genuine collaboration, we remain our own heroes and heroines. The fact that more than 200 local healthcare workers died from Ebola is a testament to that heroism.

How we tell stories about cities
▻http://africasacountry.com/how-we-tell-stories-about-cities

A few weeks ago, Nigerian-American writer Teju Cole was the guest of the Troyeville Hotel book club in #Johannesburg. Observing that the one constant in cities is that they change, Cole commented: “Cities are built on people’s bones. How, then, do we tell stories about cities so that those who have died, do not die […]

#HISTORY #OPINION #Apartheid #Fietas #museums #Pageview #racism

Asia Times Online :: Kerry becomes first war casualty
▻http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-100913.html
By M K Bhadrakumar

(...) Within hours all hell broke loose. The high drama was neatly captured by the well-known Nigerian-American novelist Teju Cole (author of Open City), who twittered:

Kerry: We won’t attack ... if you do this impossible thing. Syria? Oh, We’ll do it. Russia: They’ll do it. UN: They’ll do it. Kerry: Shit!

All sorts of conspiracy theories have since popped up - including that a secret Russian-American plan is afoot to help Obama to beat a decent retreat from war plan against Syria. But the honest truth is Kerry made yet another gaffe, and this time it took a life of its own.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (who plays ice hockey by the way) crashed into Kerry within a split second to grab the puck:

We [Russia] do not know if Syria agrees to this, but if placing the chemical weapons under international control helps avoid military strikes, then we will immediately get to work on this.

We are calling on the Syrian authorities to reach agreement, not only on putting chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on its subsequent destruction and then joining the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

We have already handed over this proposal to [Syrian foreign minister Walid] Muallem, who is in Moscow, and hope for a quick and positive answer.

Muallem, of course, didn’t even bother to consult Damascus:

I have attentively listened to Mr Lavrov’s statement. I declare that Syria, guided by its concern for the lives of its citizens and the security of the country, welcomes the Russian initiative.

Indeed, it is not that Russia and Syria were taking advantage of the time difference between Washington and London (from where Kerry spoke.) Even David Cameron got deceived. The British prime minister said the excellent Russian plan to place Syria’s stockpiles under international control is "hugely welcome’’.

A fire-fighting operation began no sooner than folks in Washington heard about Kerry’s offer and the Russian plan and the Syrian response, et al. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf called her boss’s words “hypothetical” and “rhetorical” and poured cold water on the Russian plan as "highly unlikely’’. She clarified, “Secretary [Kerry] was not making a proposal.” (...)

Teju Cole’s 9 questions about Britain you were too embarrassed to ask
►http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/09/03/teju-coles-9-questions-about-britain-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask

Last week, as the U.S. signaled it may launch limited strikes against Syria as punishment for allegedly using chemical weapons, I posted an explainer titled “9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask.”

On Sunday, novelist Teju Cole, whom I’ve had the privilege of editing, parodied it on Twitter. His composition, which we might call “9 questions about Britain you were too embarrassed to ask,” is posted below. Following it is a brief Q&A I did over e-mail with Cole, who was writing from Australia.

Some say incinerating Buckingham Palace would send a message and next time Britain will think twice before selling nerve gas. I don’t know.