"A set of images has dominated the world's view of Africa for centuries, some intended to excuse injustice against the peoples of the continue, others to elicit compassion and wonder. The continent south of the Sahara has been seen as a land of unparalleled riches, starling beauty, and extraordinary wildlife; as a place of strange at an times primitive tribal customs, civil disorder, and armed militias; of child labor and child soldiers, mud huts, open sewers, and shantytowns; of corruption, dictatorship, and genocide. These and other perceptions have framed the world's response to Africa.
As someone who raises funds to support work in Africa, I understand the importance of images, and recognize that pictures of Africans in dire circumstances can, ultimately, lead to positive action from those who are moved to want to help. However, on balance, I find these representations - and the associations they bring with them - demonstrably negative, perhaps even shameful, since they risk stereotyping all countries south of the Sahara as places of famine, death, and hopelessness. Because the children or adults pictured are rarely named, the people remain abstract, symbolic, and no longer individuals. That starving toddler or weeping mother or child soldier is "Africa." This projection only makes the task more difficult for those of us on the ground trying to help Africans help themselves.
In addition, Africans themselves see these images of suffering and dysfunction on television, in newspapers, on websites, and in fund-raising appeals, and begin to internalize them. A dangerous and unfortunate psychological process ensues that subtly and perhaps unconsciously affirms to Africans their inability to be agents of their own destiny. Eventually, it may destroy the sense of confidence they should and must have to make progress.
Moreover, these depictions fail to capture another reality, which is that every day, millions of African women and men go about their business, live their lives responsibly and industriously, and look after their immediate and extended families, even if they lack certain material possessions, higher education, or access to the range of opportunities and goods available to the wealthy in other countries, or even their own. These are the real African heros, and it is these images the world should see more of."
p. 78
