Africa

2011: A year of changes in Africa

The events that unfolded in 2011 have proved that Africa is a continent undergoing rapid progress.

The year began with an historic hike in food prices across the continent. And, after a referendum in which the Sudanese of the south voted overwhelmingly to split from the north, South Sudan (one of the least developed regions in the world) was officially declared independent on July 9, 2011. International dignitaries and tens of thousands of people attended the independence ceremony in the capital Juba.
 

From Tunisa to South Africa, Africa licked and nursed several wounds. The bleeding did not stop and seemed almost chronic. It affected all of  Africa's inhabitants, even anonymous lives. Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation was an act which symbolized the frustration and desperation of millions in the Arab world, and set in motion a series

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Africa

The impact of African literature

The impact of African literature
In 2005, a Kenyan editor, Binyavanga Wainana, published an essay entitled “How to write about Africa” in the British journal, Granta, in which he portrayed the prejudicial attitudes that prevailed in descriptions of Africa. He wrote: “Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.”
This template form of stereotyping an African is still common despite the birth of Négritude in the 1930’s. Négritude (in French La Negritude) is a literary movement that emerged amongst black students in Paris, France. The movement arose from the effort to re-establish the black population’s dignity. By reflecting a life of an African from a more truthful perspective, the founders of Négritude challenged the racist based description of black people. By breaking the colonial stamp applied on Africa, the founders Aimé Cesaire, Léopold Senghor and Léon Damas paved the path for black pride. The movement lost its momentum in the 1960’s, however, when most African countries gained independence.

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