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Most grateful if this comment could be passed on to Ms Hunter-Gault also.
Having had the distinct priviledge of working in Uganda for 4 years as a World Bank consultant, and travelling the continent of Africa (including 3 of the major cities in South Africa), it was breathtakingly refreshing to see that someone from the West has FINALLY taken the time to try to depict the positive side of the 2nd largest continent of the world, and its challenges.
I think the author would have achieved her goal of further bolstering the positive image of the continent with a cover that reflected its cultural richness, economic progress, and/or its diversity (not in the western sense of this term, and the negativity that it usually implies), rather than the "much-of-the-same" type of depiction, which merely serves to further feed into existing stereotypes.
My sense is that this would NOT have been the preferred choice of Ms. Hunter-Gault. If it was, then the subtlety of her underlying motivation has alluded me completely. Perhaps it was publisher's option. If so, then the end result could be counterproductive, i.e. a turnoff to those who are, in fact, looking for "something new" out of Africa!
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New News Out of Africa: Uncovering Africa's Renaissance (W.E.B. Du Bois Institute) by Charlayne Hunter-Gault
francis4622, August 28, 2006
Most grateful if this comment could be passed on to Ms Hunter-Gault also.Having had the distinct priviledge of working in Uganda for 4 years as a World Bank consultant, and travelling the continent of Africa (including 3 of the major cities in South Africa), it was breathtakingly refreshing to see that someone from the West has FINALLY taken the time to try to depict the positive side of the 2nd largest continent of the world, and its challenges.
I think the author would have achieved her goal of further bolstering the positive image of the continent with a cover that reflected its cultural richness, economic progress, and/or its diversity (not in the western sense of this term, and the negativity that it usually implies), rather than the "much-of-the-same" type of depiction, which merely serves to further feed into existing stereotypes.
My sense is that this would NOT have been the preferred choice of Ms. Hunter-Gault. If it was, then the subtlety of her underlying motivation has alluded me completely. Perhaps it was publisher's option. If so, then the end result could be counterproductive, i.e. a turnoff to those who are, in fact, looking for "something new" out of Africa!
(12 of 25 readers found this comment helpful)