Boing Boing: Femi Kuti: Don't pity Africa, visit it and trade with us

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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Femi Kuti: Don't pity Africa, visit it and trade with us

Snip from an LA Weekly interview with Nigerian music star Femi Kuti, whose father was afrobeat icon and "Black President" Fela Kuti:

Q: What’s your take on Bono and concerts like Live 8 that campaign on behalf of Africa?
A: Bono doesn’t need to tell us that we are poor. We know we are poor. All these concerts come and go and nothing changes in Africa.
Q: So then what’s the best way for concerned Americans to get involved with helping Africa?
A: Not to feel sorry for us but to be positive toward us. Do more business with us. Come and visit us. We, in turn, have to get stronger and not rely on leaders to do everything for us. We must take action ourselves. But Western democracies must also stop turning a blind eye to African corruption and start taking action — then we can start moving forward as a nation.

Link, via Daniel Hernandez' blog, which includes some thoughtful related links. (image of Femi Kuti ganked from Daniel's blog). (Thanks Cyrus!)

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:53:29 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments

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Support Bloggers' Rights! HOWTO: Get a link posted to Boing Boing Boing Boing Mobile powered by Winksite Fark rules! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States [and other countries]. Stats (About our stats) defeat censorware Policies Our first five years' worth of posts in one file	View a recent day: August 20 \| August 19 \| August 18 \| previous days \| by month and year Tuesday, July 24, 2007 Femi Kuti: Don't pity Africa, visit it and trade with us Snip from an LA Weekly interview with Nigerian music star Femi Kuti, whose father was afrobeat icon and "Black President" Fela Kuti: Q: What’s your take on Bono and concerts like Live 8 that campaign on behalf of Africa? A: Bono doesn’t need to tell us that we are poor. We know we are poor. All these concerts come and go and nothing changes in Africa. Q: So then what’s the best way for concerned Americans to get involved with helping Africa? A: Not to feel sorry for us but to be positive toward us. Do more business with us. Come and visit us. We, in turn, have to get stronger and not rely on leaders to do everything for us. We must take action ourselves. But Western democracies must also stop turning a blind eye to African corruption and start taking action — then we can start moving forward as a nation. Link, via Daniel Hernandez' blog, which includes some thoughtful related links. (image of Femi Kuti ganked from Daniel's blog). (Thanks Cyrus!) posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:53:29 AM permalink \| Other blogs' comments View a recent day: August 20, 2007 \| August 19, 2007 \| August 18, 2007 \| August 17, 2007 \| August 16, 2007 \| August 15, 2007 \| August 14, 2007 \| previous days \| all BB archives by month and year Email this entry to: Your email address: Message (optional):	Boing Boing Sponsored by: Your Text Ad Here Get BB by email: