keeping track of african and africa-related culture in the media (film, photography, television, and print)

Why I Blog about Africa

Posted: December 6th, 2008 | Author: kamau | Filed under: film, globalization, internet, photography, politics, race | 10 Comments »

In response to a tag from afromusing.

Why do I blog about Africa? Two words. Chinese film. Wait, let me explain. I grew up a very westernized kid in Kenya. I am in the second generation of people that grew up with the world view that was distilled as follows: “Modernity (Europe + Christianity) = good. Backwardness (Africa + tradition) = bad”. I believe Fela Kuti called it “Colomentality”. Don’t get me wrong, I am intensely proud to be Kenyan; I just felt no real compulsion to learn more about my culture beyond a reasonable competence in my mother tongue.

The Chinese art film I discovered in the 90’s (I’m a huge fan of Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar Wai) was a window into Chinese culture and through that to one central insight. Modernization is not Westernization. For all of us non-Westerners, our challenge is to balance African-ness/Asian-ness/Eskimo-ness/whatever-ness with the best of what the modern world has to offer in science, technology, philosophy, art, culture. That is the promise of globalization.

I blog mostly for myself, filling in the blanks in my own knowledge of the culture of the African diaspora, a lot of which already navigates that space between old and new, tradition and modernity, Africa and Europe. Film, photography, and other visual arts are critical tools to communicate the stories people tell themselves about their place in the world. Like Zhang Yimou’s films which were (are) motivated in part to portray China differently after the shame and chaos of the Cultural Revolution, I hope this obscure little part of the blogosphere and the visual media it highlights becomes part of the the new story we Africans tell about us and our place in this globalizing community.

So yeah, Chinese film.

10 Comments on “Why I Blog about Africa”

  1. 1 afromusing said at 4:22 pm on December 7th, 2008:

    oh wow, oh so interesting.

  2. 2 kamau said at 9:34 pm on December 8th, 2008:

    @afromusing, thanks. i feel there is so much i didn’t say about why i blog, i don’t know if i said anything at all. but what seems to be consistent from what you and sci-cultura said in your posts and what i was trying to say is that there is an element of learning and discovery about Kenya and Africa, a place that we know and don’t know. also that we do it for ourselves. it was a tough assignment, but i’m glad you tagged me. thanks!

  3. 3 sahendu said at 11:36 pm on December 8th, 2008:

    so real
    my first-generation american self (born to african parents) loves reading this blog, filling in the gaps, still unlearning the ridiculous xenophobic shame taught to me growing up in the society, love my heritage, realize the contradictions and trickiness of this hybridity and globalization, grateful for your blog

    :)

  4. 4 kamau said at 1:17 pm on December 10th, 2008:

    @sahendu: thank you so much. just as i’ve said i really hope someone (not just me) can be informed, entertained, by this site. that’s the bonus of keeping this site.

  5. 5 1minutefilmreview said at 4:40 am on December 17th, 2008:

    We’re YiMou and Wong Kar Wai fans too.

  6. 6 jikeb said at 6:56 pm on January 1st, 2009:

    lol! chinese movie! good to know. By the way, Happy new year, and loong life to forota.net!
    And if you got time, plz check my website at http://www.afrobeet.com

  7. 7 Uchenna said at 9:33 pm on January 6th, 2009:

    Interetsting…. Your experience TOTALLY parallels my own–from being a Westernized African kid with an ambivalent relationship to African identity to the 1990s cultural awakening spurred by (among other things) Wong Kar-Wai, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige to the passionate commitment to African modernity (and futurism).

    (not to mention the devout Andrew Dosunmu worship)

    I knew there was a reason this blog grabbed me by the heart the very first time I set eyes on it!

  8. 8 kamau said at 10:34 pm on January 7th, 2009:

    @ Uchenna: I’m so touched by your comment. I’m actually speechless, but I feel good knowing this thing called blogging is allowing for connection with people I would not otherwise meet.

    @jikeb: thanks for the vote of confidence. your site rocks (looks great).

  9. 9 Dominick said at 3:43 am on January 17th, 2009:

    This is great stuff. I love the blog, btw. LOVE. IT. You’ve given me ideas about West Indian diaspora in America work.

  10. 10 kamau said at 10:50 am on January 17th, 2009:

    @ Dominick. Thank you. Looking forward to seeing the results of those ideas, as you know so much of black culture is this ongoing conversation between Africa and all the places that descendants of Africa have settled.