Archive for the ‘DRC’ Category
In Congo, another way of looking at a crisis
There are so many bits of reporting that never make it out of my notebooks, so many interesting things I learn that I can’t use in the space I have. Sometimes, one of those bits just keeps pestering me. Right now, it’s this one. Earlier this year, I did a pretty massive report on the [...]
Africa: “A whole continent for helping white people understand poverty”
This is a series of photographs called “I Studied Abroad in Africa!” in which white people are called out/picked on for their real or presumed ridiculousness in Africa. They’re not bad, though the targets’re pretty easy (on the other hand,the Justin Bieber joke is classic). Really I’m sharing the link (h/t Glenna Gordon) because of [...]
To Journalism, with love from Africa
In a break from a torrent of writing, I was reading a quick take on Adam Hochschild’s talk at a recent writer’s conference. He’s written Bury the Chains, about the antislavery movement, and of King Leopold’s Ghost, which I find in Africa as often as I find the Bible, and “Blood and Treasure,” the best [...]
Why Enough will always get Congo “wrong” — and why we should maybe thank them for it
I’m going to go straight to it: Because advocacy is politics. Advocacy is aspirational; it is rhetorical; and it is manipulative. And none of those things is prima facie bad (though there are better and worse ways to do them). It seems to me we should no more expect advocates to offer a nuanced and [...]
The White Reporter’s Burden in Africa II: Journalists who get over it
In an effort to be productive in my criticism, here are nearly two dozen or so Western journalists I think do good work in Africa. This all started with Phil Bronstein’s Easterly-inflected praise of the courage of Nick Kristof to admit “that there is a white man’s burden in reporting on Africa.” That’s the wrong [...]
Don’t look here for good news
Al Shabaab bombs Kampala threatens Bujumbura, which now feels like my second home. Journalists and political candidates are turning up dead in Rwanda. New fighting by the same old freaking people in eastern Congo sent 70,000 more people running. Meanwhile, Burundi apparently still can’t get its act together, and it’s dragged the East African Community into [...]
I am a freelance journalist and multimedia producer who covers human rights, Africa and foreign affairs. [