Africa Is Not a Country

April 1, 2022

Too often, Africa is seen monolithically, without regard to the distinctive cultures of its different countries, and as characterized primarily by poverty, political strife, and swishy safaris. Specializing in race, culture, and identity worldwide, Vice senior editor Faloyin aims to explode these stereotypes as he tracks contemporary cultural and political movements in various countries; reveals the rivalries that fire up the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament; considers the ongoing struggle between democracy and dictatorship, contextualized with reference to the ongoing consequences of colonialism; and risks entering the debate on which West African country makes the best jollof rice.

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August 1, 2022
A trenchant study demolishes stereotypes about Africans as a product of colonial history. Faloyin--a senior editor at VICE who was born in Chicago and raised in Lagos until age 10, when he moved to the U.K.--opens his stern and vibrant narrative with the secret 1884 "Scramble for Africa" meeting in Berlin by European powers. "In an attempt to avoid all-out war over who got to wage war on Africa," writes the author, "the mighty colonialists decided to meet and hash it all out, to come to a communal understanding as to how they could perfectly calculate their siege." While many nations had already embarked on expeditions into the continent to seize natural resources and quell Indigenous uprisings, by the beginning of World War I, "90 per cent of Africa would be controlled by Europe." The establishment of arbitrary borders often divided ethnic groups, some of whom later went to war with each other. Throughout the book, Faloyin diligently chronicles the inherited tropes that many in the West harbor about African nations. "The narrative," he writes, "suggests there is something fundamentally ungovernable about this place and its people; something extremely uncivilized about their unhealthy relationship with power." This "silent bigotry" involves the concept of White savior syndrome--yet another form of paternalism--as evinced by the Invisible Children project in Uganda and such celebrity charity campaigns as We Are the World and Live Aid. The author examines a series of dictatorships that resulted from colonial systems of divide and rule and forcefully calls out glaring cultural stereotypes about Africans in popular culture. He also addresses the alarming fact that "90 per cent of Africa's material cultural legacy is being kept outside of the continent." Faloyin weaves in his personal story as a Nigerian, using the making of Jollof rice as a unifying theme, and ends the book with forward-looking ways that African countries are managing gender and sexual violence, climate change, and other pressing matters. A well-researched, cleareyed deconstruction of highly flawed conventional wisdom about Africa.

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August 15, 2022
Vice senior editor Faloyin debuts with a spirited critique of Western misrepresentations of Africa. Aiming to puncture the myth that Africa is “a place where nothing but misery grows,” he links the 1884 Berlin Conference, which created arbitrary borders that disbursed ethnic groups across multiple countries, or, conversely, forced rival groups together, to more recent foreign interventions to “save” Africa from poverty, disease, and civil war. Noting that less than 10% of Africa is under authoritarian rule, Faloyin highlights grassroots efforts to hold governments accountable and argues that “the further the continent gets from the damage wrought by colonialism and the early ethnic battles and civil wars following independence, the more each country’s attention will be focused on developing the common good.” He also examines how Live Aid concerts and other fundraising efforts reveal the “complicated balance between making a difference in the world and doing more harm than good,” rehashes the controversy over a documentary about Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony, and highlights how the film Black Panther revealed audiences’ hunger for “a richly depicted Africa.” Flashes of joy and humor—including an account of British chef Jamie Oliver’s ill-fated attempt to create a “hybrid verson” of jollof rice—enliven the proceedings. The result is an exuberant and informative introduction to one of the world’s most diverse continents.

Starred review from August 1, 2022
With clarity and incisive wit, journalist Faloyin explores the origins of the 54 countries of Africa and invites readers to look beyond the stereotypes that remain at the forefront of the rest of the world's portrayals of the continent. In addition to detailing the history of European colonization and the ongoing refusal of Western museums to return stolen African artifacts, Faloyin examines topics like the contemporary cultural implications of the accents and character choices in Marvel's Black Panther. Via the viral documentary film Kony 2012, he explores the perpetuation of white savior imagery. He outlines the ongoing impact of the racist regime in the former Rhodesia, as referenced during the Charleston church shooting in 2015. A chapter dedicated to Lagos is a moving, vibrant love letter to a city and its people, while a lyrical analysis of the ""Jollof Wars"" will leave readers laughing and daydreaming of the ""sweet, spicy, triumphantly orange and irrationally delicious rice dish"" that every West African country claims to make best. The seven parts of Africa Is Not a Country are a forceful rebuttal of erased histories and simplified imagery as well as a celebration of a continent already living in its dynamic future.

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