de Waal to celebrities: ‘Hey, [Darfur]’s not about you!’
In a recent World Affairs article, Alex de Waal presents an argument at the heart of our cause:
”[…] the viscera of Darfur are as much about ‘us’—the faraway, affluent, anguished of America and Europe—as about the suffering people of a remote Sudanese province little known even to Africanist scholars five years ago. [Mia] Farrow’s ‘dream for Darfur’ Web site carries a newsfeed, and for every report from Sudan there are about three news stories about activist goings-on. That’s not uncommon among Darfur Web sites. The ‘Darfur Olympics’ Web site proclaimed its intent to ‘put the spotlight on Darfur during the first week of the Olympics.’ It would be more accurate to say it put the spotlight on the activists.”
This is the latest in an on-going debate between de Waal and John Prendergast, who hasn’t been able to think straight since he went backpacking in the DRC with Angelina Jolie.
