Obama in Kibera
I've been lucky enough, when "the news" has touched my life at all, to be on this side of it, the side that gets to tell the story. And, somehow, because I always felt like I was at least trying to be fair and accurate, I never truly understood where the popular conception that we in the dreaded MainStreamMedia can't be trusted to get things right.
But in reading and seeing the coverage of Senator Obama's trip to Africa, I increasingly have the sense we, collectively, come up short in telling some of the most important truths.
I was heartbroken and frustrated to read yesterday's dispatch from Kenya. (Lynn Sweet's story in the Sun-Times was headlined, "An eager welcome in a notorious slum.")
When you know a place and, more importantly, when you know people there, it is never just a "notorious slum." This is, I suspect, as true for East Africa as for the West Side of Chicago or the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
So, when reports describe the "ragged canvas tents and shacks covered with corrugated roofs," it bothers me that they don't note the often incredibly fastidious interiors of those dwellings, which often feature beautiful carved wood furniture and lace tablecloths.
Yes, there is garbage and sewage in the streets and, yes, the smell can be intolerable, especially on a hot day. But people's homes and clothes are generally strikingly clean.
And, no, there isn't much in the way of a formal economy or regular commerce, but, in the complete absence of regular employers and industry, many of the people of Kibera have carved out incredibly entrepreneurial ways to support themselves.
Through my volunteer work with Global Alliance for Africa, I've come to know two amazing women, Jackie and Josephine, who have organized a women's co-operative in Kibera that is helping dozens of these micro-enterprises grow.
I don't claim any deep knowledge of The Truth About Africa or any such thing. At the end of the day, I'm just a very fortunate white woman in Chicago who has had the chance to travel to these places a few times and do a very small amount of work there. But, even with the little I know, I understand that there is so much more to the place than the hopeless poverty/sick children snapshots that make the news from time to time.
As a "notorious slum," Kibera sounds like a hopeless place. But as Jackie and Josephine's neighborhood, it is humbling and inspiring and the location of something that, on a good day, might be called optimism.
Comments
great post! I've always appreciated your honesty and candor in your articles. In today's media climate it is a breath of fresh air. Your admission of a fault is very noteworthy because 99% of the media refuse to take blame for anything they do. You're description of the city was accurate and I'm tired of the media portraying almost all of Africa as this wild, decrepid place. Yes, Africa has problems but you can't paint all of the continent with a broad brush. There are people in America who believe Africa doesn't even have concrete buildings or structures over 2 stories! And that's because of the media coverage. All they show and describe is the worst....what would our country look like to foreigners if they only showed our bad side. We saw how we looked to the world after the Katrina coverage. What if that's all the world ever saw of America?
Posted by: mike | August 30, 2006 10:02 AM
Unfortunately, not all media representatives are as dedicated as you to the mores that made "freedom of the press" one of the few inviolate standard of a country's freedom. It seems that the quest for sensationalism and the inflammatory sound byte have eroded what has been known as journalistic integrity. It is refreshing when I can read a story where I have confidence in the skills and ethics of the journalist. In addition, I want to note that I live in Africa and it is exactly as you have described. There may be garbage in the streets, but the interiors of people's homes are stylish and immaculate. The clothes worn are clean and pressed, and personal cleanliness is at a high standard. Cell phone usage is endemic, and there are satellelite dishes on many rooftops. The one major difference that exists between the city where I live and a comparable American city is that a lone woman can walk anywhere at any time she wants, and she will not come to any harm. While there are many things that make the United States the greatest nation on earth, there are things that the U.S. would be well advised to emulate. Just one man's opinion I know, but it's an informed one.
Posted by: Thomas | August 30, 2006 01:17 PM
I call it "TV Education."
The incompetence of a large swath of this great nation....The USA, is clearly reflected in the political choices they have made in the last 6 years....choices largely influenced by an extremely partisan media, some who unremittingly use fear and misinformation.
Even with the vast resources available to its citizens, the average American is so immersed in himself /herself that he /she has no clue about what's going on in the rest of the world, so when the media portrays Africans as "un-helpable savages," it's no surprise to me that this negative perception gets "wired" into the American mind like a "php script"
Posted by: James Opiko | September 1, 2006 06:15 PM