African Ignorance?

The Western world still has a long way to go if it wants to understand what it means to live in an equal and unified manner with those they consider to be their "Other". Of course in a perfect world, the previous sentence would not have distinguished between the Western world and everywhere else; even that goes to show you how far away we are from understanding each other as fellow communities.

Yesterday both of my classes consisted of field trips to local conferences on different topics. For my Gender and Development class, in which we are studying the role gender plays in a country's development from an African perspective, we attended a lecture at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop hosted by the French Embassy. The man who spoke is a French Academic and he gave a talk titled "Vers un monde multipolaire?" (Towards a multipolar world?). In the talk he developed the argument that our world is in the process of becoming multipolar so that at present it is neither unipolar nor multipolar but somewhere in between. Being the practically minded person that I am, what does this really mean? And being an Africanophile, what are the implications of such a proposition for Africa? Now, you would think that since the lecture was given in an African country, before a majority of African nationals, the lecturer would address his audience as such. However, I was sorely disappointed, as were my African counterparts, to find that this Parisian academic merely grazed over the entire continent of Africa in a few ambiguous sentences.

During the question and answer session, many professors and students posed important questions regarding Africa's current role and future potential in the globalization phenomenon. Much to their chagrin, the answers were lacking in knowledge and reflection. "Africa is currently participating in globalization through sports, most importantly soccer, art, and primary resources," was the lecturer's response. Unfortunately, as my Gender and Development professor pointed out, Africa's art and primary resources are often managed and guided in a manner that does not benefit the continent's 53 countries. So we end up "speaking only about the countries that guide globalization and never about those that are subjected to it". And if you want to talk about soccer being Africa's forte, unfortunately the United States is still out of the loop on the continent. Did you ever find one of the Africa Cup of Nations games on your television there in the US?

There are so many things to talk about, analyze, study, and question when it comes to responding to the questions intelligent, scholastic Africans posed yesterday at the first lecture. All the lecturer was able to leave us with, however, was the optimistic suggestion "Go and define for yourself as Africans, what it means to take part in globalization" and the circumlocutory statement "Africa needs a developping country in order for it to participate fully in the discussion regarding globalization". OK, thanks France.

On to my next enlightening and disappointing lecture of the day: a video conference between top Senegalese academics and three stereotypical American politicians who work in Paris. The topic: An analysis of Obama's first year as president. A group of American students in Senegal, including me, was invited to join the conference, pose questions if we had the nerve, and be interviewed after the conference by local TV stations. (Actually, the same cameraman was at both lectures I attended so I am pretty sure I was on the news twice. I didn't get to watch the news last night though because I was off playing soccer with friends.) As I listened to the three American politicians argue with each other in French about American public opinion, Obama's administrative actions, and comparaisons between Bush and Obama, I couldn't help but wonder what the point of the entire conference actually was. When it was our turn to pose questions here in Dakar to the three in Paris, my ears perked up.

"How would you analyze the President's actions with regard to Africa?" "Did Obama chose the right moment to become president?" "According to most Senegalese, Obama has been faithful to the things he promised to achieve in his campaign, why do you think there is such a difference in opinion between us here and Americans over there?" Etc.

Sadly, these politicians didn't know much about Africa either. Their responses ranged from "Well, Obama is the son of a Kenyan so I think he is consciously playing a role in Africa" to "Republicans aren't racist" to "Well, Africa, now I'm sorry if it might sound like I'm speaking about Africa as if it were a country, I know it is not a country, that in fact it is composed of many countries, actually I don't know how many countries really..." Great, thanks America.

These two experiences just go to show that we all have some learning to do. I'm confident in the intellectual capacity of Senegal, as I've seen in my short time that the professors here are really sharp, inquisitive, and well informed. They have been defining what it means for Senegal and other African countries to develop and participate in globalization, and will continue to do so in years to come. But apparently the rest of the world isn't listening.

To end the day, I squeezed into a taxi with three other American students and returned to the Western African Research Center where most of our classes are held. If you add traffic, people trying to sell us anything from cell phone minutes to bath towels, honking horns, and a smattering of French, English, and Wolof conversations amongst ourselves together, and throw in an attempt to sing the American National anthem just for some extra spice, you would basically get a typical taxi ride through the streets of Dakar according to some American students who are trying to listen with all their senses and might to the people they live amongst. And the ride would only cost you about $3 if you know how to bargain!

Jërejëf (thanks) Dakar!