His book 'Africa is not a Country' is out today and is well worth a look.
I was sent a review copy of the book, and my initial review is below:
Africa is not a Country
Dipo Faloyin
Harvill Secker (2022)
Every geography teacher will at some point have written in their students’ books ‘Africa is not a country’ while marking their work. Dipo Faloyin’s wonderful new book explores this kaleidoscopic continent of over 1.4 billion people, made up of 54 countries.
Many teachers will also be familiar with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk on the danger of the single story - something which Mary Biddulph and others have written about in the Geographical Association’s journals. Dipo himself is clear in the introduction that he writes from a particular perspective himself, as a Nigerian.
Our identity and perspective matters, and one aim of this book is to widen the reader’s perspective on the continent.
The book includes some sections which will instantly find a place in geography units of work which attempt to provide a more nuanced look at modern Africa. The explosive opening dives into the city of Lagos and brings it to life, before Dipo looks at the importance of the maps drawn-up at the Berlin Conference of 1884, which divided up the continent’s wealth and territories using wholly artificial boundaries, and resulted in the theft of land and resources. I loved the dissection of the lyrics of Band Aid’s ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’: something I use myself, and which is completed here with a great deal of panache.
Each chapter explores a different facet of the continent: a look at the rise of Paul Kagame: the President of Rwanda, the viral film Kony 2012 and the birth of ‘white saviour’ imagery, the ongoing impact of colonialism, or the activism of the late Binyavanga Wainaina. I enjoyed the sardonic guide on how to make a movie about Africa, with the advice to ‘include at least one elephant’, a section on the impact of oil in Equatorial Guinea, Jamie Oliver’s mistaken attempts to ‘reboot’ Jollof rice, and the theft of hundreds of thousands of African art works beyond the well-known Benin bronzes in the British Museum ( https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/benin-bronzes )
Chapters are prefaced with thought-provoking quotes, and the impact of COVID19 on the continent, including those leaders who were deniers is also outlined towards the end of the book. The spectre of the climate emergency and its likely and disproportionate impact on parts of the world which are already on the limits of liveability are also discussed.
There are many positive stories in the book. The potential of solar energy creation, changing democratic voting and the opportunities to work in a more united way.
Let me know what you think of it, and don't forget to join us on Wednesday if you are at the GA Conference.
Update
Thanks to Steve Brace for the tipoff to this additional document that should be of interest.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Africa recently published their inquiry into teaching about Africa – which has good coverage of importance of geography alongside lots of additional useful commentary and suggestions (including some nice coverage of the RGS’s work on these themes too) Professor David Lambert was one of those who gave evidence to the inquiry.Our 'Africa in the UK Curricula Inquiry' was launched today. An online version can be found here; https://t.co/bzhPB8JfvA
— APPG for Africa (@AfricaAPPG) March 22, 2022
The group can be followed on Twitter as you can see.
APPG Africa Education Inquiry Report
The evidence set out in this report points clearly to the fact that many British children still leave school with little knowledge or mistaken impressions about Africa. This can be damaging – to the children, to Britain’s diverse society, and to Britain’s relations with Africa – and needs to be corrected.
But the report also makes clear that this can be quite easily remedied with some simple actions that can be taken by the key groups and bodies concerned – schools, teachers, exam boards, publishers, OFSTED and government.
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