Rethink Africa

Take a look at Binyavanga Wainaina's excellent piece How To Write About Africa for a snarky take on our stereotypes of the continent and its people.

Here's a taste of how Wainaina tackles the general Western failure to conceptualize Africa with an understanding of its complexity, and the nuance it deserves.

"In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don't get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book."