As an avid VF reader, I am sure you have heard that the latest issue is dedicated to Africa and all those who are working to make the continent both self-sufficient and AIDS free. Annie Liebowitz shot 20 different covers with such luminaries as Mohammad Ali, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Maya Angelou, Madonna, Desmond Tutu, Djimond Huntsu (spelling be damned), Oprah, and Don Cheadle. Here is the thing. Africa has now become a pop icon, a product that is marketed as if it were available for order online. Like the glossy marketing of Project Red....have we ever seen who was actually helped by this? I almost think it was the reputations of the celebrities in the ads; a new selling point for their careers - they are socially aware...now go buy a movie ticket or go buy a cd. To me no healing of Africa can be done without a close examination of what brought the continent to its knees in the first place. Do they want to take on that weight? Doubt it.And, more to the point, why does Madonna look like she is trying to holla at Maya on the low?
3 comments:
These covers really annoy me. Why is Djimon the only African on the cover?
dont forget DESMOND TUTU...but I agree totally, Africa is only going to be saved by Africans.
Iman too! Bono and is persistant deman for a Nobel prize. I have had enough of his white guilt, if i would have known buying his CD;s would lead to this, I would live without him.:)
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