Visit us at TheBrandSensi.com>
• Africa and the winds of globalisation part 1 and part 2.
• South Africa helping the American film industry reel in the money.
• Angelina Jolie travels to Africa to raise Darfur awareness.
• Reuters’ editor-in-chief outlines plans for Africa site.
• Ethiopia and the global antiterrorism campaign.
• New York’s Museum for African Art finds a home.
• Face of Africa modeling competition is cancelled.
• GE’s user-friendly healthcare concepts for Africa.
The publicity bout over the image of diamonds continued throughout both Oscar and All-Star weekends with both Russell Simmons and Leonardo DiCaprio doing their part to promote awareness of their initiatives addressing blood diamonds. Simmons recently launched his Green Initiative jewelry line in Beverly Hills, California with celebrities such as Sanaa Lathan, Eva Pigford, Serena Williams, Paris Hilton, and Rosario Dawson. If you remember the Green Initiative is set up to raise money for “the development and empowerment of the people and communities in Africa where diamonds are a natural resource.” The initiative is part of the Diamond Empowerment Fund “a non-profit international organization” which Simmons announced at his press conference a few months ago. While Simmons has been busy courting celebrities such as Beyonce with the Green Bracelet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Ryan Gosling and others promoted the Amnesty International and Global Witness campaign against gem mining in troubled areas of the world by wearing a red teardrop pin to the Oscars. The pins were later auctioned off to benefit the campaign.
I’ve been following the developments of the blood diamonds campaigns closely and have been seeing a convergence of thoughts from both sides of the debate. Initially there were two separate camps that were bent on proving the other wrong in the public eye. But as the months – and the initial hype – have passed, I’ve seen both sides resolve to push strategies which though different on the surface, can have similar results: Giving Africans more control over their resources. DiCaprio, Hounsou, Amnesty International, and Global Witness are working outside of the current system to bring about the change in business practices, while Simmons is trying to work within the system to reach a fairly similar goal. While I see working within the current system as a dangerous strategy, I’m eager to see how Simmons walks the tightrope of getting an industry that is bent on maintaining it’s stronghold to purge itself of a practice that has worked so well. Maybe as Amnesty International’s campaign continues to put pressure on the diamond manufacturers, Simmons’ job will become easier. Time will tell which strategy is most effective.
Not too long ago Oprah was not on my radar. I didn’t watch her show so I didn’t pay attention to anything she did. I usually associated Oprah with feel-good daytime talk shows. It wasn’t until recently that I realized the wand she wields over American culture in general. It’s still a mystery to me how she does this but who can deny the influence she has. The recent Mommycast podcast focusing on Africa is a clear example of Oprah’s influence over what I call the Twinset clan (next time you watch Oprah count the number of twinsets worn in the audience). The Twinset clan is that group of soccer mom types whose purse strings are coveted among marketers. Many are stay-at-home wives of American businessmen who manage the household and have access to endless disposable income. And when Oprah says Africa needs money, they say how much. After the airing of Monday’s “Building a Dream” special about Oprah’s South African girl’s school experience, the tremendously popular Mommycast show has dedicated a whole show, advertisers and all, to the topic of Children in Africa. What makes the particular show interesting is the focus on how African issues are understood in those suburban households. Listen to the show and tell me what you think.
I’ve often asked if hip-hop can save Africa, and now we’re getting to see for ourselves. Senegal, one of Africa’s most stable democracies, is currently going through elections and as in the past hip-hop is playing a serious role. It’s interesting being an African living in the States and experiencing both African and African-American cultures simultaneously. My position has given me a unique vantage point to which to compare hip-hop’s beginnings and where it has reached both in the States and on the continent. African hip-hop still maintains the revolutionary nature of hip-hop’s beginnings while American hip-hop has grown into a beast of another nature. As American hip-hop has grown to be accepted in the mainstream it has become a music of materialism and shortsighted goals. The music and culture that brought many black Americans out of struggle and strife is threatening to take them right back to those hard times. Maybe this is a lesson for both African and American rappers. Maybe taking American rappers to see the role hip-hop plays in Africa’s youth’s lives, as VH1 did last Thursday, will allow them to see how powerful hip-hop is/was and get them looking at whether they’re using it to it’s full potential. Ben at Nomadic Wax has been documenting the Senegalese elections from a hip-hop perspective with amazing results. The question is though, how closely will African hip-hop youth follow the path of their American counterparts?
By now you’ve all heard that Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. While this is another big boost for Black actors in general, it is more of a validation of African film. Before the awards I was speaking to my partner at the film commission about what the implications of a win like this will be. One thing he emphasized was how more African films will mean more roles for black actors. I think one thing that many people, especially Africans, overlook is the relationship between African-American progress and African progress. While we rarely expound on the connection, Whitaker’s win shows how African stories can provide unlimited opportunities for African-American actors and producers to create award-winning films. While many producers have looked primarily to South Africa and apartheid for strong African stories in the past, Whitaker’s win shows that there are more than enough stories to develop on the continent. That’s why Dreamgirls’ Danny Glover skipped the Oscars to attend the Pan African Film and Television Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Now that the word is out, the goal must be to encourage more African screenplays (preferably from Africans themselves) and get African stories told by African people. While I’m glad Warner Bros. made the effort to make Blood Diamond, I think the studios can now see the benefit of telling African stories from an African’s perspective using African/African-American talent. And while “The Last King of Scotland” wasn’t a blockbuster at the theaters, at this point we see there is a large enough audience interested in seeing a African film that is given the budget both independent and blockbuster Western movies enjoy.
Update: The BBC reports about African reactions to the Oscars at the Fespaco film festival in Burkina Faso.
I usually don’t blog on weekends (gotta spend time with the family) but it’s Oscar weekend and I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t report this breaking news. In the lead up to tomorrow’s Academy Awards, Calvin Klein Inc. has announced that it will feature Oscar-nominated Djimon Hounsou in its Fall 2007 Calvin Klein Underwear advertising campaign. While modeling is not new territory for Hounsou, becoming the face of Calvin Klein underwear at this point in his stellar career is worth noting. Seen as a true American brand, Calvin Klein’s underwear campaigns have often been seen as risqué and trendsetting. As many of you will remember Hounsou was discovered by fashion designer/photographer Thierry Mugler and spent several years modeling before he burst onto the international scene in Janet Jackson’s video “Love Will Never Do (Without You)”. The Fall 2007 Calvin Klein Underwear campaign, which will be shot in late March or early April and will appear internationally in more than 20 countries in global print and outdoor advertising in the fall. The campaign involving Hounsou will coincide with the 25th anniversary of Calvin Klein Underwear and the launch of a new product Calvin Klein Steel. Whether or not Hounsou wins the Best Supporting Actor Oscar tomorrow night in his Ozwald Boateng suit, we’re guaranteed to be seeing a lot more of him this year.
• “Black Gold”, African coffee documentary, to air on PBS.
• African countries ready themselves for the roll out of One Laptop Per Child initiative.
• Africa tops Mideast as US crude oil source.
• Akon teams up with Verizon for TV campaign.
• PRODUCT RED – In the black?
Not too long ago Dazed & Confused magazine put together an exhibit of Ghanaian film posters. Besides the artistic value, these posters are a glimpse into how foreign movies translate to African communities. The collection is online at the magazine’s website.
The recent news of Reuters’ new Africa website which includes African bloggers is BIG. Not only because of the idea that there’s more than enough news coming out of Africa to fuel a separate site, but also because it’s a major boost for African voices. With the incorporation of Global Voices blog posts, Reuters dares to shine a light on the African people themselves. While diehard news buffs can still rely on sites like AllAfrica.com and CNN for news, Reuters introduces a opinionated human element to their stories. With bloggers taking over traditional media, this move is nothing new but for us Africans it’s a huge step. Many of us have complained for years about the one-sided image the media shows of us and have blamed everyone but ourselves (maybe rightfully so). Wherever the blame lies, we’ve got the mic now guys, what are we going to say.
I made note earlier of the movie Bamako, but it certainly deserves more than a side-note. Co-produced by Danny Glover, the movie Bamako has been taking the film critics by storm. Directed by Mauritanian-Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako Bamako is a fictional story of a trial where ordinary Malians hold international financial institutions (World Bank, IMF) to account for what they see as the damage caused by neoliberal policies. I must admit I haven’t seen the movie but from what I’ve heard and a look at the trailer below, it’s a must see.