On Thursday, Feb. 13, Catherine Mathers, associate professor of the practice of program in International Comparative Studies, presented an early look at “When I Say Africa,” which she co-produced. Slated for a release later in 2025, the documentary presents multiple perspectives on the white-savior complex and how it manifests in western perceptions of and interactions with Africa.
The film does this by combining the experiences and viewpoints of four people — Pippa Biddle, Zine Magubane, Boniface Mwangi and Binyavanga Wainaina — with a quick history of Africa and a survey of current social movements
Early in the documentary, Boniface Mwangi visits Chicago, where he asks teenage students what first comes to mind when he says “Africa.” The teenagers respond with words such as “poverty,” “safari,” “rape,” “tribes” and “Ebola.” Mwangi then travels to Mombasa, Kenya to show students there what the Chicago students said, and these students react with a mix of annoyance and surprise. One even remarks that the constant question of the quality of life in Kenya is "demoralizing."
Later, the film gives historical context on how Western perspectives have shaped Africans’ lives, presenting images representing the diversity of African cultures before Western colonialism compressed or eradicated many of them. The film connects this imperialism to the idea of the “white man's burden,” which argues that Westerners have the obligation to “save” non-Western societies by Westernizing them.
This white saviorism ties into another core piece of the film, “Do They Know It's Christmas?” — a song created to raise global awareness about the Ethiopian famine, which became a huge hit and raised millions. However, as the film shows, this song set a bad precedent for Westerners of what it means to “help” Africans. The film then explores missionary culture, highlighting how Western media treats them as celebrities and how missionaries exaggerate how much help Africa needs in order to gain public support.
To provide another example of white saviorism, the film examines activist Jason Russell’s viral “Kony 2012” video, which exposed the corruption of warlord Joseph Kony and called on Americans to demand action from the US government. Russell’s video went viral, receiving 103 million views, and led to Kony being arrested in 2012. The film places this video in the context of how Americans see themselves as tasked with saving countries they believe need help but don’t feel the need to listen to and understand the needs of that country’s residents.
The film then provides the perspective of a former white savior Pippa Biddle, who volunteered with Feed the Children and traveled to Tanzania to build a children's center. Biddle talks about how she first saw her work as a chance to make a difference while going on a fun excursion with sightseeing. It wasn't until she noticed Tanzanian assistants quietly redoing her group's volunteer building work that she realized what she was doing wasn't as needed as she had hoped.
Next, the film transitions to a video call between the Chicago and Kenyan students, who engage in a dialogue to change their perceptions of each other's country, with one Kenyan student saying “My country doesn't need saving.”
Throughout “When I Say Africa,” viewers hear men discuss the quality of life in Africa. One quote that stands out is “Africa in its jungle and its villages, wealth lays wasted.” The film captures the perspectives of Africans like Binyavanga Wainaina, who have witnessed the Westernization of their countries. Viewers here Binyavanga talk about how Western companies came into the country and shifted economic strength away from internal businesses and toward Western corporations while impoverishing locals.
Another focus of the film is how Western media has promoted an inaccurate understanding of Africa. Pop culture archivist Zine Magubane breaks down the problems with these images. She highlights how western photographers use Africa as a backdrop to highlight their white models, creating a cultural contrast and almost dehumanizing Africans by treating them as mere background objects. Photos commonly focus on hungry and impoverished children, garnering media attention.
As other photographers flew to recapture iconic photos, they realized they were chasing an image, not accurate representations of these areas. To address these media-caused misconceptions, Mwangi reaches out to youth from different African countries and has these youths photograph their lives, providing different perspectives on Africa.
“When I Say Africa” is an eye-opener, as evidenced by the myriad of conversations between audience members and Mathers post-viewing. When going to Africa to “help,” maybe Duke students and faculty should support local organizations that intimately know the areas they are trying to help rather than focus on issues Duke believes are problems.
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