Unrealistic realists

Self styled “African realists” have been responsible for the painful smile on my face. Rarely do I encounter a group so confused. Consider these sentences:

a.) Who the hell is Bob Geldof anyway? No one knows his songs!
b.) All these Live8 rock stars are it for the publicty
c.) All these Live8 rock stars just want to look cool and feel good about themselves.

Now let’s be realistic. Let us be brutally realistic. Where was the last G8 summit? Who hosted it? What was the main item on the agenda? No one knows no one cares.

This year is different though. And it’s the Make Poverty History and Bob Geldof that are responsible for that. They have raised the profile of Africans plight and they have put Africa firmly on the agenda. That is what matters at the end of the day. So what if Bob Geldof isn’t as big in your opinion as Luther Vandross (R.I.P)? So what is Brad Pitt is only in it to look sanctimonious? So what if the man in the street in Kakamega has never heard of Live8? It does NOT matter. MPH and Geldof have put Africa on the agenda. That is the reality.

Ati Liv8 is useless because of the lack of Africa artists. Nah you need a reality check. I would have preferred to see more African artist. I even got tickets for the Eden Project. But the concerts were not to showcase African talent. The concerts were not about African culture. The concerts were all about raising the profile, raising awareness in G8 countries because ultimately it is the citizens of those countries that can put the most pressure on the G8 leaders. Who do you think Tony Blair would rather not piss off, his senior backbenchers or the heads of states of IGAD? Who would Bush rather avoid confrontation with the leading senators or the ECOWAS heads of state? Who can put most pressure on British MPs and US Senators, fans of Gidigidi-Majimaji or fans of U2 and Sting? Reality check.

Africans behind their unrealistic realists really know how to shoot themselves in the foot at times. We had 10 concerts around the world all full of hundreds of thousands of people (1.5 million in Philly) all saying Make Poverty History and we complain. Can you think of a better way to raise the profile? Because REALISTICALLY we are flipping running out of options and we need all the help we can get. Do you need Bono to explain it to you? Well here you go: “The rock stars and the hip-hop stars can’t change anything but our audience really can.”

In the late ’80s my school participated in an anti-apartheid, release Mandela, letter writing campaign. Did the people on the streets of Soweto know about these kids in Kenya writing letters? Does Mandela know about these kids in Kenya that were writing letters? Probably not. But who knows, someone somewhere was getting tens of thousands letters a day. So what if the people in Kakamega were preoccupied with medical clinics and the sugarcane crop yesterday, because they didn’t know about Live8 does that mean that Live8 failed? That is bullshit. Maybe it takes a South African to appreciate “I don’t know who Bob Geldof is,” said Edward Romoki in central Johannesburg. “But people are speaking about poverty and there is plenty of that in Africa. Maybe a concert like this can put Africa in the news and change things.” He gets it, many do not.

If you want to be realistic look at any international news website today English non English websites Live8 is at the top. The number 1 news item. That is reality. Africa is on the agenda in a massive way. Trade is on the agenda in a massive way. 8 men in a room in Scotland probably won’t rock the boat. But people are standing up to be counted. Momentum is being built.

My Uganda friends told me that when Geldof went to Uganda he was met by protestors with placards reading, “We don’t want help from gays.” Wow now there is some serious logic for you. I wonder which clever cartoon came up with that one. Now it would have been nice to have a huge African concert, and hype park definately need a many african artists, it would have been nice if everybody love each other, it would be nice if i got chapos cooked for me everyday.

(Yes i realise that i have linked to the Torygraph newspaper. It is scary when even The Telegraph gets it but we fail to.)