Separating Fact From Fiction: Are Some Stereotypes About "Africa" True?

Written By: MIM!—In the Spring 2010 article A Typical African Woman, writer Nana Bonsu challenged stereotypes about African women (and Africa more generally). She started, "Think Africa, think poverty stricken, famine ridden, war torn pit of despair." While we can think of African countries that do not fit any of these stereotypes, we cannot hide from the inescapable truth: this laundry list of stereotypes was born from tragic real-life events.

Think "poverty stricken," think Zimbabwe's claim to the title world's highest inflation rate in 2008. Think "war torn," think Rwanda's genocide in 1994. Think "famine ridden," think Ethiopia's famine in 1984-85. But after public outcries about the state of affairs in these countries, how much of this remains true today? Particularly in the case of Ethiopia's devastating famine, which happened over 25 years ago now? This year, two different production houses will be releasing films exploring this very question from very different perspectives. Take a look at the trailers below:

Ethiopia Teaser from REKO TV on Vimeo.

Love, Ethiopia - A documentary (teaser) from ReFocus Media on Vimeo.

To learn more about these films, visit Twenty5Ethiopia.org and RefocusMedia.org. And tell us, are some stereotypes about "Africa" warranted today?