Dear Ben Affleck,
I have to admit, for the better part of my life, I wasn’t
really that interested in you.
Gigli was a turn-off, and for some reason, I never really enjoyed Armageddon, either, even though all my friends were obsessed.
I knew you did some sort of activism in Africa, but I didn’t really think much of it.
Truth be told, it’s always been that
buddy of yours, Matt Damon, who really sets my oh-so-feminine heart a-flutter.
No more.
After reading your response to #Kony2012 and the Invisible
Children campaign on The Huffington Post, I happily admit to underestimating you.
In fact, I may have a new celebrity crush.
The following
paragraph from your article is pretty cool:
“Westerners are not and will never be the
'saviors' of Africa. That idea has been tried and found wanting. It is
ineffectual at best and deadly at worst. The organization I founded, Eastern Congo Initiative,
funds Congolese-led organizations that rescue child soldiers from the bush and
provides them with education, medical assistance, job training, and counseling.”
And it gets even better when you start talking about your
organization, Eastern Congo Initiative:
“We support the work being done by highly capable and determined
Congolese, to make their communities a better place.”
I love the emphasis that you put on the strong and
resilient Congolese people—the Congolese people who are not sitting around
waiting for someone to save them, but who are envisioning a better future, and
acting toward making it happen.
I also really appreciate that your article is nuanced. It’s
not all about one evil person, or easy answers, and the future isn’t dependent
solely on overseas activism.
There are those in the aid and development industry who will
probably still criticize you, or roll their eyes, or make snide comments about
the stupidity of your celebrity activism being a poverty safari, me-centered, or
white-saviour mania.
Let them.
But I just wanted to thank you for showing that activism,
even celebrity activism, doesn’t have to be about a dumbed-down, simplified
message in order for people to notice.
Judging from this article, you’ve added an important voice to the conversation about
the ways that different people from different backgrounds and countries can actually,
really, truly start shaking things up.
Lots of love, bro—carry on.
Amanda
HT @viewfromthecave for introducing me to my new celeb crush
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| Ben Affleck strolling around somewhere in Africa...I don't know where this photo is from. Sorry. If it's yours, let me know and I'll take it down. |
4 comments:
So true. I feel untrue to my published opinions. I don't think Westerners should get involved because we have a different culture, a different insight, and different informational sources. They see things as ideal in one way while we see another. And there are at least a million shades of grey areas in between.
Heard you on cjob tonight. Very insightful. You made very good comments on the African point of view.
Will be interested to hear about you travels back to Uganda.
Just saw your latest tweet. Is Uganda safe to travel to?
Thanks for your comments, guys. Kirah--don't worry about changing opinions on #kony2012. The whole aftermath of that issue was kind of crazy in the first place, you know?
To the unnamed commenters: Thank you for listening, and as for the situation in Uganda: I will keep an eye on it and watch for travel advisories, but I am not expecting that things will become unsafe to the point where I cancel my trip.
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