Comments on: Coloring in Africa

By: run.like the wind » perpetually dissatisfied

run.like the wind » perpetually dissatisfied — Wed, 16 May 2007 04:51:08 +0000

[...] and subtitled â€œMillennium Goal: combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases.â€ Iâ€™ve talked before about the images that surround African scarification and I was more than a little disappointed at the condescending presentation of the tradition in his [...]

By: Murtada Shah

Murtada Shah — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 02:32:41 +0000

I agree with Fathima here.

I find many wear the bands as fashion statements, without understanding the depth of what they represent.

I also think it is hurtful to the poor when us rich boys pay $1 (or whatever) for a white band that represents their lives, but then go on with our own without even acknowledging poverty exists.

By: fathima

fathima — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:39:06 +0000

Well, there’s nothing with wearing white bands, as long as you’re actually actively involved in the process of making poverty history. However, if you’re wearing a white band (or a red one or blue one or a green one or a yellow one, etc. ad nauseum), just because it’s what everyone does, that’s not just pathetic, that’s insulting, because it reduces the complexities of these issues to mere fashion statements – as in the cause, for instance, of the young man I saw who I only saw wear a white band once – and it was a an event unrelated with global poverty – but he was wearing a white shirt.

As accessories to a activism, they’re great.
Just as accessories – not so much.

By: basit

basit — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 05:44:36 +0000

ahh
you malign the white bands
everyone’s a hater