I said I wouldn’t do this much. “This” meaning, writing posts that were more personal in nature. But on the last full weekend of 2011, I want to take the time out to share a few things.

This year has been nothing short of a roller coaster, with intense highs, and  lows. I’ve traveled to speak at Oxford University in the UK, worked at the United Nations, met Alicia Keys and was in an episode for MTV Base in Africa. However,  2010 into 2011 has also been a year of heartbreaks, school pressures, medical emergencies, a close mentor’s death,  angst about even being in this field of “international development”, among other things.

I know God is there somewhere. But I admit, this year has taken its toll. With that said, I’ll be going off the grid for a week to clear my head, soul, and mind before my last semester of graduate school.

But I wanted to say, I’m extremely blessed and grateful to all of you who have encouraged me with this blog and to keep writing. I know I have not written as much as I should have, or would like to. But a good friend of mine encouraged me to channel energy into writing, creating, recording expressing, and sharing with you all.

I’ve been getting inquiries and requests about the shea butter, and I love that you guys appreciated it so much. I’ve been so busy with school that I have barely had time to properly make batches for myself, even. But a good friend of mine over Twitter has requested some samples, and I will be making more upon my return to NYC in a couple of days. Hold tight!

Again, I thank all of you for your support and encouragement. I will be writing more in 2012, thats for sure. Feel free to reach out to me for anything, and of course, directly via Twitter (@KarenAttiah).

Now that finals are over, maybe time for a little less international-development- grad-school-angst ridden posts and more “normal” posts.

Two days ago, the Twitterverse was aflame with reports about Jackie, a Dutch fashion magazine deciding to print an article that called U.S. hip-hop star Rihanna “The Ultimate Niggabitch” :

I don’t speak Dutch, but FashionBombDaily adds that the article goes on to call Barbados-born Rihanna “Jamaican” and that she displays her “ghetto ass” gladly, and for her that means, “whats on can come off”.

A Twitter friend of mine @DrGoddess, caught on to the article, and tweeted the name of Jackie’s editor Eva Hoeke, @Evajackie to Miss Rihanna herself. Ms. Fenty was none too pleased, and went off the top rope on the editor from her personal Twitter account with 10 million followers:

Yours truly also went on a Twitter rant on this nonsense that was picked up by the editor of Ebony, @amydbarnett among other sites such as GlobalGrind and Hollywood Reporter. Many others were upset by further by @EvaJackie’s attitude on Twitter, referring to the whole incident as “just a joke” , and loosely translated (Thank you Google Translate) as saying: “Learned two things yesterday: Dont put bad jokes on the cover page…sorry guys, my bad”.

Gee. If that isn’t a sincere apology, I don’t know what is.

Yesterday, the Jackie Magazine Facebook page issued this:

And lo and behold, today, Eva Hoeke announced her resignation from Jackie Magazine due to social media backlash. The statement says,

“Throughout the various social media there has been an emotional response to this choice of words, as published in Jackie..Through social media Hoeke was taunted and threatened in various ways.Following these events she consulted with publisher Yves Gijrath of GMG. Together they came to the following conclusion: In the interest of Jackie Magazine and all involved she will quit her job as editor-in-chief effective immediately. Hoeke states: ‘I realize that my first reaction through Twitter, in which I indicated that it was a joke, has been an incomplete misrepresentation what me, and also the author of the article, meant. The term ‘niggabitch’ came from America and all we did was describing a style of dress. Because of the enormous pressure through social media I was enticed to promise amendment regarding the linguistic usage in future issues of Jackie.( You can read the full statement and comments here).

Whew! So there is a lot to unpack in all of this.

First of all, this is an excellent case study in the field of media, globalization, and racial representation. While many people are angry, (and rightly so, I might add), plenty of comments I have seen from both Dutch users and African American users alike blame Rihanna and hip-hop music in general for this happening.  They say (in a nutshell), “Well, black people use the n-word and the word “bitch” in hip hop music! So what do they expect when other people start to use  it? From @DrGodess ‘s site:

In a global age where music and culture flow back and forth between time zones, languages, and continents via social media platforms and international record companies, it is naive to think that American content and culture will be received in the same way every where. Through my travels, I’ve come to question before if Americans at home realize the way that rap music (in particular) affects the way black women are seen around the world, as nameless sexual jezebels who “shake their Netherlands” for any Johnny Come Lately who’s got a couple of dollars (or Euros) in his pockets. Is questioning Rihanna’s lyrics amounting to “blaming the victim?” Or does this incident call for another domestic referendum on the “N-word” in hip hop? Shall I get my shovel and crusade for reburying the N word, NAACP-style?

On the other side, to many American onlookers, the Dutch response to the Jackie/Rihanna incident, as well their response US criticism of the “blackface” holiday tradition of Zwarte Piet (literally ‘Black Pete’) has been quite telling. Many responses to both incidents from users from the Netherlands has been to quickly deny that there is any hint of racism in their culture, and anyone hinting at such is ignorant of Dutch culture, or trying to impose the American context of racism onto them. (Look at the comments on the Zwarte Piet piece…many Dutch commenters are crying hypocrisy, telling the US users to go and get rid of Thanksgiving before we can say anything about Sinterklaas and his helper, Zwarte Piet).  It does not appear that there is a willingness to have a healthy discussion on race in these threads from our friends i the Netherlands.

I know the typical trajectory of these stories. 1) Person/media outlet/company says/does perceived as really racist. 2) Black folk react via social media and call for action. 3) Action taken by person/media outlet/company to rectify 4) Black folk accused of “herd mentality” and being “emotional” and “overreacting”.

Here is the deal. Yes, the editor of Jackie Magazine was basically on the receiving end of an lighting-fast Twitter take-down of epic proportions. But does that mean that all black people wanted was for heads to roll? No, it is way more than that.

This is about black women using their voices via blogs and social social media to say, “This is not how we are to be represented in 2011!” And we have every right to do so. There was a time when black women could not challenge demeaning, insensitive and oppressive characterizations.

This is not about individual bigotry. Individual bigotry is often a symptom of socially learned symbols, histories, and systems. Let’s be real. That article with the words “Niggabitch” was read through, copy edited, and checked by multiple people at Jackie Magazine. The fact that this was passed through many hands at a magazine then sent to publication says a lot about the institution and the acceptability of such language.

This is about “Clash of Civilizations”-meets-Twitter-meets Pop Culture. There is s sense of defensiveness against among many Dutch commenters I see on the sites responding to these issues. One maybe could note a reluctance to discuss race and racism publicly, in favor of a kneejerk reaction to say, “We don’t see race in Dutch culture”. We know about the Dutch’s brutal history with slavery in Africa and the Caribbean. We all know about the issues Europe is having as a whole with immigration and the failed notion of multiculturalism.

I would say, perhaps this is a good time for our friends in Netherlands to think about how they approach race in their culture. Just a suggestion. We Americans, and black Americans at that, know we have our issues too. At least we admit it, for the most part. While the rise of global media flows carries many possibilities it does not mean that we necessarily have a deeper understanding of each other’s cultures, histories, symbols and traditions. Let’s talk it out, even if it is painful!

Without the use of the word n*ggabitch, preferably.

I agree with points raised by Akhila in her blog response, specifically the part about students being trained to be leaders, implementers, recommenders, rather than allies, supporters, and observers.

I also agree with Chris Blattman’s points about grad school being a good place to gain technical skills. I’m grateful I’ve gotten to learn about statistics, STATA, and a little bit about Excel. I would like to learn more about content analysis programming and project design, its true.

However….*quick gut check*….yup, I’m still a bit disillusioned.

I’m questioning the system, at this point in my studies. Yes, we could debate about which university has the better/worse program, about courses, and curricula, but it still does not remove the big, gray, shadowy question mark that appears in my head when I ponder the development industry. (Yes, I said industry)

I’ve gotten the chance to be able to get out of the library and attend Africa related events and ceremonies where pretty wealthy and powerful people attend. I think more of my classmates should try to get out more and explore gatherings in both NYC and DC. There is more to “development” than meets the eye in your typical econ or policy memo writing class.  Lets just say, I’m starting to get the feeling that for all the development projects and theory I learn about, what it all comes down to, is….money.

I’m just going to call it like I’m seeing it.

There are powerful Western interests deeply embedded in African affairs. I mean, how can I try do design development projects to help the people of Equatorial Guinea when E. Guinea’s dictatorial leader Obiang is propped up by Western leaders and given awards at fancy DC dinners?

I was at the Sullivan Foundation Awards ceremony on the 15th in DC, attended by the likes of USAID, and the World Bank (I saw you, Paul Wolfowitz!) and members of the African diplomatic corps…and I could not help but think to myself as Obiang gave his speech and accepted some Beacon award…”Jeez, the odds are stacked“. While my academic ideas of development might revolve around things like microfinance, mapping, consulting, monitoring and evaluations, theres another side to international politics that revolves around personal relationships, “favors”, Western interests, and corruption.

You can’t learn this in a classroom.

Look at the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I have many friends at my school who have done and will do great development projects there as a part of their coursework. But as I write this, the West stands largely idly by as Kabila makes off as the “winner” of an election that can only be described as political theft of the highest order. No doubt there are very powerful international political and corporate interests that benefit from access DRC’s minerals and keeping Congo painted as a hopeless, dark case.

Back to my point, there is a SYSTEM at work here. We aren’t taught to question why the United States seems to hold the threshold for democracy higher in some countries in Africa than others. Or learning how to break the chain of  corporations exploiting African child labor (Here’s looking at you, Victoria’s Secret). But  like I said in my last post, I guess I’m to be  keeping my head down and aiming for a career in short term projects while larger international political forces at work are creating long term, potentially negative effects in African countries.

The post got a little bit more “rant-y” than I meant it to be. I’m sure I’ll return back to normal soon.

Whatever it is, all I can say is, what did I sign up for? By what, I mean choosing this world of “international development”?.

Don’t get me wrong. I go to one of the best international affairs schools in the world. There are so many good souls and people who genuinely care about the welfare of others not just around the world, but domestically. I have friends who have worked on everything from water projects in Malawi to improving educational opportunities for children in Harlem. I have friends who speak 3 languages, who have worked at top consulting firms, have given speeches at the UN and who have worked in the Peace Corps. Just amazing individuals.

I don’t have doubts about my brilliant classmates.

I question the international development system, and perhaps, academia’s role in perpetrating that system.

We are trained to think like short term consultants.Everything is project/program based. We are trained to measure everything through statistics, through case studies. A project seems to be measured as “successful” if you get it funded by a donor, not if it is actually needed or feasible. My mock assignments usually have something to do with making recommendations to some company wanting to do a project in another country or a government in a developing country. Are we learning how to make a living in telling developing countries what to do? Where are the assignments on how to observe and listen to communities?

I don’t really know if we are trained to question the prevailing system. After all my program is a pre-professional program, and we are here because we want to be hired into the system, right?

And back to the issue of learning how to make money in telling poor people how to live their lives…one thing that is peculiar to me is the lack of culture/history classes we are required to take. I can take courses on writing security memos in Africa, but yet, I’m hard pressed to find African history or language courses? Area studies is generally considered to be a “waste of time” at my school. Many people just opt to specialize in “harder concentrations”. How effective is drafting policies when you don’t have a sense of a people’s culture, their religion, their language, their way of life?

I know I’ve perhaps oversimplified things. But there are certain things that just strike me as odd about this world. When I voice them, many of my classmates just shrug and say, “Well, thats the way it is”. Does it have to be?

Anyway, just a quick post. Again, perhaps this is just home-stretch finals frustration.

However, all was not quiet on the western front at my relatives’ house where I stayed in Accra. The culprit causing most of the drama?

School Fees.

My Cousin Wrapping his Textbooks for the new school year (Accra, 2008)

Long story short, one of my very young relatives has been home for the past few months because his parents cannot afford his school fees. Bored with no books or stimulation, I would often see him just watching television, causing mischief, or running general errands for my grandmother. It broke my heart because my cousin is an extremely bright child and always did well at school. Of course, my grandmother asked me if I could help out by paying my cousin’s school fees. My initial reaction was to do whatever I could to help.  However, my followup reaction told me to call my mother to get to the bottom of this.

Her reaction? “Karen, don’t touch this problem with a ten-foot pole.”

I see two issues at work here in this situation: remittances and female education.

Remittances: My mother has since forever been sending my grandmother money every month for her upkeep, household expenses and sometimes for household emergencies. Over time, I have observed that my grandmother has been using the money to help out with school fees and food for my cousins. So she gives the money to my cousin’s mother. However, what happens by and by is that the money given to my aunt is siphoned off for other things, i.e. going to other people in the community where she is from, funerals, trading, etc. So then all of a sudden, there is no money for school fees (not to mention the costs of books, uniforms, and transport). And then my mom gets a phone call for more money, which she sends to my grandma, and then the cycle continues ad nauseam. She’s sick of it.

Which leads me to my second point about female education.

Many studies in international development have rightly found that increasing female education in third world countries lead to positive economic development outcomes. For instance, more female education leads to lower infant mortality rate and lower population growth. Educated mothers mean their children are more likely to finish school. My aunt never achieved a high school education, nor did she learn to fully read or write. Educated mothers will place a priority on educating their children. Financial difficulties aside, my cousin’s education is suffering because of his mother’s lack of it.

But here’s the challenge. Throwing money at problems like this rarely produce results. I told my mother, “Money cannot change a person’s ingrained priorities.” Prioritizing education could mean many things. It could mean sending the child to a cheaper school. It could mean sending my cousin to public school. It could even mean asking to buy books and making sure my cousin does some reading and writing everyday to at least keep up while the family gets back on its feet. My mother is adamant that the family send my cousin to public school and figure out a way to educate their children without depending on remittances.

It would be interesting and worthwhile if development organizations took the initiative to develop partnerships with Africans in the diaspora to track not just the amount of remittances that flow into a country, but how households are spending the money. Like how much is spent on food, health care, fuel, phone credit, and education for a family living in Accra? Or in the rural areas? Remittance spending journals could be useful not only to the families themselves, but also in the realm of governance and economic development.

Thoughts?

#OhReally?

The product I’m talking about is Origins Plantscriptions Anti-Aging Serum. Priced at $55 cool ones a pop, it was a bit too pricey for me to take one home for my own trial run. But the serum was hailed in a recent article of InStyle as having the effects of retinol products minus the redness and irritation. I am not so much interested in reversing the aging process, but rather about this miracle African ingredient.

Origins Plantscription uses Anogeissus plant bark from Ghana

The star ingredient is Anogeissus Leiocarpa a shrub or small tree that grows in wooded bushlands in several African countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, and of course, Ghana. According to CSR Europe, the raw material anogelline is harvested from the bark of the anogeissus plant and is starting to be used in cosmetic products. Well, high end cosmetic products that is. LVMH Group includes cosmetic products suc as Dior, Fendi, Fresh, and Benefit Cosmetics, just to name a few. According to the CSR website, LVMH has set up the Anogelline project in Koro, Burkina Faso which aims to plant 1500 anogeissus trees in the village and train villagers in harvesting and drying the tree bark.

Origins says that for “centuries, the leaves and bark have been used as a natural wound healer and anti-microbial”. Can any of my readers from West Africa comment on that?

Anogeissus Leiocarpus: Sourced from Africa, it can now be found in Western cosmetics

I’ve written a bit about shea butter from West Africa, and about DKNY using vanilla sourced from Uganda in their perfumes. I would like to see more from these companies about how their market supply strategy is benefitting local communities. Which local communities, and in what countries? So many companies just announce that their product is “organic”, or “sustainable”, and that seems to be enough to convince buyers that $55 is worth it if they can defeat poverty whilst defeating fine lines and wrinkles.

What do you all think? Do you have Plantscriptions and does it work for you? Does the fact that Origins is using plant ingredients from Africa convince you to buy?

Burberry Resort Collection 2012

Burberry Prorsum Resort Collection 2012

I’ve asked this question before, and will ask again:

What do you think of African prints being used in high fashion? Is it appreciation or appropriation? There are two opinions when Western labels and designers use African prints: The “Oh-my-God-They-Are-Appropriating-African-Culture-and-Tradition-For-Consumer-Profit-And-Africa-Doesnt-Benefit-From-It” side and the “Well-Its-Great-Someone-In-The-West-Is-Finally-Appreciating-The-African-Aesthetic” side.

Where do you fall?

Wax Prints at ATL Textiles in Adabraka, Accra, Ghana

-Quick Updates:

• I brought back more pure shea butter from my sources in Ghana. Look out for exciting news soon (this time I promise!)
• I will be in New York City this summer! Looking forward to more posts about Africa related events, businesses, and people in the city.
• Look out for more photography from me as well!
• More natural hair posts are in the pipeline…

Thoughts?

I really appreciate all the positive feedback and discussion on my blog last year. I know I have been a bit delinquent with posting in the last few months while adjusting to my new role as a graduate student my new city of New York.

I still want this blog to my way of giving back, my way of blessing and encouraging women of color. But I intend to critique injustices, stereotyping, racism, discrimination and all other forms of narrow-minded thinking against women of color all over the world. I have a special heart for the plight of women in Africa, but I will start to write more about issues affecting women from all over the world.

I also still will post about natural hair, beauty, and fashion. I hope to feature more posts about the convergence of fashion and international development. Increasingly, there are projects and efforts sell products made by women in the third world and donate a portion of the proceeds back to these women.

Look out for more interviews of women I find particularly awesome.

Many of you have asked about my Lemongrass Shea Butter. I have not abandoned the project, so don’t worry! I plan on doing another sample giveaway pretty soon. I am listening to all of your feedback from previous giveaways and refining my recipe as I go along.

Of course, I am open to your comments and suggestions on how I can improve!

Be Blessed,

Karen