Nneka Finds

July 7th, 2014.

White Savior Complex
I’m interested in a lot of things these days, but the aid and development industry is high up on my list. Like I said on my twitter, talking about this industry is tricky because there’s a tendency to get so worked up by the white savior complex and then insist we don’t need help. But in actuality, we need all the help we can get. What I would say is more African involvement with African solutions to African problems, but it’s easier said than done. Here’s the article.

How to Pull an Erin Brockovich
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this. I imagine myself pulling this on some people sometimes, but I don’t have the guts. If someone ever doubts your capabilities and makes you feel inferior in some way, I say pull an Erin Brockovich on ‘em!

Interpret Art as You May
Kara Walker who is best known for her controversial pieces of art just had her “A Subtlety” on exhibition in Brooklyn. It was on for a while but I just heard about it a few days ago. This is a sphinx made predominantly of white sugar with features akin to a black woman. This article gives a detailed review of the exhibition while this one recounts the experience of a tour guide at the exhibition who worked in the then Domino Sugar Factory (before it closed down) where sugar baby is housed. It’s worth noting that these two articles make for a well rounded view on the whole exhibition.

Good Sound
I’ll be honest, I can’t think of music that’s been grabbing my attention lately, but these are two songs that popped into my head when I was thinkng of what to share.
Kendrick Lamar had just lost Best Rap album to Macklemore during the Grammys and I guess that set him off in some way because he brought fire to this performance.

This second one from Kendrick is arguably my favourite, ever.

‘MURICA
“America is only as good as the people who force us to live up to our promises. That is the America for which I sing.” In sort of unrelated news, I stumbled across this article and thoroughly enjoyed it. July 4th is over, but Langston Hughes, poet and activist, wrote a poem that speaks volumes. For all the things wrong with America, he decided, I Too Sing America

Trying to make this shorter than usual because there’s only so much one can read in one sitting and I know most people don’t come back to continue so, yea. I hope you enjoyed this post. To keep up with this series, you can follow Kitchen Table Talk on Twitter or like us on Facebook.