tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post1747211475345317415..comments2024-02-15T10:22:38.284+00:00Comments on Sky, Soil & Everything in Between: Congo: 50 Years, 50 FacesKonWomynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17244078092450908161noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post-24983472701633602902010-06-19T15:24:02.025+01:002010-06-19T15:24:02.025+01:00Ebele,
Lol, rite on the money! They got the same ...Ebele,<br /><br />Lol, rite on the money! They got the same heads.<br /><br />BigMan<br />Tue dat, the stories are very powerful. Still wld have preferred softer looks, but still it's impressive work.KonWomynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17244078092450908161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post-32845548363544703952010-06-17T20:07:22.309+01:002010-06-17T20:07:22.309+01:00Powerful stuff sis.Powerful stuff sis.Big Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02510881583909431416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post-63115342475583257592010-06-15T19:52:22.031+01:002010-06-15T19:52:22.031+01:00I hear you Sis wam...that rapper Larrouse has a he...I hear you Sis wam...that rapper Larrouse has a head just like Pharrell, don't you think? <br />EbeleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post-84786816603771417772010-06-14T22:04:31.351+01:002010-06-14T22:04:31.351+01:00Wsup Ebele
I hear you on the absence of the Sapeu...Wsup Ebele<br /><br />I hear you on the absence of the Sapeur, the Rhumba and Soukousse musicians, the fashion designers, the hiphop scence - I really was hoping to see that because Congo's got a very vibrant cultural side to it.<br /><br />However what I liked in the selected pix was the range of stories and diff identities. I get that its instinctual to be reactionary and dismissive of representations of Africa and it's warranted to some extent, but OTOH there's something one misses. <br /><br />These pix tell the stories of ordinary people living in the Congo - not all the Congolese are dying at war nor are they sitting with begging bowls waiting for USAid. The doctor is one of my faves bec he touches on the Congo as a battlefield for everyone and the failures of international rights bodies. He's also been through alot. <br /><br />The hiphopper Larouse, was cool. He's like any other hiphopper on the Continent. The li'l boy again, simple just like any other kid but in such a simple way he touches on something that complicates Blackness and African identity. <br /><br />iLove the teacher's frustration, rite on brotha! Many of us sit around talking/blogging about how frustrated we are with our countries' situations.<br /><br />The woman with HIV - the humanity in her story and the street kids helping her, was moving to me. <br /><br />There were other pix that show the lingering influence of the Belgians on the Congo. Also, the Black colonial mentality of White is Right still persists and those pics irritated me, esp the first pic in The Guardian's collection. <br /><br />I didn't like the shots sometimes bec I felt they were extreme esp the ones of the old people. If they'd been in color or sepia it may have better, softer on the people and humanized them alot more methinks.KonWomynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17244078092450908161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post-58716264227705790722010-06-14T19:38:12.768+01:002010-06-14T19:38:12.768+01:00Actually, on reflection, it is the accompanying th...Actually, on reflection, it is the accompanying thumb nail text I dislike; the pictures are fine...<br /><br />EbeleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2504879269502854130.post-36447686913996317452010-06-14T17:53:15.667+01:002010-06-14T17:53:15.667+01:00Hey,
I saw these pictures in the Guardian and I wa...Hey,<br />I saw these pictures in the Guardian and I was struck by their sombre melancholy and the accompanying thumb nail bios which offered up the usual litany of abuse, material collapse, despair and macabre humour. I wondered if the Congo was not more than this....after all this is the home of Soukous, Kimbangu and Sape. True, the Congo and the Congolese have had a hard and cruel 50 years (and longer) but I am sure a more composite human picture is possible. Perhaps I am a foolish 'Afro-optimist' African incased in safe Europe. But I do tire of these kind of pictures.....I was not moved. And, consequently, I did not look too closely. <br /><br />EbeleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com