On Sunday February 24, a dead man was raised to life in South Africa. At least that’s what Pastor Lukau wanted parishioners to believe.
It was obviously a stage-managed miracle. In Africa, these kinds of stunts happen here and there, where some pastors will pretend to heal people from diseases they didn’t have or make them stand from wheel chairs they weren’t confined to.
While this is a menace what is an even bigger problem is how petty one off nuisances from Africa are told with such grandeur in the western media.
When the news of the resurrection broke, various reputable international news sources took the story and ran with it. Once again Africa, (which isn’t a country) was being depicted with jest and as a laughing stock.
“Look at those gullible Africans.”
One of the continent’s biggest issues is that it is not allowed to tell her own stories. Earlier in the year, Kenya had an unfortunate terror attack where armed gunmen stormed an upscale business complex and opened fire. Many people the world over took to social media such as twitter to follow the happenings. Soon pictures and videos of the victims of the attack surfaced and circulated.
One such photo showed dead bodied strewn all over the garden at the complex. The New York Times was quick to tweet the photo and it was soon deleted after public outcry but it can be found on the original NY Times article. The New York Times firmly defended their position and maintained that the truth must be told no matter how bloody.
This is a double standard that must be challenged. During the unfortunate 9/11 attack the images shown were those of the towers going down the smoke the flames but none of bodies falling out of buildings. Nothing trivializing the bodies of Americans was depicted under the guise of truth.
Even more recently there was the unfortunate attack at the Arianna Grande concert in Manchester, England. There was no pressing need for the “truth” journalists did well to condemn the attack and respect the victims.
So why are African matters trivialized. Its not as if Western Pastors haven’t had their own share of “mischief.” Are we forgetting Jim Bakker who swindled his congregants of over $150 million? What about Jimmy Swaggart and his sexual deviances? These stories fall through the cracks but when it comes to Africa, it’s an opportunity to ridicule and show how ‘barbaric’ and ‘pre-historic’ we are.
It has been said that the agenda for African news is decided in far-off Western capitals—London, Paris, New York—and written by spirited foreign correspondents who do not take a moment to understand the culture, instead they base their narrative on misleading generalizations that often miss the mark. Because they are not ‘African,” telling the story is a job, the more sensational the better: never mind how ridiculous it may be, never mind the families who see their loved ones bodies strewn on the news.
The problem is, African countries are not setting their own news agenda. If not it will remain that Africa is, a hot bed of terror, poor, conflict ridden, full of skinny children with potbellies and flies on their faces- it needs help. And when foreign reporters are in a good mood, Africa is “On the rise” is “climbing” has one two technovations worth noting. Again sweeping generalizations to get the job done.
Governments should stop censoring the media because as we know nature abhors a vacuum. The vacuum created by censorship is filled by foreign correspondents who peddle the narrative hey deem fit.
Its time we set our own agenda as the African adage goes, “UNTIL THE LION LEARNS HOW TO WRITE, EVERY STORY WILL GLORIFY THE HUNTER. “
