From Publishers Weekly
Widespread AIDS, constant internal strife and corrupt, shaky economies form the largely media-driven image of Africa that many Americans possess, argues veteran correspondent Hunter-Gault in this skillful blend of memoir, reportage and political analysis. The author is determined to deliver some "new news"—or good news—out of Africa, and to challenge facile assumptions that it is a dark, hopeless continent ravaged by the "four D's": death, disaster, disease and despair. Based on lectures Hunter-Gault gave at Harvard University in 2003, while a fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, the book is divided into three distinct though intrinsically interrelated sections: an analysis of South Africa under apartheid and positive postapartheid developments; the painful yet powerful continent-wide transition from colonialism to democratic reform; and how foreign and African journalists can more accurately report an emerging "African Renaissance," particularly in Rwanda, Kenya, Mozambique, Angola, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Hunter-Gault (
In My Place), who lives in Johannesburg, where she is special Africa correspondent for NPR, has written an incisive, informative work that provides a balanced perspective on the continent's recent past, transformative present and potentially rich future.
(June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Hunter-Gault brings long and respected journalistic experience with NPR, CNN and PBS, as well as riveting personal experience, to an examination of developments in Africa that most Americans remain ignorant of because of the scarcity of coverage in the American media. Hunter-Gault offers observations on South Africa's struggle to reconcile its troubled racial past, examining unresolved issues of apartheid and how they are being addressed, including developing a civil society, efforts at black economic empowerment, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. She explores efforts by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to expose the brutality of the apartheid regime without destroying future prospects for peace and democracy, and how--despite its imperfections--the commission provides a model for other African nations struggling to rebuild after years of internal conflict. Despite staggering unemployment and the scourge of AIDS, South Africa is showing promising efforts to build schools, broaden access to universities, expand health-care services, and otherwise advance the prospects for Africans of all races.
Vanessa BushCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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