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Letters & Opinions
Children of Uganda
Joe Bryak
2006-04-03, Issue 249
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/33184
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On the Ugandan dance troupe's visit to the United States, it is a hell of a thing that the AIDS-orphaned children of a nation that has been bled dry by imperialism then go to that bloodsucking empire's home base and "grin and skin," as Black folk put it.
Another, more extreme version of that is when the US GIs took a smoke break from raping and killing in My Lai, some of them then gave chocolate bars to some dazed, surviving children (whose parents, again, the US soldiers had just been slaughtering).
This dance tour is a little more removed, roundabout. But it's much the same thing. On the other hand, if a big part of why they are on tour is to raise money, who else has money but the populace in the imperialist powers? If it is to promote some sort of nebulous "good will" (a highly questionable proposition), then in some sort of perverted logic, it is most important to try to achieve this, uh, 'better will' precisely in those countries who have long rained down hatred on Uganda, Africa, the Third World.
But looking at it thusly makes it look ridiculous, a total farce. You have kidnapped my ancestors, steamrollered my country and its institutions, pillaged our resources and left us in ruins -see me dance!
But governments are overwhelmed by this enormous AIDS crisis. Despite the greater picture and all the historical perspective one might bring to bear, here and now people need help. So how can we say anything to undercut the effort these good young people are making? We have to applaud and support their tremendous effort, despite all our misgivings about them being used by those with a more sinister, imperialist agenda. Yes, it is a trap, but it is one we cannot avoid. All we can do is try to attack these problems on every front. And if somehow this dance troupe, besides raising some funds for one particular project, laudable in itself, manages to raise awareness of the African AIDS crisis - inseparable from its other problems - here in the center of this world empire that has its hand in everything, then it is a good thing. The main thing is the people, always the people.