We have recently come across a lovingly-made animation developed by Africa Positive, a non-profit organisation focused on African integration, which also edits a magazine in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Founded in 1998 by Cameroonian Veye Tatah, the organisation aims to decolonize the mindset of African people, in hopes of empowering them to proudly wear their cultural identity in their attitudes and pass this ‘Africanness’ along to younger generations.
Since 2018, Africa Positive has conducted trainings for journalists on media and migration in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Gambia. Workshops with African youths pointed to the challenges in their daily lives and elaborated on possible solutions. These materials served as a basis for the aforementioned animated series, titled The Ubuntu Series. The German Federal Foreign Office supported the projects.
Every African should watch these videos, in order to reassess the real value of their native cultural heritage, regardless of nationality, being African should feel like a privilege. We’ll break it to you: it is!
Watch Episode 1 below, titled ‘We turn the page’ (At the time of writing, there were 4 episodes available on their YouTube channel, also available in French)
About the making of The Ubuntu Series, Africa Positive writes:
“The Ubuntu Series aims at sensitizing people of African descent about behaviors that disrupt the development of our countries. We believe a change in attitudes can empower us to find homemade solutions for the challenges we face.
Media reports in 2017 that showed black Africans being sold as slaves in Libya and so many young Africans dying in the Mediterranean sea touched us deeply and resulted in our conceiving this series. Africans need to create conducive environments in our communities and countries that encourage development at both the individual and national levels.
Also read: South Africa Triggerfish animation studio to open office in Ireland
The renaissance of Africa lies in the accomplishment of the African Identity, by realizing the black consciousness and back-to-our-roots agenda, and by reloading our sense of humanity, fairness, justice, empathy, naturalism and the legendary consideration of the human being.
Global media predominantly highlight the negative about the African continent. (Editor’s note: This is also the core idea behind the founding of FurtherAfrica).
They generally project Western Countries in a most positive light. The youth in Africa consuming this information believe everything and are ready to risk their lives for perceived greener pastures abroad.
The African continent is very rich and truly offers a lot of hidden opportunities that are not always obvious to young Africans. Their focus is the West they see glamorized in the media. They are also led to buy into the age-old notion that nothing good comes out of Africa.
As Africans, our identity is our history and we have to wake up from our slumber and take our destiny in our hands. Africa is richly blessed and we must recognize and value this: its strikingly beautiful landscapes, the abundant human and natural resources, and the rich and diverse cultural practices. Lets create opportunities in our countries for our youth and make our countries a paradise for our people.”
Africa Positive Magazine and the Africa Institute of media, migration and development (AIMMAD).
