K'NAAN: Response to South Park
Just a few days ago, I was cracking up, laughing about the hilarious episode South Park did on Kanye. I often hold the creators of this show with a certain regard, for I believe, good comedy will from time to time, hold a mirror up to society's collective face. So that we may look at ourselves and burst out in laughter, even if the frowns of self examination follow. I gotta say though, Kanye handled it well. The homie and I have some mutual friends and I don't remember ever making a remark to anyone about his personal choices. Even when his presentation of his own ego swallowed him whole, I always found the honesty in his music more of an appealing focus. Now, what I wanted to write about isn't really Fishsticks, but honestly, who would have thought South Park would be the first major American TV program to do a real piece on the Somali piracy crisis?
First of all, they used real Somali voices, which is always a point of charm for the Somali people. We DON'T LIKE NOBODY PLAYIN ON OUR LANGUAGE!! Black Hawk Down was unbearable in that, it was like being told you were watching a true portrayal of the Bronx's early days of Hip Hop, except Cool Herc and em spoke with a German accent. The F*&@!! Secondly, they touched on the supreme lawlessness, poverty and humanitarian crisis facing the country. Cartman says "In Somalia, people have no laws, they have no rules and they never grow old" The response? The golden truth of the Somali tragedy: "They never grown old because they die before they're 30!"
They talked about the toxic waste issue which I have been quite vocal about. "Even the fish here are radio active" says Kyle. Could 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper or any of the supposably serious outlets not have looked into this issue? Should it take a witty jewish cartoon boy to make this statement? Well, I think the answer is: When fear grips the rest, comedy is where the truth is left. It happens everywhere. In Somalia, when political theatre was being suppressed, and serious poetry could not be composed to criticize oppression and inequality, the poets would use comedians to get the word out. So while we all find relief in laughter, I would argue that there is more to the chuckles than meets the ear. Because even pain is funny, so long as we're not laughing at it, but about it.
South Park is not without its imperfections though. It seems the clever creators can also be guilty of the African stereotypes. If you look at the emotional moment of the episode, presenting the young Somali pirate's puzzlement over the American's fascination with lawlessness and piracy, he explains "my mother is dying of AIDS". Now while the disease is a major issue in some African countries, it's about the same of an issue in Somalia as it is in Greece. The reason for the comparison is that the two countries, Greece and Somalia, are roughly around the same in their population. The HIV prevalence rate for Greece is 0.2, while in Somalia it's at 0.5. Unicef estimates that in 2007, the number of people in Somalia living with HIV is 24, 000, Out of an estimated 11 and a half million people. It's a relatively low number considering most of the new cases stem from high border crossing and mass internal movement. For greece, it's at 19, 000 out of its 11 million population.
So Clearly the problem of AIDS in Somalia, isn't comparable to say Botswana with its heart aching 23.9 prevalence rate for its meager population of 1.8 million. And while it's important to say something about the HIV problem in Africa, Somalia is the wrong country to profile it through. I suppose it would strike us all as odd, if some American sitcom, (during the warm and fuzzy parts where we all get our life lessons) made a remark about Greece's "AIDS problem". So is it acceptable to do so about Somalia because it's in Africa?
All in all, while a part of me wants to resist being vocal about Everything Somalia, I can't help but speak on what I am most passionate about. One blogger put it best, "FatBeard is to K'naan like Fishsticks is to Kanye". We can all complain about the imperfections of major media outlets, but I wanna take a moment, to thank God for Jon Stewart, thank God for Dave Chappelle and thank God for South Park.
Peace.
K'naan
First of all, they used real Somali voices, which is always a point of charm for the Somali people. We DON'T LIKE NOBODY PLAYIN ON OUR LANGUAGE!! Black Hawk Down was unbearable in that, it was like being told you were watching a true portrayal of the Bronx's early days of Hip Hop, except Cool Herc and em spoke with a German accent. The F*&@!! Secondly, they touched on the supreme lawlessness, poverty and humanitarian crisis facing the country. Cartman says "In Somalia, people have no laws, they have no rules and they never grow old" The response? The golden truth of the Somali tragedy: "They never grown old because they die before they're 30!"
They talked about the toxic waste issue which I have been quite vocal about. "Even the fish here are radio active" says Kyle. Could 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper or any of the supposably serious outlets not have looked into this issue? Should it take a witty jewish cartoon boy to make this statement? Well, I think the answer is: When fear grips the rest, comedy is where the truth is left. It happens everywhere. In Somalia, when political theatre was being suppressed, and serious poetry could not be composed to criticize oppression and inequality, the poets would use comedians to get the word out. So while we all find relief in laughter, I would argue that there is more to the chuckles than meets the ear. Because even pain is funny, so long as we're not laughing at it, but about it.
South Park is not without its imperfections though. It seems the clever creators can also be guilty of the African stereotypes. If you look at the emotional moment of the episode, presenting the young Somali pirate's puzzlement over the American's fascination with lawlessness and piracy, he explains "my mother is dying of AIDS". Now while the disease is a major issue in some African countries, it's about the same of an issue in Somalia as it is in Greece. The reason for the comparison is that the two countries, Greece and Somalia, are roughly around the same in their population. The HIV prevalence rate for Greece is 0.2, while in Somalia it's at 0.5. Unicef estimates that in 2007, the number of people in Somalia living with HIV is 24, 000, Out of an estimated 11 and a half million people. It's a relatively low number considering most of the new cases stem from high border crossing and mass internal movement. For greece, it's at 19, 000 out of its 11 million population.
So Clearly the problem of AIDS in Somalia, isn't comparable to say Botswana with its heart aching 23.9 prevalence rate for its meager population of 1.8 million. And while it's important to say something about the HIV problem in Africa, Somalia is the wrong country to profile it through. I suppose it would strike us all as odd, if some American sitcom, (during the warm and fuzzy parts where we all get our life lessons) made a remark about Greece's "AIDS problem". So is it acceptable to do so about Somalia because it's in Africa?
All in all, while a part of me wants to resist being vocal about Everything Somalia, I can't help but speak on what I am most passionate about. One blogger put it best, "FatBeard is to K'naan like Fishsticks is to Kanye". We can all complain about the imperfections of major media outlets, but I wanna take a moment, to thank God for Jon Stewart, thank God for Dave Chappelle and thank God for South Park.
Peace.
K'naan
Comment
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Comment by balhaar mocro on March 1, 2011 at 3:23pm -
you look cute wanna have a date hunny buns XX
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Comment by Thug4lyfe on March 19, 2010 at 12:11am -
We were watching that episode while blazed as f*** and was suprised at how heavy the episode got when that Somalian kid confronted Butters. This is probably the first South Park episode where they did a scene that truly emotionally touched people! Datz some good s*** in my opinion!
Newayz, if you mafuckahz want to watch some "heavy" animated s***, watch "Waltz with Bashir" and "Full Metal alchemist"
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Comment by 2Serenity on May 28, 2009 at 8:50pm -
You learn something new everyday. I don't watch much TV so it is a must that I check out this episode of South Park to see what I missed. And, you are so right about Dave Chappelle. The best skit EVA was from the 1st season of the blind white supremacist.
I have to thank you again for breaking down the situation in Somalia. I even have been explaining to my parents from your words what has been going on. They said it makes more sense from K'naan's perspective than from what they have tried to figure out from the mainstream news.
Continue to stay true to your art and in spreading the word on what is going on in Somalia. We all appreciate it!
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Comment by ayan egal on May 13, 2009 at 4:52pm -
hey k'naan im a new member... i really love ur music hw bout next time u made a song bout Ayan..... i hope u reply aboowe... cume thro daygo n we can show u same really gud time cuz we really no how to party..... somalia rule..... holla back bluud
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Comment by ayan egal on May 13, 2009 at 4:51pm
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hey k'naan im a new member... i really love ur music hw bout next time u made a song bout Ayan..... i hope u reply aboowe... cume thro daygo n we can show u same really gud time cuz we really no how to party..... somalia rule..... holla back bluud
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Comment by bugzlyfe on May 12, 2009 at 11:26pm -
K'naan said it best when he said every somali was enjoying it til they had the kid about his mom dying of aids. Its crazy but thats what people do to get people laughing and we laugh with people til they hurt us where it hurts. Anyways it was a better show then black hawk down playin non somalis as somali and havin one of the worst imitations. Hope they let the kid who was caught in the pirate situation get a fair trail.
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Comment by J. Enigma on May 8, 2009 at 7:40pm
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A little bit of context: I'm a twentysomething white girl from the suburbs, I became interested in Somalia through K'Naan's music and I thought I was reasonably informed about the situation there (certainly not first hand, I'm quite sure I haven't experienced as much hardship in a lifetime as an average Somali in a day). I did fall the the AIDS stereotype and first didn't believe the reference to Somalia becoming a toxic waste dumping ground (I couldn't imagine any western company intentionally going to Somalia due to the dangerous situation there). I did some research (your essay was quite informative K'Naan) and was saddened and outrage of the veracity of it all. Being familiar with the fallout (no pun intended) from the Bikini Atoll tests (which not only ended the culture of the people on that island, the fallout landed on Japanese fishing ships shortly after Japan surrendered, its often called the third nuclear bombing in Japan) as well as the tests in Northeastern Kazakhstan by the Soviets, I am knowledgable about the effects of generation after generation. It is equally sickening that not only Western companies would exploit a country, offering it a 1000 year death sentence. and even more sickening that the warlords would gladly take the death sentence for an entire nation for a few dollars. Becoming more aware of the immediate impact of western nations (US forcing out the Islamic Courts, a hope for order in Somalia in a country that desperately needs order and rule of law, and thus creating more terrorists as well as the overfishing and environmental slaughter), I must say I have full sympathy with the Somali "pirates" and those who they capture, and no sympathy for their overlords.
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Comment by Hollywood619 on May 8, 2009 at 12:18pm -
Actually when I was watching the South Park episode I was happy about the issues they covered but as soon as the Kid said "my mother is dying of AIDS" I was shocked, as all the other hardships are found in Somalia AIDs is absolutely not not one of them and not a problem. It was a shocker to me and all my friends who shouted to my direction "what?! who do they think we are? Ethiopians? I laughed and said "it is OK it ignorance"
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Comment by DREVOLUTIONARY on May 5, 2009 at 6:30am
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I watched the episode and southpark is also accurate in its portrayal of how american kids would interpret the whole PIRATE media frenzy. Americans tend to glamourize things i never refer to these people as pirates
they are STRUGGLERS. i have never heard as much coverage about pirates as i have in the past few weeks. raids like this has been takin place for years not only in somalia but all over the world. People are so focused on the end results. they cant focus on the fact that our lifestyles aided in creating these "pirates" people need to wake up and realize that we are all connected. stop looking away, lets get to the source of all this strugglin lets make a change in our generation so that our kids and grandkids wont be fed lies it is well within the western worlds mean to restore stability to the region i pray for a world driven by humanity not by profit africa is rich in resources gold,diamonds,etcs which makes it profitable for western countries to feed the instability to make way for the looting of africas resources. with no strong governments in these regions its pretty much FREE DIAMONDS FREE GOLD
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Comment by Nia on May 3, 2009 at 6:41pm -
yes i watched that too, its was pretty crazy (funny). and yes i also thank the creators or writters
for stating the real facts about pirates.
however i could not stop laughing at "because they die before they're 30" i know its pretty sad but its funny
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