The
Hearts of Darkness
By Milton Allimadi
Explosive
Book Exposes some Newspapers', including The New York
Times’, culpability in racist
representation of Africa in early news coverage.
Milton Allimadi, graduate of the
Columbia Journalism School, investigative reporter and publisher
of The Black Star News, has written an explosive
investigative book that digs deep into the history of the
negative, racist media representations of Africans and people of
African descent that persist in contemporary America.
The Hearts of Darkness, How White
Writers Created The Racist Image of Africa, (Black Star
Books, 2003, ISBN 0-9740039-0-5 $12) is an exploration into
Western media’s historical demonization of Africa over the
last several centuries – from Herodotus’ “The
Histories,” the journals of the so-called explorers such as
Samuel Baker, and the 20th century reportage by
journalists with American news publications, including The
New York Times.
The book looks into the harmful consequences
of the racist depictions of Africans, such as condoning the
enslavement and colonization of Black people, genocide,
contempt, hatred and racism towards Africans and people of
African descent. It also examines the inferiority complex and
self-hatred that some Black people suffer as a result of
bombardment by negative media images.
Allimadi takes readers on a journey of
discovery where he encountered many gatekeepers that would have
preferred his work never be published, including The Columbia
Journalism Review a publication that masquerades as “the bible
of objective journalism.”
In this powerful book, spiced with rich and
compelling anecdotes and examples, Allimadi offers
insight into the process behind the “tribalization” of
Africa and African peoples. He explains how and why Western
media were able to dismiss the Rwanda genocide as merely a
“tribal” affair when the massacres erupted in 1994, while
ignoring underlying factors including the 1990 invasion from
Uganda.
He shows the similarities between how
Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta was demonized in the 1960s by Western
media for leading the so-called Mau Mau uprising when Kenyans
battled British settlers who had stolen their lands and the way
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe has been similarly derided once he
started seizing land from British settlers for redistribution to
Africans.
The book includes a historical analysis of The
New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, National
Geographic and The New Yorker. It contains exclusive
letters from The New York Times' archives exposing the
racism of some editors and reporters involved in that
newspaper's early African coverage, including two-time Pulitzer
Prize winner, the late Homer Bigart. The Pulitzer committee
should consider revoking the awards posthumously.
Allimadi candidly explains how news
organizations were often accomplices and apologists for the
negative stereotypes. The book is also an engaging tour of
European travelers who went to “explore” and “discover”
Africa between the 18th and 19th centuries. He shows how
Africans were merely backdrops in the Europeans’ accounts, as
they often still are today.
Allimadi shows that these travelers’
publications served as the original media responsible for
disseminating the racist images of Africa around the world.
Allimadi discusses how centuries of racist representations have
created inferiority complexes and Black self-hatred. The book is
an educational weapon against racism globally. The book is
already on its third print run and has sold 20,000 copies.
Some
of the people who have praised The Hearts of Darkness --
Robert
Mugabe,
President of Zimbabwe
Dr.
Julianne Malveaux,
Economist and leading social commentator
Imhotep
Gary Byrd,
leading WBAI radio commentator
Elombe
Brath, WBAI/founder
Patrice Lumumba movement
Jill
Nelson,
commentator and author “Sexual Healing”, “Volunteer
Slavery”
Glen
Ford,
Publisher Blackcommentator.com
Hon.
Charles Barron, New
York City councilmember
Baffour
Ankomah,
Editor, New African magazine
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You can order the book by sending a Money
Order for $15 (which includes postage and handling) made payable
to Black Star Books, P.O. Box 64, New York, N.Y., 10025, or
calling (212) 481-7745. The book is available at Barnes &
Noble and can also be ordered through www.amazon.com
For speaking engagements or book signings: Please contact Milton
Allimadi through (212) 481-7745 or Milton@blackstarnews.com
http://www.blackstarnews.com/index.html
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updated 5 November 2007
