Live Aid kicked off the patronising ‘Save Africa’ industry – and making a musical about it could expose a whole new generation of people to the same problematic world view.
That’s according to ‘Africa No Filter’ Executive Director Moky Makura who was speaking after a musical based on the 1985 concert was announced for London’s Old Vic theatre.
Just For One Day will feature songs from the likes of Queen, U2 and Elton John and will run from January 26th to March 30th.
Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof has said the show will not be a Live Aid tribute piece – but instead will be a behind-the-scenes look at how Live Aid came together, mixed with a love story inspired by real events.
Writing for The Guardian this week, Ms Makura warned that Live Aid pushed a “false narrative about a broken continent plagued by poverty, conflict, corruption and disease” – and making a musical risks exposing a new generation to the same narrative.
On Newstalk Breakfast, she said Live Aid was a “phenomenal” day – but as a young woman watching from Lagos in Nigeria, she quickly realised that there was “a huge disconnect” between the Africa she knew and the Africa Live Aid was showing the world.
“That's when I realised that there is this image of Africa as a broken continent,” she said.
“That we lack the agency to create the change, that we're dependent, that became, sort of, tied in with this whole Live Aid, ‘Save Africa’ idea,” she said.
“What really struck me was that, after Live Aid, there was this feeling that, you know what, no matter who I am in the UK, I can give a pound or, you know, 50 pence and I can save an African – that was me; that was me they were talking about.
"So, for me, I really wanted to share that Live Aid was phenomenal - I don't want to take that away because it feels like I'm saying it didn't do anything, it did - but it left a legacy.
“Because I feel that there's a whole industry that started as a result - trying to save Africa - because it's been so entrenched in how the world viewed Africa.”
Moky Makura during the 2023 UNSTOPPABLE AFRICA Conference in New York city, 21-09-2023. Image: Jennifer Graylock/AlamyMs Makura said the Save Africa industry forgets that Africa is a massive continent with 54 different countries.
“It's about nuance and lack of context because you know going back to Live Aid, the context was that the famine was in a region and it affected mainly one country – a little bit of Eritrea but mainly Ethiopia,” she said.
“Even within Ethiopia, the Ethiopians I've spoken to that were living in a different part of Ethiopia didn't even know that there was a famine or that this terrible thing had happened.
“That's the nuance that's missing. That when we talk about the continent and we highlight the issues, we make out as if it is happening everywhere.”
Bob Geldof performing live at London’s Hyde Park, 02-07-2005. Image: Antonio Pagano / AlamyMs Makura said Live Aid’s message ended up affecting an entire generation of people – and a musical has the potential to perpetuate that.
“What I don't want … is a whole new generation - these are the millennials and the Gen Z's - who are now exposed to the Live Aid legacy again,” she said. “You know, it shapes the way they think about Africa.
“The one thing I have noticed now is, our music, Afrobeats, our movies, our fashion, our art, our food, it's actually helping people experience Africa in a different way.
“A whole new generation, they dance to Afrobeats, right?
“They're not remembering poverty. They're remembering, we've got great music and amazing creatives and I want to keep that.
“We worked hard to get here and I am just worried that a musical, with all the best intentions, you just, sort of, derail some of that.”
You can listen back here:
