Teju Cole is a novelist (Open City, winner of this year's PEN/Hemmingway award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award) troubled by US interventions in and emotional response to Africa's problems. His piece in the Atlantic starts, "If we are going to interfere in the lives of others, a little due diligence is a minimum requirement."
Cole tweeted seven one-sentence messages starting with, "From Sachs to Kristof to Invisible Children to TED, the fastest growth industry in the US is the White Savior Industrial Complex." His essay is far more sophisticated and nuanced than the ironic and hyperbolic tweets but they are more cutting and powerful.
This article should not be summarized or paraphrased. It should be read in its entirety. At the end, he summarizes, "A singer may be innocent; never the song."
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