It's going to take more than one coffee table to carry July's Vanity Fair, since there will be 20 editions of the Condé Nast monthly for consumers to collect. The Bono guest-edited Africa issue will hit newsstands today.
Annie Leibovitz shot all the covers to capture what looks like a game of telephone among international icons discussing the crisis in Africa. The list of subjects read like a who's who of Africa awareness: Warren Buffett, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Desmond Tutu, Oprah Winfrey, Djimon Hounsou, Chris Rock, Muhammad Ali, Jay-Z, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Iman, to name a few. Each photo shows two subjects conversing with each other — Don Cheadle talking with Barack Obama, Madonna speaking with Maya Angelou, Queen Rania of Jordan speaking to Bono. "These are incredible people of our time who all have a passion for and a connection to Africa," said Leibovitz. "It was important to me to really show the humanity in their faces."
For a peak at all 20 covers and to read quotes and brief descriptons of each celeb's contributions/charities visit Vanity Fair.
- BARACK OBAMA
- "I can still remember my first trip to Africa, two decades ago, when my sister's Volkswagen Beetle broke down," says Senator Barack Obama. "When I went back recently we had better transportation. But there was another difference. While that first trip was about discovering my past, my recent trip was about Africa's future. And it filled me with hope—because while significant obstacles remain, I believe we have the chance to build more equitable and just societies so that all people have the chance to control their own destinies."
- ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU
- As a leader of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement and, later, its Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has devoted his life to working for human rights. In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Currently, he is establishing the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, in Cape Town, to, he says, "promote sustainable peace and values-based leadership throughout the world." (For more details, go to tutu.org.
- DJIMON HOUNSOU
- Once a year, actor Djimon Hounsou visits his family in Benin, where he recently helped rebuild his childhood home. "The goal of the African people is to become self-sufficient," says Hounsou, who served as a consultant on our portfolio, otherwise "sometimes it does feel like the white man's burden. Some of the efforts need to be implemented by Africans who do good for the continent. Then people can see that their own people can really make a difference. We are not looking for a handout."
- IMAN
- Iman Abdulmajid is a supermodel, a businesswoman (C.E.O. of Iman Cosmetics), wife (of musician David Bowie), mother, and global ambassador for Keep a Child Alive. "My Africa is rich in human resources and dignity," says Iman, who was born in Somalia. "I get insulted when I see only images of our dying, our wars, our Darfur, our AIDS victims … not our doctors, our nurses, our teachers.… Africa must find its own saviors: the salvation of Africa is in the hands of African women." She encourages all involvement: "We need everyone from Angelina to Aunt Gina."
Iman's last sentence is the real reason why I created this blog. I'm also tired of images of Africans dying so I wanted the world [okay those who read this blog] to see the human aspect of Africans in the media. Currently Akon is showing us something else but nevertheless there are countless Africans in the media doing the rest of us Africans good. Collect all 20 issues of this special edition of "Vanity Fair" folks. I know I'll grab extra copies of the Djimon cover.
[Feels Good 2 B Home]
