To think Stacey Dooley was right in her response to David Lammy

[CoolCarrie]

“ Africa doesn’t need white saviours” says Lammy commenting on pictures of Stacey Dooley on a comic relief trip. Why pick on her? Loads of celebrities over the years have gone to Africa to show how money is helping the poorest of the poor, and the huge difference it has made over the years.
What Africa does need is governments that are not corrupt and better leaders.

Or a baby, as she was in africa and all babies are likely to be black. Or she shouldn't have gone to Africa? What about Olivia Coleman? Should she be tearful asking for money for water aid on their ads on tv? She talks about how these African children NEED OUR HELP. Is that wrong too? Shall I cancel my Plan International donations? They are going to sponsor a child in africa and I am but an old white woman who lives in the UK. Am I unknowingly part of the problem?

I agree with David Lammy.

When Harry and Meghan or Kate and William are photographed visiting charities in Britain the PR approach is very different - helping out in the kitchen or chatting with the people involved about their work. They aren't photographed roaming Council estates and hugging white working class babies.

^^
this

Are you always this willfully obtuse, @Fazackerley? Your donations aren't the problem; treating black children as props and captioning your instagram posts with stupid shit like "OBSESSSSSED" is the problem.

For all those saying that the British formed charity should not use white tv personalities to talk about issues in countries where the majority population is non white I find uncomfortable.
The official statistics listed below are that as a country the uk is 87% white it would be wrong surely to dismiss these people due to the colour of their skin?

Ps I totally understand there is an issue about swooping in and saving the African babies but there are problems that first world finance can help

I am not at all obtuse. So it's the fact she held a baby and has an Instagram account that's the issue? As that in itself doesn't seem worth David Lammy getting his pants in a bunch over.

The royals have come under fire for trying to relate to people in vastly different circumstances - there’s always going to be a difference in circumstances in people raising awareness and people needing their lives improved.

The bbc probably picked Dooley for the yazidi documentary to get a broader audience - the same as comic relief. It’s all very well but the long of fundraising is to raise funds and to do that you have to appeal to people, and sometimes that means using old tropes such as believing you are helping people...

I agree with Lammy in principle I have always hated the rich mostly white celebrities being used in this way. But this was for Lammy to raise with the organisers not the individual. Also to acknowledge that this brings in money and changing could bring with it unintended consequences. Anyone my age will remember the Ethiopian children dying but for people to put their hands in their pockets took a group of overpaid musicians all vying for the best set times to get the money coming in. I just worry that his good intentions leads to an apathy in donating.

So it's the fact she held a baby and has an Instagram account that's the issue? As that in itself doesn't seem worth David Lammy getting his pants in a bunch over.

In this instance Stacey’s Instagram post was the catalyst for David Lammy’s response but this is a criticism of Comic Relief that he has held for a very long time. A quick google will show him making the exact same point about Ed Sheeran’s Comic Relief clip from a couple of years ago. Whoever the celeb is, images and videos such as those reinforce the same trope of the paternalistic white saviour coming to help the infantilised, helpless African. Stacey Dooley and her instagram isn’t the main focus here, merely a manifestation of the wider issue.

Africa still has millions of children malnourished. Corruption is rife and money doesn't reach the poorest people.
So it's not an outdated narrative is it?

Yes corruption is rife but why do people think the problem ends there, with the governments of African nations? Africa's wealth and natural resources are still being syphoned out of the continent by Western multinationals and into tax havens. So the money that Comic Relief raises is a mere drop in the ocean. The West takes far more than it gives.

Agree with what people are saying about free school meals as an example.

I have had to use a food bank in the past. Now I'm not saying I wasn't grateful for the help but I would much rather have been able to buy my own food shopping. And if the price of being helped was for my child to be plastered all over SM then I'm not sure I would have used it.

And as for people saying anyone would pick up someone else's child. No they wouldn't. I wouldn't just pick up and start cuddling and taking photos of a child I'd just met. It's called having boundaries.

I've had family support because of my son's disability and had a good relationship with my support worker. But she wouldn't have picked up my DD and done selfies with her because it's unprofessional.

Being in Africa doesn't stop it being unprofessional.

I agree with David Lammy, although have nothing against Stacey Dooley and totally understand why she would do this for CR.

I live in an African county. At Christmas the company I work for encourage members of staff to buy Christmas presents for children of a local day centre for children in poverty or orphaned. I was invited along to come and meet the kids and to help give out the presents. It was awful. The kids put on a show for us, then we had to have our photos taken with them while we gave out the presents. The kids opened their presents and of course they are thrilled to get them. Then off the vast majority of them went. Kids as young as 6 were walking off with toddlers and no parents. I asked where they were going, and was told that those kids are homeless and usually take shelter somewhere and look after each other. They come to the day centre for meals but aside from that they are pretty much on their own. There were at least 200 kids there and a couple of members of staff- how these staff are able to keep tabs on all these kids and make sure they are safe seems impossible. The centre does what it can on a limited budget - but there is only so much it can do.

In years before I have bought presents to donate and let others deliver them, and felt satisfied that I was making a difference. In reality, a present from a stranger might bring a tiny bit of joy into their lives but it's not going to protect those kids, clothe or feed them. I couldn't stand the fact too that because some white people were coming to visit they had to sing and dance for us and pose for photos showing us handing them their presents. It really left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, and I would never do it again. I'd much rather donate to a local charity who can do more than give presents and take photos to put on social media. The present giving is well meaning but makes absolutely no difference to the kids lives.

Also agree with hoodathunkit's post which articulated a lot of my thoughts about Stacey Dooley. I don't have anything against her personally but I'm surprised she's thought of as a 'serious investigative journalist', I would have classed her shows as BBC3 shockumentaries and her thinking that photo and accompanying caption to be appropriate just reinforces that. Banana she started her TV career on Gok Won's Real Woman of the Year Competition (can't recall the exact title).

Re hugging babies, every election time politicians are hugging white (and black and Asian babies). And people who use a service in the uk are often seen with Royals/celebrities and are often quite happy to do so. The charity I’m involved with (entirely uk based) would be queued our the door if there was a royal or celebrity to come round and take some selfies. And people would happily bring their kids.

I don’t have a problem with it unless there is some sort of evidence of exploitation. It’s a women’s health and neonatal clinic. Nothing wrong with raising money for that and it would be far worse if the need went unmet.

I like Stacey Dooley. I'm actually not a big fan of Lammy. But Lammy is 100% right.

The suggestion that he should have shut up and wait for Lenny Henry to do it is a typical white deflection. In the black (African, Caribbean, African American) community, this whole 'white saviour movement' is nothing new. Who knows what triggered Lammy, but he's right, we're tired of seeing images such as these. Tired of seeing these babies paraded around, when we (mumsnet lot) regularly create threads where MIL or someone have put up pics of our beloved babies in places only seen by a small fraction of the general public. This is indefensible, we need to show more respect to Africa.

...And considering our own Brexit mess, we are not on any moral high ground to be commenting on the affairs of others.

Apologies, just done some googling
investigating of my own and it seems she was on Blood, Sweat and T-shirts, and not Gok's Miss Naked Beauty as I mis-remembered. For me though, her programmes carry the same weight and feel similar to Ross Kemp's about gangs and documentaries about football hooliganism that are presented by Danny Dyer.

@cheesy I agree. I suppose it’s aimed to engage people younger than me.

'we need to improve governance in Africa'.

I think some people are wilfully blind as to how the UK's current political fuckfest might look to the rest of the world!

I have to agree she is the Ross kemp of Bbc3 I watched her on blood sweat and t shirts she was gobby and questioned which made her a good tv presenter.

The long lasting effects of the British Empire have been swept under the carpet too which I think adds to this 'make Britain great again!' rhetoric. None of my kids are school age yet but for anyone who does has secondary age kids, do you know in what, if any, way this topic has been covered? Looking at the curriculum I know it's only a suggested topic. I remember yougov carried out a survey in 2014 I think, where 59% of participants thought the British Empire was a good thing. I think instead of slinging about hashtags (although that Barbie account was very good and I appreciate using social media platforms can reach a larger audience) I think a warts and all history lesson is needed.

@Fazackerley it's the difference between using your celebrity/influence to give a platform to those who understand the situation and are already working to alleviate it or using other people's suffering as a prop for your own self-promotion.

In quite black & white terms I'd say it's the difference between pointing people in the direction of those who are already working on the ground so to speak and posting an insta pic of yourself cuddling up to some random cute but poor kid.

I saw something interesting (on Instagram actually) that I quite agree with. The general idea was that if you see something that outrages you (fgm, poverty, famine etc) your first thoughts should be to see what the organisations in the area are doing to help and then look into how you can support them. Not to assume nothing is being done by the local people and only someone from the U.K. could possibly have the intelligence to help.

Personally I object to the phrase 'white saviours'

I agree there is an issue, and if he had used the phrase 'western saviours' I would wholeheartedly agree with him.

I have only seen her extremely dumbed down documentaries on cbbc.

@hoodathunkit

You have summed up Stacey Dooley in my opinion perfectly ! , which I cant articulate in words. I think she is fake her "sympathy" just doesn't come across genuine and empathetic to me.
I agree with Lammy, the photos with her and those children are cringey and I think she being boastful like look at me and how I'm so charitable etc posting it all over social media "aww obessed " it's just patronising

@cheesydoesit two DC studied history all the way to the end of sixth form and neither (as far as I’m aware) did anything on the British Empire. Those figures don’t surprise me at all unfortunately.

Hopefully thanks to dl, do we also get rid of the slebs doing the daily mail sad face adverts