Madonna and Child
I love the criticism Madonna has faced in adopting an African baby. To me the issue seems more like a microcosm of the wider relationship the West has with poverty. What Madonna is doing for this African child is as petty to the wider issue of social depravation as Western poverty policy is. While I commend Madonna for doing this one thing for one child, (by bringing media attention to the life quality of the poor we understand the need more) and I commend her donations to Malawi, but I think the criticism she faces is poorly targeted. The feeling that the problem is too immense and ‘what does Madonna think she’s doing with such a paltry symbolic gesture’ should be directed at the Governments of the West who have done all they can to not make the changes in trade necessary to make the global trading market a fairer place.
Madonna has done a good thing, the people bitching from the sidelines are the same who haven’t lifted a finger to do anything.
Madonna defends child adoption
Madonna has defended her intended adoption of a Malawian baby, saying she had acted "according to the law like anyone else who adopts a child".
The singer said she wanted to "open up our home and help one child escape an extreme life of hardship, poverty and in many cases death".
Earlier the child, David Banda, was taken to the US singer's London home.
The one-year-old boy flew from Johannesburg overnight with a bodyguard and Madonna's personal assistant.
The baby arrived at London's Heathrow airport at 0630 BST, despite claims by some charities that the rules on adoption have been bent for the star.
Madonna said she and her husband Guy Ritchie began the adoption process months ago.
"This was not a decision or commitment that my family or I take lightly," she said.
She added her family would now take time "to experience the joy we feel to have David home".
posted by Bomber @ 10:12 am
12 comments
12 Comments:
Good call Bomber.
I agree... she is trying to make a difference.
I hear that human rights groups in Malawi are trying take the case to court, that the adoption was illegal. They want the baby returned. This is idiotic, that baby is going to have a great life, much better than in a Malawi orphanage. There are 900 000 orphans in Malawi- you read right, nearly a million.
Good luck to her.
Gee I wish I had been adopted - preferably by someone rich.
What makes this even sadder is when this child grows up, she will not have her extended family, culture or beliefs of what it is to be Malawi.
Maddonna is robbing this child of her culture rights under Human Rights sanctions whether she be adopted or not.
If money makes your world go round try not to enforce that on others and others culture... oh that's right in New Zealand we have no culture.
What makes this even sadder is when this child grows up, she will not have her extended family, culture or beliefs of what it is to be Malawi.
Maddonna is robbing this child of her culture rights under Human Rights sanctions whether she be adopted or not.
If money makes your world go round try not to enforce that on others and others culture... oh that's right in New Zealand we have no culture.
What is David's life expectancy if left there.
I rather think searching for the next meal takes precedence over worrying about what it is to be Malawi.
The only thing she is 'robbing' him of is mysery.
I agree that Madonna is probably well intentioned, But I can't help being cynical about the whole Hollywood PR African-poverty bandwagon. Africa seems all the rage in celebrity land this year (Brangelina anyone?), What will happen next year when the PR people have moved onto the next big thing?
What will happen to the poor child when an African baby is last year's fashion accessory? True he will have a materially richer childhood than in he would in a orphanage in Malawi, but the whole publicity stunt aspect to it bothers me. He's a real person with a real family (who apparently don't want him taken out of the country), not a mascot. It has overtones of slavery - that black babies are for sale to rich white women.
However I agree that Madonna can't be expected to solve African poverty, and she probably means well.
Anon, you can get all precious about how terrible it is for this child to lose their Malawi culture, but let's be real here: life for an orphan in Malawi would be shit. Life as the child of a multi-millionaire is going to be good. This kid will get lots of opportunites. They are losing their precious African culture? So what.
As an aside, it seems that the charity Madonna is setting up in Malawi for children is some front for Kaballah, the kooky religion she is involved in. Keep an eye on this story...
I believe Kiri Te Kanawa has two adopted children that are not her race.
Has she robbed them - I rather doubt it.
I think the concerns about culture and cultural identity are very valid Anon but they are something that can be managed - the wider issue should be on what the Global Community can do for the whole of the 3rd world
You're all missing the game plan. Madonna has a Nubian fetish.
Fifteen years of grooming....whaddaya got.
I am sure Madonna takes great comfort from the fact that Bomber says she did a good thing.
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