An exiled god-king? Wow. You must have to kill….um…I mean rule over a shitload of people to be an exiled god-king.

The reason they chose her is the same reason why the UN has goodwill ambassadors. It brings attention. End of story. Mia Farrow is no International Relations expert yet she writes all the time. Her expertise comes from what she’s read, been told or seen during her travels. Same thing here. The most annoying celeb do-gooder is Leonardo DiCaprio by far. I still love him though and I don’t need someone to tell me to recycle, install solar panels or buy a fuel efficient car. The latter two really don’t require any sort of concern for the environment. It saves money. If they framed it in this way, more people would actually do it.

They’re celebs. If Angelina wiped her butt in public with recycled tissue people would praise her for years.

Plus, how cool is it to say that Rosemary from ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ & Lara Croft are both International Relations Experts!

I’m sure she has reasonably intelligent things to say, but me’thinks not!

In their defense, I audited an IR class in grad school. There’s really nothing I learned that I couldn’t have found out from doing a Google search “BRICs” site:.edu/.org

I am a bit more cynical about her think tank membership. A bunch of old stuffy men and a pretty younger actress. Curious…

I can’t knock her hustle because the public by and large doesn’t give a damn about Darfur and it’s unfortunate. I’m glad when someone, anyone speaks up about this horror in the Sudan.

I’m glad Angie is lending her voice, and using her star power to highlight the plight of the people in Darfur. The same goes for Madonna, who is also building orphanages in Malawi. Where are the black celebs adopting african babies, filming documentaries,giving funds, and writing articles for the Economist??

In terms of global awareness, black celebs aren’t that involved. Oprah, Denzel and Don Cheadle are the only one I can think of. I wanna say that Forest does something but I can’t think of anything global that I’ve heard of him doing. Jay-Z did some water thing but getting Africans to call each other niggas isn’t something I appreciate.

Not that many white celebs are genuinely interested in these issues either. Richard Gere, the boys of Oceans, Madge, Angelina, David Bowie, Leo, Nic Cage and of course Mia. Genuinely interested meaning they’ve done things consistently and their hearts seem to be in the right place.

Why blame Angelina or even hate on her? While she visits Africa, Asia, Da Brat smashes people’s face in. While she adopts, all we have to counter is Oprah but then that leads to child abuse. We have Don Cheadle and we that’s about it. Where are the black stars with their star power? Don’t give me the stuff that people won’t cover it because if they didn’t we wouldn’t know about Don and his great work. Black people by large don’t do a darn thing but are quick to get angry and bash people who do.

I forgot about Don Cheadle, but I stand by what I said. There are plenty of black celebs with star power, and the financial resources to do a lot for Africa, but by and large they do NOTHING. How many of them have adopted an african child? ZERO. Meanwhile white celebs seem to swoop in and bring one home every week. It’s very sad and telling.

Thank god for Oprah.

I agree, but the large number of AIDS orphans (in some areas, over a 3rd of a generation have died, leaving children - some infected, some uninfected) behind. I haven’t even been to the worst. The foster care system in the US is a mess and African-American children are overrepresented, but what makes news here as tragic happens in many places regularly. IF people find out, it’s said in whispers and people shrug their shoulders. Orphans (generally, only the mother has died and fathers give up their kids if they don’t have a sister who’s willing to raise them) are smuggled to the UK and as the UK govt finds out during a raid now and again, they are sold into slavery, either the white kind or the good ol fashioned kind. If they die, no one really cares. I’m speaking from my experience living in an urban area that wasn’t poor so I can only imagine what happens in areas with less money and less oversight. While people are very willing to adopt kids from their own families, they are unwilling to adopt people who aren’t blood relatives. As much as the US system sucks, there is actually one in place, children are tracked (though poorly) and should they die, it makes the news. There’s also a school system so they can get some sort of education.

People always cite that there are plenty of American kids to adopt. That’s overly simplified. Many kids in foster care are not available to be adopted because their birth parents still have the right to eventually get them back. While there is and always has been suffering, kids here have a shot. Many elsewhere don’t and it’s perfectly human to want to care for those kids, whether it’s by adopting one or giving money for better care of orphans. Many people who adopt from Africa, whether celebs or mere mortals, generally also give money as well.

As for the article, the only difference here is that it’s a pseudointellectual magazine with less entertainment. They have one white celebrity writing an article, so it’s not like they’ve left out people. I’ve read a piece by Iman in Glamour I believe.

And as for African-American celebs being involved, I don’t think many have any unique obligation to help honestly. It would be nice, certainly. I don’t have much but I do what I can so I do expect African/American people like Iman, Alek, Oluchi, Djimon & co. to be involved as well.

Djimon,Alek,Oluchi, and Iman are not african american. They’re african people who happen to live here, and most aren’t even citizens.

I never claimed that all white celebs were doing a lot for Africa, but by and large they have been bringing way more attention to the issues there, than most black celebs.

I think black people in the U.S, do have a special obligation to help the continent, especially when so many of us run around calling ourselves “african-american”, while having no idea what that even means.

Yes the foster care system in this country is a mess when it comes to black children, but it in no way compares to the suffering of african children. Comparing the two is just obscene.
I also don’t recall any black celebs adopting/fostering “african-american kids off the top of my head. That argument rings hollow to me.

They aren’t African-American. They are African/American. The only celebs I can think of with an African-American adopted kid are Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise’s biracial adopted son. There could be more. People didn’t start getting into celeb kids until recently so who knows.

I’m African/American and I’ve noticed that African-Americans are quite critical of transracial adoptions. I don’t think the arguments are unfounded, but families have far more knowledge and resources to raise kids of another race.

I KNOW physical and sexual abuse occurs a lot in foster care which is especially unfortunate as many of those kids were taken away from the same situations that they’re being thrown in. I feel for any child who goes through that and I loathe anyone who would do that to a kid (I am a huge supporter of capital punishment for pedophiles). It’s incredibly unfair. If I were to adopt, it’s going to be a kid from my country, probably from the same ethnic group. I’d have a strong preference for adopting a younger girl because generally, they’re the ones who face the most abuse and I just plain like girls more. I’m not against adopting American kids at all. It’s my preference.

Adopting an African kid doesn’t mean you care about Africa, I agree. Generally though, the decision to adopt an African kid comes after some sort of advocacy work related to the continent and it generally continues afterwards. I don’t think adopting Africans has reached the level of popularity where anyone of the street with no level of interest in issues facing different African countries would go and do it.

Agreed. I care about the issues facing other places (Pakistan) but I’m not about to go get one of their babies.