| Special Feature |
|
Star Profile
ALICIA KEYS: “I’m a child of Africa. I truly believe that."
Superstar Alicia Keys talks to New African Woman about her pregnancy, her love for “motherland Africa”, why HIV/Aids rends her heart, Robert Mugabe and global political and trade injustices. Interview by Kate Eshelby
Through her charity Keep A Child Alive, superstar Alicia Keys is helping provide anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs and support to women and children suffering from HIV and Aids in Africa. The charity was set up in 2003 by Keys and activist Leigh Blake. It also funds clinics and orphanages. In our exclusive interview, Keys opens her heart on a wide range of poignant and important issues that matter to both an African child and mother, and the continent at large.
She tells us: “It’s harmful when the powers-that-be want to drop their western beliefs on the people without paying attention to their ways. And when they don’t see the bigger picture. For example, an agency will pay for ARV drugs but not food. If people are starving, while the drugs help, they will die anyway.”
The normally highly private superstar also tells New African Woman how happy she is to be expecting her first child: “I feel extremely blessed, grateful and excited. I love children. That’s why Keep A Child Alive (KCA) is so integral to me. The idea of a mother not surviving due to Aids and not seeing their child grow up – losing the chance to give that child the encouragement, love, compassion and possibility that comes with motherhood – has now become an even deeper thought.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Keys comments on the impact of the just concluded football World Cup competition: “It was very positive to have the World Cup in Africa – making the whole world turn to look at Africa. It was an empowering time. It’s important, however, to wonder why a few of the billions of dollars that were pumped into the World Cup for several weeks couldn’t be used to help people with issues which they face everyday.”
We couldn’t agree with her more. Read the full interview in this month's New African Woman.
|
|
|
|
|
SITE EN FRANÇAIS
print story
