Africa is the title of a song by the band Toto representing an epic journey through the imagination. The lead singer, David, was inspired to write the song based on a priest’s story of mission trips to Africa. David admitted the song was about the idea of travelling to a new place in your imagination through books. He used the priest’s story to drive the plot of this narrative musical journey. David’s honesty is admirable and the music video is aesthetically intriguing, although there are plenty of cringe moments.

Books (or the internet), cultural materials, and handmade products are the ways in which I have experienced Africa myself. I have yet to travel to the continent after having lived in New Zealand for two and a half years. As an Afro-American woman with a graduate degree in Art History, the Librarian in the music video is an inspiration! I don’t remember seeing this video as a child, but I imagined my career to look exactly like this as a little girl. Tucked away in a cozy, cluttered archive with mysteries to solve and lots of fascinating objects around me.

Have a Pleasant Day
-Rae Pleasant