It's The Red Edition, Silly!

i don't get it. but, apparently, it's art so i don't have to. apparently the photographer painted the model black and then adjusted the light so that the skin is actually the true colour of the model. silly me, here i was thinking that she looked as though she had been frolicking in a coal bin. it's the africa issue. next week, i hear, they are going to toss alec wek in a vat of flour for the european issue. i can't wait.

on a serious note, though i must say that the cover is really well done. at first glance i could have sworn that iwas my cousin mxoloqina from the african village. if they had not said so, i would NEVER have thought it was a kate moss in blackbody (which, since it is not blackface is in no way offensive).

carrying on, there was a great article in there full of fantastic statistics that compared the united kingdom to africa. and even though the united kingdom fits into less than two thirds of zimbabwe, it is not about space or numbers, it is about comparability. and, since the united kingdom is made up of england, ireland, scotland and wales, plus, plus, it is very comparable to the continent of africa which, we have already established is the most homogenous place on the planet.

so, it turns out that female literacy in the uk is 99.9% while that in africa is 53.2% (who cares that in nigeria it is about 91% and in sierra leone below 35%, it's all the same - it's a crisis everywhere!). oh, and then - shock, horror, dismay - only 13% of women in africa use contraceptives, compared to 84% in the uk. i almost missed the two little stars in the corner and the note that told me that this was actually not even the average of the continent of over 50 countries and 900 million inhabitants, but actually of ivory coast, population 19 million. but, we're smart people, we can extrapolate and expand and, you know, homogenise.

but look at me, i am missing the big picture. the independen africa issue is donating 50% of the proceeds from its sale to an aids charity. and i just know that people out there will see the cover of the waif-like brit blonde, covered in soot and think - africa, aids, orphans, widows and hopelessness. i know i did!

p.s. did you notice the bonus? a free poster of the 'africanised' kate moss!