CONTRIBUTORS

Bill Clinton

Former president Bill Clinton pays tribute to Nelson Mandela this month by reflecting on the time the two world leaders have spent together throughout the past 15 years (“A Man Called Hope,” page 168). Clinton, who took an unprecedented interest in African affairs during his two terms, has made the continent a central component of his post-presidential work, and he established the William J. Clinton Foundation, with the goal of having a measurable impact on pressing issues at home and abroad. Among the foundation’s programs is the Clinton H.I.V./AIDS Initiative, which focuses on helping developing countries—especially in Africa—treat and care for those living with the virus or the disease. What inspired Clinton to help turn the tide on this worldwide pandemic? Mandela himself.

Annie Leibovitz

For this month’s extraordinary series of 20 covers, contributing photographer Annie Leibovitz traveled around the world to catch up with the entertainers, businessmen, politicians, and public figures who connection to Africa, albeit in different ways. Leibovitz and her team hauled their gear to locations as far-flung and disparate as a cruise ship docked in Kobe, Japan; Maya Angelou’s living room, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House; and Warren Buffett’s office, in Omaha. The result is a vivid and inspiring catalogue of people who are using their influence to support Africans in the challenges they face, whether by agitating for human rights and democracy, fighting poverty and AIDS, or promoting peace, environmentalism, and justice.

Aimee Bell

Deputy editor Aimee Bell, a 15-year veteran of Vanity Fair, coordinated the magazine’s first Africa issue. Collaborating with Sheila Roche of (Red), V.F. editorial assistant Cassandra Handley, Kathy McKiernan of DATA, and Lucy Matthew, as well as with features editor Jane Sarkin and features associate Rebecca Sinn on the epic covers, and with V.F. s photo department on the portfolio, Bell sought to “show our readers the Africans who are going to heroic lengths to bring their continent forward.” In addition to editing the columns of Christopher Hitchens and James Wolcott, Bell oversees the annual Green and Music Portfolios and the International Best-Dressed List.

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Sheila Roche

Sheila Roche heads up communications for Bono’s Product (Red). She helped Vanity Fair’s staff pull together the editorial content, including “Spirit of Africa,” for this month’s special issue. Roche, who worked with colleague Lucy Matthew, the (Red) team, Kathy McKiernan and DATA, the Global Fund, and V.F. s deputy editor Aimee Bell, says, “I hope the 20 covers, the portfolio, and the stories in this issue convey the level of interest in Africa and why the continent matters to all of us.” Since the 2006 launch of (Red), Roche has worked with Bobby Shriver, the C.E.O. of (Red), his team, and the (Red) partners to generate more than $25 million for the Global Fund to invest in African H.I.V./AIDS programs, with an emphasis on the health of women and children.

Tom Freston

For Vanity Fair’s first-ever Africa issue, Tom Freston, the former president and C.E.O. of Viacom and one of the founders of MTV, trekked to West Africa to check out Mali’s music scene. “Mali is a music-lover’s dream destination,” he says. “The people are wonderful, the music is plentiful, and much of it goes on in open-air venues under the amazing African night sky.” One of the stops on Freston’s itinerary was the Festival of the Desert, held in a remote oasis in the Sahara. “It had the basic festival vibe, where a lot of people come together for a shared experience,” Freston says, “but you’re on sand dunes and there’s no barrier at all between the performers and the audience—not a handler or P.R. person in sight. Plus, much of the audience comes on camels, a noticeable difference from, say, the Newport Jazz Festival or Tanglewood.”

Binyavanga Wainaina

Award-winning author and journalist Binyavanga Wainaina is wary of the journalists who travel to Africa and write solely on societies rooted in mayhem. “News out of Africa is one thing: chaos and Armageddon. Even if you are writing about a couple in love, it must be set in genocide or a savage war. It is a horrible mix of hysterical and sanctimonious, soap opera and melodrama. Many Africans in America laugh at it—it is now as kitsch as Internet porn.” In “Generation Kenya,” on page 84, Wainaina reveals the positive signs of growth occurring in his homeland. “There are stories of economy and democracy, and even mild-mannered human-interest stories. When you switch off the screaming-mediahysteria button, you will find an interesting, diverse, and evolving country.” Wainaina, founding editor of the literary journal Kwani?, is the writer-in-residence at Union College, in Schenectady, New York, and is completing a work of “creative nonfiction,” which will be published by Graywolf Press.

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Youssou N’Dour

Vanity Fair called on iconic Senegalese recording artist Youssou N’Dour to handpick his favorite exemplars of West African music (“Echoes of Africa”). The distinctive, individual sounds of all of these tracks reflect the variety and richness of cultures across the region. “Music is a language,” says N’Dour, “but at the same time it applies to so many different things in life. So many places on this continent I’ve never been to, so much music I’ve never heard.” For N’Dour, the element common to all the artists he chose is what he calls their “musical integrity.” He explains, “The music has got to be pure. It has to come from the heart.”

Spencer Wells

Science tells us that everyone on earth originated in Africa. Don’t believe it? Just ask Dr. Spencer Wells, population geneticist, explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society (N.G.S.), and director of the Genographic Project, which is the largest survey of human genetic diversity ever undertaken. In “Out of Africa,” on page 110, Wells explains how, by scraping some cells from inside your cheek and testing the DNA, a geneticist can trace the path your ancestors took from Africa. “True exploration means pushing the boundaries of what we understand about ourselves and the world we live in,” Wells says. “The Genographic Project is helping to redefine exploration in the 21st century, using cutting-edge genetic techniques to answer the oldest questions, such as where we all came from and how our species populated the earth.” To learn more about the Genographic Project, which is being carried out by the N.G.S. and IBM, with field-research support from the Waitt Family Foundation, go to nationalgeographic.com/genographic.

Tina Brown

In 1985, one year into her nearly nine-year term as editor in chief of Vanity Fair, Tina Brown shocked the reading public with an article entitled “The Mouse That Roared,” in which she challenged the received wisdom that Princess Diana was a timid nursery-school teacher overwhelmed by royal life. In an excerpt from The Diana Chronicles (out this month from Doubleday), on page 198, Brown offers an equally original take on Diana’s postdivorce years. “Ten years after her death,” Brown says, “I thought it was time to clear away some of the dross around her and see her afresh. She has a current relevance in that she saw a way to leverage celebrity into something that was truly worthwhile. She set an example for some of the celebrity philanthropists we see today.”