What exactly is a white-savior complex (also known as white saviorism)? In Dipo Faloyin's Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent, the definition is not as important as the negative impacts upon those who experience it.

According to Black Equality Resources, white-savior complex is defined as "an idea in which a white person, or more broadly a white culture, 'rescues' people of color from their own situation." The phenomenon manifests most visibly in the realms of media, activism and volunteerism, and essentially "imposes the notion that the white person knows what communities of color need, rather than listening to how they can truly be of help."

This insidious complex was roundly condemned 10 years ago in an article by author Teju Cole in The Atlantic. It was written in response to a viral video called Kony 2012 (covered in detail in Faloyin's book) that epitomized the white-savior mentality. The video and the charity that sprung from it, Invisible Children, were ...