Stories are an indispensable part of human culture. From the stories we hope to tell our hypothetical children, to the ones that have been imparted on us by generations that will soon pass, the very fabric of humanity is tapistired with stories.
What has become especially apparent to me is the many ways in which humans have developed storytelling. Music, literature, photography, film, television, architecture, science, fashion, religion and essentially any other human creations are our way of communicating to ourselves across time periods and civilizations. It is how we validate our existence (which sometimes feels unjustified and fleeting), resolve feelings of isolation, or as Camus put it, how we keep humanity from “destroying itself”. Basically, stories are really damn important.
So one can understand my apprehension with the release of Beyonce’s “Black is King” trailer for the upcoming film. The trailer depicts visuals similar to those produced for the infamous live action adaptation of The Lion King. These included videos for “Spirit” and “Bigger”, which re-imagined afro-minimalist imagery through juxtaposing a vibrant colour palette against the austerity of what we can assume is the “African dessert”. The trailer presents further visual elaboration of these ideas and hyperstylizes them in an effort to communicate all the pomp and dignity that was stripped from the African continent.
But who gets to tell other people’s stories?
As of late, the same ideological re-working is present across forms storytelling, but film, television, and music have taken Afrocentrism to new heights. With 2018’s black panther setting the precedent, entertainment has never seen as many black African faces and narratives garnering this much notoriety. And I am grateful.
But to a very small extent.
The work that is being produced is not really of Africa, but Africa through the imagination of black Americans. Their grasp on Africanness is removed due to historical, political and economic circumstances that are out of their control, and that is a massive debt that the world’s colonial past could never repay. And it truly is a beautiful concept - to showcase the lives and culture of an entire sphere of existence that does not get as much coverage as it deserves. But in the process, all of our continents’ cultural identities are atomised for palatable consumption, and all in the name of asserting the “royalty” in archaic African history. I do not feel it necessary to go into all the effects of this level of reduction (inaccuracies, false narrative depictions, unacknowledged African feudalism and hierarchical histories etc…), but what I find alarming is the entitlement to the African narrative that seems to plague the black American entertainment industry. I do not believe it is their role to act as our (ironically enough) “white knights”, because their efforts seem to work to benefit their own community primarily. Boseman, Whitaker, Elba, Hudson, Okonedo, Newton and the like, are just a few names on a catalogue of people who are not born and bred African natives, yet are adorned with accolades and recognition as a result of their participation in projects that are meant to depict African narratives. This is deeply counterintuitive.
Inclusion is not achieved through “adding African and stirring”
I can however acknowledge the importance of the aforementioned actors, the significance of a Black Panther, and the power of a Black is King. Representation is unbelievably valuable. These stories are essential so that black bodies are not erased from the historical canon of humanity’s story. I love that Ryan Coogler’s work in his 2018 film gave little girls who look like me, the chance to see different character arcs and presentations of women with dark skin, bantu-knots, cornrows, and shaved heads. It gave visibility! It has also opened doors for other projects that now seek to portray African life, and dive deeper into the “Heart of Darkness” that once was - and to some extent still is - Africa.
But who gets to tell other people’s stories?
I suppose there is merit in what Beyonce and her team are trying to do, but 2019’s The Lion King should have been the conclusion to this chapter of African narrative fetishization. And no, adding African people to a cast or list of additional credits does not absolve anyone of exploitative tendencies, it only highlights them. Inclusion is not achieved through “adding African and stirring”, it is done through signing black African people to major black American record labels (like Roc Nation and Parkwood Entertainment), ensuring that high levels in the production of these projects are decorated with black African creatives (and I do note and the incredible pre and post production black African creatives included in Black is King), or maybe even making this film available on a streaming platform that African people have access to.
I do have warring opinions on the relationship between Africans, black Americans and the entertainment industry, and I am appreciative of these efforts, but I refuse the notion that this is the best way for African stories to be told. There needs to be more interrogation done from black people in the global north, as to what their privileges are, how they can change specific behaviours, and finally ask:
Are these their stories to tell?