Some of my friends were having a group chat on this phone app called Whatsapp. We got on the topic of movies that depicted Black people as slaves, maids, and butlers. Basically as servants. One friend stated: "We are more than slaves, butlers, or maids.......So why are we allowing Hollywood to depict us continually in these roles?" Another person responded: "These were true stories which should be told because lots of people don't know their history." It was a very interesting discussion. Another friend also made a statement that Black history was not taught to her in school and she now finds herself constantly trying to catch up. When she that, I remembered that she had attended a predominantly White private school. I never really thought about whether or not they would teach Black history there.
My opinion is this; Black history does include slavery and other forms of servitude and it is important for people to know about this in order to appreciate their freedom and it should fuel their desire to continue to grow and develop into productive individuals. I also believe that there needs to be more films that represent our progress beyond slavery and the stereotypes. We need to kill these stereotypes of Black people as ignorant fools, crack heads, drug dealers, hood rats, hoochies, having babies all over the place, thugs, abusers of government assistance, and animals who are all too happy to destroy their own communities. Such representations also feeds self-hate because when young Black people only see negative images of other Black people, it is very difficult to feel the concept of "Black is Beautiful."
This brings me to the other thing I want to talk about. Black history does NOT begin with slavery! We were kings and queens with civilizations of beautiful and intelligent people. Here is a small list of these kings and queens.
Affonso I King of the Kongo 1506 to 1540
Sunni Ali Ber
King of Songhay 1464 to 1492
Cleopatra VII
Queen of Egypt 69 to 30 BC (She is often incorrectly depicted as White.)
Hannibal
Ruler of Carthage 247 to 183 BC
Makeda
Queen of Sheba 960 BC
I came across another blog and the writer stated that there should be movies about these kings and queens. I couldn't agree more. I not saying to ignore slavery but in doing films about Black history, slavery should not be the only part that is talked about. Young Black people need to learn that they are descendants of something great and that they are beautiful and wonderfully made. I wrote this entry to promote awareness, not hate for any other race. We are all beautiful in our different cultures and array of skin tones and should be able to work together side by side. My point is that representation matters and that we need to know our true history and pass it on to the next generation.
My opinion is this; Black history does include slavery and other forms of servitude and it is important for people to know about this in order to appreciate their freedom and it should fuel their desire to continue to grow and develop into productive individuals. I also believe that there needs to be more films that represent our progress beyond slavery and the stereotypes. We need to kill these stereotypes of Black people as ignorant fools, crack heads, drug dealers, hood rats, hoochies, having babies all over the place, thugs, abusers of government assistance, and animals who are all too happy to destroy their own communities. Such representations also feeds self-hate because when young Black people only see negative images of other Black people, it is very difficult to feel the concept of "Black is Beautiful."
This brings me to the other thing I want to talk about. Black history does NOT begin with slavery! We were kings and queens with civilizations of beautiful and intelligent people. Here is a small list of these kings and queens.
Affonso I King of the Kongo 1506 to 1540
Sunni Ali Ber
King of Songhay 1464 to 1492
Cleopatra VII
Queen of Egypt 69 to 30 BC (She is often incorrectly depicted as White.)
Hannibal
Ruler of Carthage 247 to 183 BC
Makeda
Queen of Sheba 960 BC
I came across another blog and the writer stated that there should be movies about these kings and queens. I couldn't agree more. I not saying to ignore slavery but in doing films about Black history, slavery should not be the only part that is talked about. Young Black people need to learn that they are descendants of something great and that they are beautiful and wonderfully made. I wrote this entry to promote awareness, not hate for any other race. We are all beautiful in our different cultures and array of skin tones and should be able to work together side by side. My point is that representation matters and that we need to know our true history and pass it on to the next generation.
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