A few years back, when the first Black Panther movie came out, my initial
reaction to news reports about the warm reception the movie had recieved
in the Black community was one of dismay: it was sad, and underscored
the sad situation of black characters in the movies, that it took a comic-book
fantasy to present a positive depiction of black people.
On reflection, though, given the lack of movies with black characters in
significant roles, something is better than nothing.
Lupita Nyong'o had a role in that movie.
Recently, there's been publicity about a movie currently in theatres, "The
Woman King". A movie, based on historical fact, about a woman who
led an African nation to military glory!
Just the sort of movie that the black women of America needed to lift
their spirits!
Well, maybe.
Lupita Nyong'o was offered a role in that movie, but she ended up declining
it. She has not spoken publicly about her reasons.
However, one possible reason is connected with a historical documentary
on Britain's Channel Four which she narrated. It was about the historical
personage on which the movie _The Woman King_ was based.
It seems that her forces sold the captives she took in her wars... to slave
traders.
To give her a pass would be to give white slave traders a pass, and to
give slavery itself a pass, and so she refused to do it.

John Savard

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote in
news:4fc856de-a8a9-48ab-8316-e9bc189a52bdn@googlegroups.com:

> A few years back, when the first Black Panther movie came out,
> my initial reaction to news reports about the warm reception the
> movie had recieved in the Black community was one of dismay: it
> was sad, and underscored the sad situation of black characters
> in the movies, that it took a comic-book fantasy to present a
> positive depiction of black people. On reflection, though, given
> the lack of movies with black characters in significant roles,
> something is better than nothing. Lupita Nyong'o had a role in
> that movie. Recently, there's been publicity about a movie
> currently in theatres, "The Woman King". A movie, based on
> historical fact, about a woman who led an African nation to
> military glory! Just the sort of movie that the black women of
> America needed to lift their spirits!
> Well, maybe.
> Lupita Nyong'o was offered a role in that movie, but she ended
> up declining it. She has not spoken publicly about her reasons.
> However, one possible reason is connected with a historical
> documentary on Britain's Channel Four which she narrated. It was
> about the historical personage on which the movie _The Woman
> King_ was based. It seems that her forces sold the captives she
> took in her wars... to slave traders.
> To give her a pass would be to give white slave traders a pass,
> and to give slavery itself a pass, and so she refused to do it.
>
Unfortunately, for certain lefty revisionists, nearly *all* black
Africans brought to the new world as slaves were, in fact, bought
from black African save traders. It was a common practice
throughout subsaharan Africa for centuries for the losing side of a
war to end up as slaves, and selling them to outsides was a no-
brainer for the powers that be.

Note: The same practice was also common in virtually every other
culture at some point, as well, and isn't unheard of even today.

In the medieval and early renaissance period. there were a number
of great kingdoms in Africa that easily rivaled anything in Europe
or Asia. Very wealthy (most of the gold circulating in Europe at
the time came from Africa), militarily powerful, socially
sophistcated, they were great empires. They are largely forgotten
now, including by most Africans, mostly because Europe developed
modern weaponry (specifically, gunpowder) first, and conquered
them. Not because Europeans were more aggressive, or bigger
assholes, they just had better military technology.

If you are interested in the lost history of these great empires,
I'd recommend starting with a documentary called Africa's Great
Civilization, narrated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. There's a
magnificent, glorious history there that, in the words of The
History Guy, "deserves to be remembered."

--
Terry Austin

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 1:12:59 PM UTC-4, Quadibloc wrote:
> A few years back, when the first Black Panther movie came out, my initial
> reaction to news reports about the warm reception the movie had recieved
> in the Black community was one of dismay: it was sad, and underscored
> the sad situation of black characters in the movies, that it took a comic-book
> fantasy to present a positive depiction of black people.
> On reflection, though, given the lack of movies with black characters in
> significant roles, something is better than nothing.
> Lupita Nyong'o had a role in that movie.
> Recently, there's been publicity about a movie currently in theatres, "The
> Woman King". A movie, based on historical fact, about a woman who
> led an African nation to military glory!
> Just the sort of movie that the black women of America needed to lift
> their spirits!
> Well, maybe.
> Lupita Nyong'o was offered a role in that movie, but she ended up declining
> it. She has not spoken publicly about her reasons.
> However, one possible reason is connected with a historical documentary
> on Britain's Channel Four which she narrated. It was about the historical
> personage on which the movie _The Woman King_ was based.
> It seems that her forces sold the captives she took in her wars... to slave
> traders.
> To give her a pass would be to give white slave traders a pass, and to
> give slavery itself a pass, and so she refused to do it.
>
> John Savard

You may be right. I saw it this weekend. Its a great movie, but plays fast and
loose with history. (BTW, King Ghezo is the only historically real person in the
movie). A movie can be inspiring even without being true.

pt

I think the point was made in probably this recent
edition of BBC radio's arts magazine, "Front Row".
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001cpkf>
About 15 minutes in, they start talking about the film.

However, I doubt your ability to read the mind of
actress Lupita Nyong'o and her unspoken thoughts
about this project, if you are correct in saying that
she isn't in it.

On Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 5:27:06 PM UTC-6, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> I think the point was made in probably this recent
> edition of BBC radio's arts magazine, "Front Row".
> <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001cpkf>
> About 15 minutes in, they start talking about the film.
>
> However, I doubt your ability to read the mind of
> actress Lupita Nyong'o and her unspoken thoughts
> about this project, if you are correct in saying that
> she isn't in it.

I did not rely on my own telepathic powers; instead, I
had seen this video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2992OLVrrU

John Savard

On Wednesday, 12 October 2022 at 02:01:24 UTC+1, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Tuesday, October 11, 2022 at 5:27:06 PM UTC-6, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> > I think the point was made in probably this recent
> > edition of BBC radio's arts magazine, "Front Row".
> > <https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001cpkf>
> > About 15 minutes in, they start talking about the film.
> >
> > However, I doubt your ability to read the mind of
> > actress Lupita Nyong'o and her unspoken thoughts
> > about this project, if you are correct in saying that
> > she isn't in it.
> I did not rely on my own telepathic powers; instead, I
> had seen this video on YouTube:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2992OLVrrU

I have another question, then. Why the fuck are you talking
about it here? I know, you don't have anywhere else.
But that doesn't excuse it.