Amiah

I saw a video the other day where it was explained that the solution for representation in the media is not to paint all white things black.

Although having a black woman playing the little mermaid or any other movie is nice to see, the constant comparison is not healthy for us. And it does not actually help end racism.

It gives the false idea that we are represented when in reality we are not. We keep on replaying white stories.

To have true representation in the media we need to seek and create our own stories and find our own positive black role models. On our terms.

The video then posed a challenge for me I propose to you as well.

We often speak of being descendants of kings and queens. The challenge: find one black king and queen in African history. Learn about their lives and accomplishments.

See a movie that was written, produced and played by black actors. It can be a movie from any country. There is a variety of them with subtitles.

Search for the history of one African Kingdom (there were many). Read about it. You'll be surprised.

The lack of knowledge about positive black figures in our history is a symptom of assimilation. The information exists but we have to seek it because the colonizer is not interested in teaching us our true history.

The less you know, the more you buy into the narrative that African countries are all the bad things they say. Words like "third world" or "civilized" will continue to be spoken very easily.

Learn your story so you won't be a victim of self-hate, so you can avoid the feeling that nothing good existed in the past for blacks and africans. Our story did not start with slavery. And it will not end with discrimination.

There are many fighting for our rights and history. The best thing we can do is to empower ourselves so we can empower others.

Don't forget to do the challenge.