The Black Race Narrative: How can Black people change the narrative and visual stereotypes imposed and perpetuated about people of color by Hollywood?
The most disrespected person in America is The Black Woman. It is not an hypothesis but critical acclaim backed up by statistical relations. The mainstream media with Hollywood at its centre has performed its part for as long as history can be traced back to support the demeaning slander of The Black Person to the world.
The worst case existing though? Nobody thinks there is a problem.
Let’s analyse the ridiculous stereotypes and prevailing portrayal of The Black Person, Hollywood has publicised.
Black Race Narrative: Black Men, Women, Families & Kids
Black men in movies predominantly are portrayed as “from the hood”, violent, involved in illegal trading, poor, unfaithful, troublemakers.
And Black women are hyped to be out of control, hot headed, over sexualized, victimized characters.
Black families are almost nonexistent with the woman being portrayed as a white woman or in the minute event that a black family was brought on screen, the woman alas was never a dark skinned Black woman.
It doesn’t stop there. Black kids were always to be seen as “angry” and “fiery,” brought up by single mothers, struggling to keep up with the world while harboring ill feelings towards their unavailable fathers thus establishing a myth of terrible fatherhood in The Black Community.
Black Race Narrative: Portrayal of Black Characters
Prisons, gangs, drugs, arms and violence are rarely disassociated with Black Characters as opposed to the rest. Sex, cheating, unfaithfulness, teen pregnancies are still widely held in union with black characters over the whites.
Black characters are always made to tongue their dialogues with misspelled grammar and slang illustrating them to be illiterate and uneducated.
All in all, Hollywood has humiliated, spun fictitious ideologies and tainted The Black Race more than anyone else.
Opportunity For The Black Community
Thankfully, as the injustice of this narrative gets into perspective in modern visualisation, we see more Black directors, writers and producers coming into change the field for what has been a brutal character assassination of The Black Culture.
But if every already established denigration is to move its course, it is vital for The Black Community to digest the flames that are licking their skin and march forward to support our own people that can only too well paint us for who we are, smart, intelligent, powerful, rich and a dominant class of people.
It is only us that can narrate our own story. When the world takes to writing about us, they get their facts wrong and our reality twisted.
At a time like this, where Black Achievements outnumber any other races’, we encourage you to press your advantage, step forward and take your stance in the limelight at the path center Black People before us have paved for us.
It is time for us to normalise Black Culture, to bring into light, our ways, practices and lifestyle. It is the hour to erase the falsehoods of Hollywood and tell the world the truth about us and our power.
I also think this is the best time in history to be alive. Numerous social media platforms, magazines, TV shows, newspapers, events and highlights dedicated and focused solely on Black People are climbing linearly upwards in their fight for survival.
The new generation gets to see themselves well represented in the roles of politicians, doctors, lawyers and roles of prestige and power.
It is only prudent to endorse all forms of Black Talent in any format so as to lift up Our Culture that was misinterpreted for way too long.
The Black Race is at the highest graduating rates of minorities in most universities nationwide. The young Black Achievements are to be praised and acclaimed whenever possible so as to buttress the rest to follow in stride.
In places where mainstream media refuses to acknowledge our flair and aptitude, let’s utilise our own channels to spread the word across the world.
If doors don’t open, it is only right that we knock them down and force ears to listen and eyes to see. For too much relevant time, our images have been suppressed and our stories have been distorted.
One step at a time makes a whole journey, let’s pressure that step by creating more media outlets for the countless Black Voices that go unheard in the concoted din of Hollywood.
Credits
Photographer: Phil Halfmann⠀
Creative Director: Sophia Lenore⠀
Lead Hair & Makeup Artist: Sophia Lenore⠀
Wardrobe Stylist: Eva Santiago ⠀
Video by Phil Halfmann⠀
Model: MJ ⠀
Music: “BoogieBounce” by Drew Banga
Written by Zoomaburst
