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| St. Maurice of Germany |
I recently
attended the presentation on "The Black image" by Tony Warner of London Black History Walks. I think it was the third time I've seen it.
One
thing I enjoy about Brother Tony's presentations is that he always
adds some new information. Thus, I enjoy watching them over and
over again.
At one time, Black people were depicted in European artworks as regal and magnificent, often dressed in finery. But in the modern day - starting with Transatlantic slavery and continuing to this day - the Black image has been distorted and degraded. Films often depict situations in which a small band of white – British or American – fighters are up against hordes of Black enemy soldiers. The white soldiers are represented as brave and heroic, fighting off massive numbers of Black people.
Old
films such as Zulu follow this pattern, and it continues with
modern-day films such as Black
Hawk Down.
Similar patterns also appear in video games.
These
kinds of images reinforced the British idea of empire: that they had
gone into Africa and other places and stood up against huge numbers
of hostile locals or, as they would have called them, “natives”.
These attitudes continue to be reinforced in the British and American
psyches today, through the use of these powerful images. And they
affect the way we see ourselves and our history.
Perhaps
the most important point Brother Tony made is that we must create our
own images. We must record our own history and share it. As a
griot, this is my job. It it is the responsibility of all of us -
particularly that of parents and teachers. It is useful and
important for us to understand the prevailing mainstream images of
Black people and Black history, but we must create our own.
There
are loads more Black history and African history posts on this blog,
so please read them and share them with your networks. Please leave
your comments below.
