I watched the movie, The American Society of Magical Negroes on the plane. It stars Justice Smith and David Alan Grier.
Scripted as satire, the film suggests that some African Americans make themselves small in order not to be threatening to white people. It alleges that when Caucasians feel threatened, they may “unalive”, implicate, or call the cops on black people, like the stereotypical “Karen.”
However, life soon turns into a perpetual knife-edge where African Americans scarcely feel safe. They cannot fully express what they think or feel, as they are often misunderstood.
The film was not well received by critics and it tanked at the box office. There were also accusations of generalizations and stereotypes. (For instance, not every black person living in the US is an African American.) But, Justice Smith’s monologue at the end was instructive for me. At that point, his character finally lets loose; explaining his personal experiences as a black man in the US.
Interestingly, the white character seemed oblivious to his own implicit biases. It was more important for him to not be perceived as racist, than to acknowledge the black character’s feelings.
Interesting Parallels of Blackness
As someone who has set up a company in the US, the movie evokes interesting parallels. You see, as an African, I never had a consciousness of “blackness,” until I lived in America. In my continent, we struggle more with tribalism and ethnicity than racism.
Hence, the movie made me think about what it’s like to be African in a global world, and the implicit bias that Africans face.
Some Colorful Scenarios
A stereotypic African often uses education as a pathway to emigration and institutional respect. It doesn’t matter whether they like school or not.
The irrational desire for wealth is an unconscious way to also earn respect. As Africans, we learn that in a capitalist society, wealth and power are often conflated. And there is assumed safety in power.
We intuitively code switch at work, to appear less threatening, and so our accents can be understood by co-workers. Notwithstanding the fact that we make an effort to understand everyone else’s accent.
America for instance is so multi-cultural that in a single day, an African interacts with people from Latin American, Asian or European backgrounds, amongst others. It is a constant cacophony of sound that we process everyday. And yet, we grin silently at the linguistic murder of our names, and wonder how many pronounce “Schwarzenegger” with ease. Fame and popularity lead to recognition, it seems.
In the corporate world, there is an unrealistic expectation for us to have an opinion about everything Africa, even though it is a continent of 54 countries with distinct expressions.
The Global Diminishing of Africa
The casual infantilization of Africa often seems irrational to Africans. After all, it was home to the richest man who ever lived (Mansa Musa) and the longest man-made earthworks in the world (Benin Walls); an edifice much longer than the Great Wall of China.
Timbuktu gave the world vast libraries of knowledge, while other African empires introduced new forms of writing and mathematics.
Yet, the continent of Africa is minimized by development agencies despite having the world’s largest repository of precious minerals (like Cobalt), and 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land.
The continent’s land area can comfortably contain the United States, Europe and China with room to spare. This fact begs the question: “On the world map, why is Africa then depicted on a smaller scale relative to other continents?”
Human Capital Development
Let’s turn our attention to people. Africa is currently home to the world’s youngest demographic and work force.
African immigrant groups around the world tend to attain more educational achievement and financial success than others, including sometimes their hosts. But many feel unwelcome abroad, even though they work, employ people, pay taxes and mostly mind their business.
Time and again, Africans are asked about the behavior of a small sub-set of citizens (corrupt politicians and internet fraudsters). This is despite the fact that western nations top the list in global cybercrime, while some extreme right-wing politicians provoke headshaking.
To be fair, Africa has much to learn from western societies about human capital development. Our people tend to thrive better in those societies than back home.
It is heartbreaking that due to political realities, an average African can scarcely rise to the same level of attainment at home. This is largely because of a legacy of fractured policies, broken institutions and a lack of enabling environments.
Looking Inwards or to the West?
So, can Africans really resent those nations that have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to create great systems? But, there remains the accusation that they did so on the back of slavery, colonization and the elimination of natives.
One thing we can’t take away is this – the value many western nations place on their citizens. All their lives, those citizens are made to feel special. When they travel abroad, they have fast-track lanes. And, should they get into trouble, their governments will come to rescue them. Many Africans enjoy no such privilege.
Then, there is the sheer pride that the citizens must feel knowing their countries produce the world’s biggest brands, most successful businesses and most advanced scientific innovations. Even though many of those innovations were built by immigrants.
In the final analysis, “everyone” wants to emigrate to the West, for that’s where dreams presumably come true. And, the PR machines of those nations keep hope alive, continually attracting the best talents to their shores.
Some Prescriptions for Africa
If Africa is to reverse the migration trend and retain its talent, we must focus on politics and policy, so we can repair the institutions that enable development and that empower dreams.
Here are a few prescriptions:
1. Teach History
We must tell the current generation about how Africa became the way it is. And, we should teach multiple sides of the story to the older generation. Many of us only know what happened recently or what transpired from the point of view of our tribe. So, we don’t appreciate the other sides that can spark discussion and understanding.
This history may be distributed in many forms, including engaging 2-minute videos that can be shared on WhatsApp (for the older generation), and on IG & TikTok (for younger folks).
2. Create or Fund Political Action Committees
In a democracy, we vote for candidates that have already been pre-selected at political party conventions. The process of selection happens long before the polls.
Well-funded PACs set the agenda, choose the candidates and then after the government is formed, they lobby for preferential policies that eventually become law. Everything rises and falls on politics and policy. And so, we all must be involved in politics.
3. Develop Global African Media Giants
Just like the Middle-East created and promoted Al Jazeera to tell their stories, Africa must do the same. We must own our narratives.
4. Promote Africa’s Agenda
Through the African Union and other Africa-centric platforms, Africa should present a strong unified voice at global fora like the WTO, UN, WHO, World Bank and so on. We should harness our collective negotiation power.
5. Raise Domestic Funding
African countries must build strong investment vehicles and sovereign wealth funds. Until Africa can fund its own infrastructural development, we will keep mortgaging our assets and future to foreign lenders. The second wave of colonization is here.
6. Revive Education and Develop Global Brands
Without a skilled workforce, scientific innovations and infrastructural funding, we will be subject to the second wave of colonization, as the West comes to “save” us and to develop our nations for us.
It takes at least one generation for the first products to emerge from a revamped educational system. So whenever we start, we need at least 15 years to bear fruit.
We also need our own brands. The recent Tiktok trend about how many luxury products labeled as “Italian leather” are actually made using leather sourced from Africa, is an example of how Africa typically gets the shorter end of the commercial stick. We must move up the production value chain beyond mere raw materials. So we can monetize our expertise and products to create global brands.
Thank you for reading. What did you find most interesting?