In response to the Lupita Nyong’o/Niki Minaj-cartoon
“No matter where you’re from… your dreams are valid.” I, too, donated many heartbeats to Lupita Nyong’o’s supernova of an acceptance speech and I think this cartoon completely undermines her power and relevance. Personally, I adore Nyong’o for being Nyong’o and not for not being Minaj.
Why isn’t the trashcan filled with pictures of Chelsea Handler who, among other racist rubbish, Tweeted: “#AngelinaJolie just filed adoption papers #lupitanyongo #Oscars -@chelseahandler.” or with eurocentric magazines that continuously make too many Sisters question if their Black is beautiful? How about a trashcan filled with the faces of (casting) directors who would like to tell the stories of iconic, dark-skinned Black women but only if they can be portrayed by a woman with a much lighter skin tone.
I hope the artist isn’t implying that Nicki Minaj is the biggest bump in our roads towards visibility and representation and I absolutely detest the idea that to truly celebrate the magic of one Sister, we must denounce another. If the cartoon would have showed us an image of a little Black girl drawing dreams under the watchful eye of a Lupita Nyong’o poster like the picture below I’m sure that we wouldn’t only have gotten the point… we would live it.
Posted on March 4, 2014, in Imagery and representation. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on In response to the Lupita Nyong’o/Niki Minaj-cartoon.
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