on Take a listen! The lyrics are up to interpretation, but I think that in a way the song addresses the du Bois’s call for global consciousness and subtly hints at the ways in which Audrey Lorde speaks about how poetry is vital to the spiritual growth of women.
-Rucker; ASRC 3310, Fall 2019
on I found this post under the category of ‘Visual Art’ on the NYU Afro-Asia blog, and thought it would be interesting to read on how the film may or may not have been received by Egyptians.
I think that this article is interesting, particularly because our class recently held brief conversation on the impact of Egyptian culture towards African American popular culture in the 1970s. Looking back to the example shown in class, we can think of the artist Sun Ra and how he deliberately drew on a type of Egyptian heritage with his clothing and headdress. I also mentioned in class how many African American musicians of the mid to late 70s also drew upon Egyptian visual imagery to assert a deeper sense of pride in a heritage associated with the Egyptian ‘motherland’.
This article has an interesting viewpoint because the author, Mona Eltahawy, identifies as Egyptian herself. Eltahawy states that “As an Egyptian, I was glad to see the film “Black Panther” embrace my country… But considering the anti-black racism against the Nubian indigenous community and visitors in my country, I knew Egypt would not return the love.” Providing narrations of racist happenings to African American friends and strangers, citing statistics and fatal casualties of Sudanese refugees caused by Egyptian police, and noting Nubian political activists detained for enacting peaceful protests, Eltahawy uses these examples to provide evidence of the racial bias in Egypt. Popular culture has also informed and reinforced stereotypes of many people of color and has not helped to alleviate any racial, or inter-racial tension between Egyptians and ‘others’.
-Rucker; ASRC 3310, Fall 2019