Recent African Movies: Signifiers of Inferiorized Africans

*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D.

I. FRONTISPIECE
African movies scream it all
Oh! Inferiorized Africans
Oh! Neocolonized Africans
Oh! Benighted Africans
Oh! Enslaved Africans
Africans without roots
Africans accept anyone
Anything non-African
Anything except their own
African movies is a mirror
Our jaded mirror of hopelessness
Of our dearth of inventiveness
Copy, copy copy oh, oh
Of always imitating others
Those who deride us
Those who neocolonize us
Those who disempower us
Those who otherize us
Those who misrepresent us
Those who ghettoized us
Oh! Inferiorized Africans

II. LIGHT-SKIN SYNDROME
When film-makers parade stars
They parade light-skin stars
Biracial is the choice
Light-skin tones are the norm
Bleached skin tones
Contradictory skin tones
Bleached forehead area
Opposing unbleached ears
Light-skin is akin to heroism
Dark-skin is akin to villainy
Light-skin is upper-class
Dark-skin is lower-class
Light-skin offers advantages
Dark-skin offers disadvantages

III. WESTERN NAMES
Film stars wear Western names
Strange lackluster names
Their badges of honor
As a badge of Westernization
As a badge of education
As a badge of social class
Westerners don’t use our names
Don’t know our names
Don’t care about our names
Oh! Africans! Lost Africans
In the crucible of neocolonialism
In one African movie
These strange names abound
Not a single African name
All these slave names:
CLARA, TRISHA
SIMON, PATRICK
JAMES, PAUL
THEODORA, BOND
SILAS, VERA
SYLVIA, ROSE
EDWIN, ANN
VALENTINE
Where did African names go
Amma, Memuna
Afi, Adzo
Yaa, Yawa
Kofi, Kwasi
Oh! Inferiorized Africans
Oh! Neocolonized Africans
Even in our postcolony
We adore Westernisms

IV. FASHION
So we wear dog chains
Big chains
Chains of imitation
Gangster-rap chains
Chains of enslavement

So we wear wigs
Our women adorned
Adorned in capitalist hair
Manufactured hair pieces
Pig hair, dog hair
Horse hair, goat hair
Blonde hair, brunette hair
Our hairstyles are gone
Oh! Africans
Inferiorized Africans

V. DEPRAVED MANNERISMS
Foreign cultures
Of violence
Of gun-toting heroism
Of depraved sex/sexuality
Of drugs, alcohol
Of gangsterism
Of slanging gurl, gurl (girl)
Of weddings
Of greetings
Of accents

VI. EPILOGUE
Oh! Inferiorized Africans
Oh! Neocolonized Africans
Oh! Benighted Africans
Oh! Enslaved Africans
Time to be proud as Africans
Time to stop imitating others
Time to showcase our cultures
Champion our rich cultures
Our vibrant rich cultures

*Akadu N. Mensema, Ph. D., is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained
oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in
Pennsylvania with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a college
in Maryland. In her pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist
hyperbolic, satirical” poetry. She can be reached at akadumensema@yahoo.com