Get Educated / Watch Film

Last night I was at the BFM International Film Festival at the ICA to watch a series of films examining the global power of hip-hop and the slavery and reparations debate. Each of the four films was distinct but the common thread in the narrative was how people of African descent, both in the Motherland and in the Diaspora continue to suffer from the effects of slavery and colonialism.

In A Black Scholar Investigates Colonialism I learnt about a man called Ralph Bunche, a pioneer of Pan-Africanism and African cultural studies whose name has virtually been erased from the history books. Yet Bunche was the first black man to win the Nobel Peace Prize and was a Secretary-General of the United Nations. A celebrated life, William Greaves enlightening film sheds light on Bunche’s unwavering commitment to the cause of Africa and his people. A Black Scholar reminded us that not too long ago black people in America were being lynched, Jim Crowed and denied basic human rights and this was after the abolition of slavery! The film also contained a rare and interesting clip of Haile Selassie speaking at the League of Nations, pleading for help to stop the Italian invasion of Ethiopia but he was literally barracked off the podium.

By far the most disturbing and unsettling film of the night was Bling: Consequences and Repercussions, a documentary about how hip-hop’s obsession with diamonds has indirectly contributed to the brutal deaths of thousands of Sierra Leoneans in the country’s civil war. Blood diamonds are diamonds that have been sold to finance the military activity of rebel groups. Graphic footage of summary executions and mutilations of men and children made me flinch and shockingly rammed home the sheer depths of depravity to which the country sunk over the eleven year conflict. The relationship between hip-hop and ostentatious bling has never been explored in this depth. While Kanye West’s Diamonds bought the issue in to the global hip-hop consciousness, it failed to spark a campaign among fellow rapper’s speaking out against conflict diamond. Quite frankly, hip-hop needs to wake up to the consequences and repercussions of bling and get active.

As the last credits rolled, I left the auditorium feeling inspired and motivated by the force of what I’d witnessed. Film is a powerful medium and can teach in a way that traditional education can’t. The documentaries empowered me to renew my pledge of allegiance to Africa. I am an African. I may not have been born there but I feel wholly African in the way that British people are supposed to feel European.

Africans in the Diaspora have a duty to actively work for the advancement of the continent and the enlightenment of people around the world. We must take responsibility for our own heritage and future. If we don’t, then Africa and Africans will never get the dues we deserve. And we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves. SA.