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Tears of the Sun: Movie or Propaganda
By Bakari Akil II
It must be mentioned immediately that ethnic cleansing
and inhumane African-on-African violence occurs. This is an
indisputable fact that cannot be swept under the rug. It is also
true that there are differences that may be considered
irreconcilable within or between certain countries in Africa
that lead to gross injustices and despicable behavior.
However, the preceding statements do not provide a pass
for the movie
Tears of the Sun, directed by
Antoine Fuqua and starring Bruce Willis. Regardless of the
reasons that the makers of this film cite for making this movie
and the attempt to add humanity to the victims of violence, the
repercussions of this film must be analyzed and exposed.
In a style similar to the motion picture
Black
Hawk Down, which explores a US battle in Somalia, the
viewer is immersed into the middle of a battle zone without
elaboration or clarification. No mention is made of the British
creation of the country named Nigeria, which forced populations
of people who did not share the same culture, religion, values
or view of life to live together as one country. There was no
mention of the colonialism, neo-colonialism (past and present)
that is the root cause for much of the tension between
populations within Nigeria. In addition, no clarification is
provided that allows the viewer to see that African people are
not just brutal sadistic killers who behave this way because it
is their nature.
What the viewer is allowed to witness is the classic
portrayal of Africans or Blacks that has been in existence since
the movie industry began. Some of the timeless themes that are
abundant in the movie are the plot of a young European woman
(who is American by marriage) playing savior to the
“indigenous” population and their love and zeal for her is
without limits. Next, the movie is based on US soldiers saving
this woman from the oncoming wrath of the Nigerian rebels who
are out to murder, plunder and rape. (To be fair the plot does
involve a subtle change to the mission near the end.)
Further themes include African men and women who are
completely helpless, always afraid, jumpy and devoid of any
personality except for in crucial moments. The meanest and
scariest looking Black men they could find are employed as the
evil group that chases the conquering saviors played by Bruce
Willis and his fellow Special Forces group. In fact, the top
“bad guy” looks beyond sinister, he appeared to be crazy!
The movie is cleverly crafted and the situations are
seemingly so complex that it is hard to recognize the fact that
the Special Forces group entry into Nigeria is illegal or that
sending US jets into their airspace is not only a violation of
that country’s sovereignty but an act of war. In addition, all
of the actions of the Special Forces group, the young woman, the
missionaries and anyone else foreign are portrayed as righteous
and above reproach. Therefore, the majority of audiences will
undoubtedly look at the film and the actions of its participants
as good deeds being done. In fact, Bruce Willis’ character
provides an excuse for their actions when he states, “God left
Africa along time ago!” (So I guess it is up to them to right
the wrongs!)
The context in which the film was created and described
above is why the movie is so troubling.
We are living in a day and age (in the United States)
where if the ruler of a country or policies of a country is
deemed dictatorial, that leader can be assassinated or their
country invaded (Iraq is a good example).
Little or no proof has to be provided to justify such
actions and there has been little evidence to demonstrate that
these types of actions can be prevented.
Africa is no exception to this policy.
Although unstated, it is probably fair to say that
Africa is not looked to as a place that the great world powers
can clearly invade without being viewed upon by the rest of the
world as a barbaric power that is picking on a relatively
defenseless continent. Further, the legacy of colonialism and
accusations of neo-colonialism probably prevents overt
hostilities by the world’s ruling elite to the African
continent. However, these trends are changing and world powers
are increasingly salivating over Africa’s rich economic
resources including oil, diamonds, and gold.
Current actions by an African nation to redress the
ills that has plagued Africa since the first European slave
trader stepped foot onto continent has been met by derision and
hostility.
Some examples:
-
On March 7, 2003, the US imposed sanctions against
Zimbabwe and no American is allowed to conduct any business
activities with this country. The US stated that Zimbabwe is
a threat to the entire South African region and must not be
allowed to continue its present course. This is in addition
to the UK’s policy toward Zimbabwe.
The list of transgressions and tactics used to
interfere and weaken the growing strength of the African
continent are endless and are becoming more overt. The
disrespect and lack of humanity shown towards Africa already
exists; however, a pretext for massive interference is not.
That’s why these films have frightening implications. When a
film such as
Tears of the Sun
reaches the movie
theater and is given such publicity, issues have to be raised.
It must be recognized that these movies perform many
functions (regardless of stated intent). The first thing that it
does is makes Africans appear to be people without a conscious
who have no morals, require guidance and need to be rescued.
Next, it desensitizes audiences to the idea of killing Africans,
because this is what happens in abundance throughout these
movies. Africans are killed in surprising numbers on the big
screen with all of the most modern of technologies. Third, the
fear that has been built up by stereotypes of the African as a
fearsome foe to be dealt with man to man is hammered down by
showing the “evil men” (Nigerian soldiers) being easily
handled by normal looking men (US Special Forces). This type of
movie creates a mindset that is hard to deny.
In a day and age where the mainstream news media is
heavily biased, unresponsive and not representative of its
public or where the movie industry has a history of supporting
US actions during war, such as the internment of Japanese
Americans in World War II, movies such as these should not be
looked upon as a cool war flicks that highlight the bravery of
American soldiers. It should be analyzed critically and the
viewer should ask himself or herself where are the moviemakers
leading them.
When it comes down to it, I have to ask myself is
Tears
of the Sun a movie or propaganda? I know my answer but
I’ll let you decide yours!
If you like this article consider making a donation
Bakari
Akil is an Editor-In-Chief for Global Black News. He holds a
MASS degree with an emphasis in Public Administration and has a
Bachelor Degree in Law and Society. He is currently teaching
Public Speaking and working on his PhD in Communications.
GlobalBlackNews@hotmail.com.
Bakari Akil is an editor for
GlobalBlackNews.com.
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Marketing Ghana as a Mecca for the African-American Tourist—The
Afro-American tourist market constitutes an important niche
market. At the moment, the U.S.A is Ghana's second highest
tourist generating market with the U.K being the first. In 2003,
some 27,000 tourists arrived in Ghana from the Americas.
Approximately 10,000 were African-Americans. Also, about a
thousand are living and working in Accra. The African-American
tourist market is Ghana's niche market because it has the
greatest growth potential in terms of arrivals and receipts.
This is because the African-American tourist of today is more
interested in exploring his/her cultural and historical
heritage; the very products that Ghana offers. Also, they have a
$300 billion spending power and spend 98% of their household
income. The total income of this segment of the American
population is the largest of all the ethnic groups at $485 and
projected to reach $1.01 trillion by 2010. In a 2000 Gallup poll
commissioned by the National Summit on Africa, 73% of
African-Americans were interested in learning more about Africa.— ModernGhana
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Strange Fruit Lynching Report
/
Anniversary of a Lynching
Willie
McGhee Lynching /
My Grandfather's Execution
Dr. Robert Lee Interview /
African American dentist in Ghana
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* * * *
Bob Marley—
Exodus
Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was
the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska,
rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers (19641974) and Bob
Marley & the Wailers (19741981). Marley remains the most widely
known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited for
helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement
(of which he was a committed member), to a worldwide audience.
|
Exodus
Exodus:
movement of jah people! oh-oh-oh, yea-eah!
Men and people will fight ya down (tell me why!)
When ya see jah light. (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!)
Let me tell you if youre not wrong; (then, why? )
Everything is all right.
So we gonna walk - all right! - through de roads of
creation:
We the generation (tell me why!)
(trod through great tribulation) trod through great
tribulation.
Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Oh, yeah! o-oo, yeah! all right!
Exodus: movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
Yeah-yeah-yeah, well!
Uh! open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied (with the life youre living)? uh!
We know where were going, uh!
We know where were from.
Were leaving babylon,
Were going to our father land.
2, 3, 4: exodus: movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
(movement of jah people!) send us another brother
moses!
(movement of jah people!) from across the red sea!
(movement of jah people!) send us another brother
moses!
(movement of jah people!) from across the red sea!
Movement of jah people!
Exodus, all right! oo-oo-ooh! oo-ooh!
Movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
Exodus!
Exodus! all right!
Exodus! now, now, now, now!
Exodus!
Exodus! oh, yea-ea-ea-ea-ea-ea-eah!
Exodus!
Exodus! all right!
Exodus! uh-uh-uh-uh!
Move! move! move! move! move! move!
Open your eyes and look within:
Are you satisfied with the life youre living?
We know where were going;
We know where were from.
Were leaving babylon, yall!
Were going to our fathers land.
Exodus, all right! movement of jah people!
Exodus: movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Move! move! move! move! move! move! move!
Jah come to break downpression,
Rule equality,
Wipe away transgression,
Set the captives free.
Exodus, all right, all right!
Movement of jah people! oh, yeah!
Exodus: movement of jah people! oh, now, now, now,
now!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Move! move! move! move! move! move! uh-uh-uh-uh!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)! movement of jah people!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Move(ment of jah people)!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
Movement of jah people!
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Relations
Between Africans and African Americans: Misconceptions, Myths
and Realities
By
Godfrey Mwakikagile
(Grand
Rapids, Michigan: National Academic Press, 2005) 302 pages
Chapter Four: The Attitude of Africans Towards African Americans
Chapter Six: Misconceptions About Each Other
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Chiefs in Cape
Coast, Ghana /
Grand Durbar Parade
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Dentist Dr. Robert Lee
Championed African-American Community in
Ghana
In the
mid-1950s, Dr. Robert Lee, a dentist from
South Carolina, moved to Ghana to escape
racism in the south. Over the next half
century, Lee became a fixture in the
African-American community in the West
African country. Dr. Lee died on Monday,
July 5th at the age of 90. But few here in
his home state, or in the States at all,
knew of his work. But in Ghana, he made a
name for himself. Dr. Robert Lee, trained as
a dentist, moved to Accra in the mid-1950s.
Over the past half century, Lee became a
fixture in the black American ex-patriot
community in Ghana.
NPR
Host Michel Martin talks to NPR West African
correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton about his
life and legacy.
Dr. Robert Lee NPR Interview
Dentist Championed
African-American Community In Ghana
Dr Robert Lee passes on
|
 |
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Dr. Robert Lee (right) in
2009 with Kwame Zulu Shabazz |
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* * * *
The State of African Education
(April 200)
Attack On Africans Writing Their Own History Part 1 of 7
Dr Asa
Hilliard III speaks on the assault of academia on Africans writing and
accounting for their own history.
Dr Hilliard is A teacher,
psychologist, and historian.
Part 2 of 7
/
Part
3 of 7 /
Part 4 of 7
/
Part 5 of 7 /
Part 6 of 7 /
Part 7 of 7
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* * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * *
*
Basil Davidson's "Africa Series"
Different
But Equal /
Mastering A Continent /
Caravans
of Gold /
The King and the City /
The Bible and The Gun
* * * *
*
 |
West Africa Before the Colonial Era: A
History to 1850
By
Basil Davidson
This
book is excellent as an introduction to West
African history. It begins with a brief
overview of region's history from earliest
times but the focus of the book is on the
thousand years between the 9th and the 19th
centuries A.D.
Comprehensive overviews of the political
histories of both well and little known West
African states and cities are recounted.
These include the histories of the empires
of Ghana, Mali, Songhay, Kanem-Bornu, Oyo,
Benin, Dahomey and Asante. Accounts of
several other smaller states are also
detailed such as the Hausa city states, the
Wollof kingdom, the Bambara states, the
Niger Delta trading states, the Fulani
states of Futa Jallon and Futa Toro, the
important cities of Timbuktu, Jenne and Gao
and several others. |
Apart from these
political histories, Davidson also provides an insight
into the social fabric of West Africa, especially at the
dawn of the 17th century. He describes economic features
(like trade items, routes, currencies etc), religion,
arts and learning in the region, social stratification
and dominant trends. These provide the reader with a
real "feel" of the society at that time. Like all of
Davidson's writings on this subject matter, this book
dispels the myth that Africa had no history or
civilization before contact with Europe. It is clear,
concise and very easy to read.
D. E. Chukwumerije
* *
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|
The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth
By
Andrew M. Manis
In this
intriguing work, the first full-scale
biography of Birmingham's Rev. Fred
Shuttlesworth ("perhaps the most unsung of
the many heroes of the American civil rights
movement"), religious historian Manis
compellingly depicts a dual, combustible
life. While providing insights into
Shuttleworth's pastoral work and family
life, he also offers a lengthy analysis of
his subject's civil rights activities. He
contends that Martin Luther King Jr. and the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
went to Birmingham on Shuttlesworth's direct
invitation and that they owed their success
there largely to Shuttlesworth's having
organized a large and loyal cadre of
demonstrators over seven years. It was
Shuttlesworth's tenacity and courage, Manis
suggests, that toppled Birmingham's virulent
racism. Based largely on interviews with
Shuttlesworth, this well-written and
-researched book offers valuable new
information and insights into a crucial era
of Southern and African American history.—Library
Journal |
 |
 |
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus
Created
By Charles C. Mann
I’m
a big fan of Charles Mann’s previous
book
1491:
New Revelations of the Americas Before
Columbus, in which he
provides a sweeping and provocative
examination of North and South America
prior to the arrival of Christopher
Columbus. It’s exhaustively researched
but so wonderfully written that it’s
anything but exhausting to read. With
his follow-up,
1493, Mann has taken it to a
new, truly global level. Building on the
groundbreaking work of Alfred Crosby
(author of
The Columbian Exchange and, I’m
proud to say, a fellow Nantucketer),
Mann has written nothing less than the
story of our world: how a planet of what
were once several autonomous continents
is quickly becoming a single,
“globalized” entity.
Mann not only talked to countless
scientists and researchers; he visited
the places he writes about, and as a
consequence, the book has a marvelously
wide-ranging yet personal feel as we
follow Mann from one far-flung corner of
the world to the next. And always, the
prose is masterful. In telling the
improbable story of how Spanish and
Chinese cultures collided in the
Philippines in the sixteenth century, he
takes us to the island of Mindoro whose
“southern coast consists of a number of
small bays, one next to another like
tooth marks in an apple.” We learn how
the spread of malaria, the potato,
tobacco, guano, rubber plants, and sugar
cane have disrupted and convulsed the
planet and will continue to do so until
we are finally living on one integrated
or at least close-to-integrated Earth.
Whether or not the human instigators of
all this remarkable change will survive
the process they helped to initiate more
than five hundred years ago remains,
Mann suggests in this monumental and
revelatory book, an open question. |
* * * * *
The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
* * * * *
If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
* * * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
* *
* * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * * *
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update 6 August 2008
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