Zamunda’s No Wakanda

THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER’S AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya

Nobody of course thinks Coming 2 America was as good as the original, but it was still quite a feet to see the original cast in all their glory. The movie had its funny moments, no doubt, but author Jeffrey Kass reminds us that Africa isn’t riding around buck naked on a Zebra. It isn’t just charging elephants and people in grass skirts. Africa today is home to great universities, accomplishments, modern buildings and advancement. This essay explores why the images depicted in movies can often mis-educate us and perpetuate negative unconscious bias against people of color.

Read the Article Preview Below

Eddie Murphy was a comedy God during my teen years. My friends and I must have listened to his Delirious comedy record a hundred times. Murphy movies like Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours, Trading Places, Harlem Nights and Boomerang all remain some of the most memorable of my life.

But one movie that really stood above the rest was his 1988 film, Coming to America. I was a freshman in college, but we must have watched it a dozen times back then, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve seen it another half a dozen times since. It’s just…

read essay