Looking at the arguments, I think some compassion is needed from both sides of this. First, because colonialism and the slave trade harmed and is still harming Africans both in Africa and the diaspora. Second, because we should not perpetuate that suffering through over entitlement and over individualism leading to myopic views of history and “dick sizing” the atrocity that was heaped on all of us.
History is full of blood and conquest and to attempt to tell it otherwise is to lie. What I think all of us should be wary of is the romanticizing of said bloody tales of conquest. An easy difference in how history is approached can be observed in how say, the Huns are discussed compared to the Romans. As Africans, we need to make sure folks get all the gory details as African Americans are pointing out, as well as the nuance that Africans are pointing out. None of this happened in a cultural or economic vacuum, but by the same, humans were no less intelligent then than they are now, and no less human, so the excuses don’t fly.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, and when I do, I’ll comment on my impression of it as a specific work. In general though I think it is a bad idea to let Hollywood make us fight over this kind of thing since we all know their job is to make money, and not to help African people aside of individual actors and staff. Take that energy and support the historians, curators of knowledge, writers, and artists who do actually pull for us.
Update September 27, 2022: I saw the movie, and posted my review on YouTube. Watch and give it a like.
