#BoycottStarWarsVII

Under this hashtag, you will come across countless disgruntled users on social media outlets such as Twitter who feel slighted because the latest installment in the Star Wars series did not feature white male lead characters. The film, titled Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has a young lead character by the name of John Boyega. The budding star’s age isn’t the issue with the Star Wars diehards. It is because of the fact that he is a Melanoid man taking on the role of one of the infamous–yet wildly popular–stormtroopers.

Here are just a few Tweets which illustrate just how intense the white Star Wars fans’ dislike for the new film really is:

A bunch of racists are threatening to #BoycottStarWarsVII: https://t.co/J775UJcfDZ pic.twitter.com/glgZfc8xqL

— Complex (@ComplexMag) October 19, 2015

SJWs complain about White artists "misappropriating" culture created by blacks but then celebrate a non-White Star Wars. #BoycottStarWarsVII

— Captain Confederacy (@2partyhoax) October 19, 2015

#BoycottStarWarsVII because it's nothing more than a social justice propaganda piece that alienates it's core audience of young white males.

— Critical Spooking (@officialCritDis) October 19, 2015

The dominant society’s outrage over the new film isn’t the first occasion that this has been witnessed. In announcing that this past summer’s Fantastic Four would feature a Black man as one of the heroes of the film (Michael B. Jordan as the “Human Torch”), the dominant society’s backlash of the news ensued. When it was rumored that the upcoming James Bond film may cast Hollywood star Idris Elba as “Agent 007” himself, the writer of the film–Anthony Horowitz–stated that Elba would be “too street” to portray Bond whenever another James Bond film is made.

While this may be a surprise to many, white supremacists abhor the possibility that a Melanoid person could portray one of their heroes–even if that hero is fictional.

In 2012, Tariq Nasheed (creator of the Hidden Colors film series) spoke on what seems to be an increasingly hot topic over the past three years since: that members of the dominant white society like their heroes to stay white and that they are not to be tampered with…even if the Black actors are more than qualified to take on these roles.

B. Clark

In light of the disparaging remarks that E! News on-air personality Giuliana Rancic directed toward up-and-coming actress/singer Zendaya, it is apparent that we have witnessed yet another member of the dominant society’s open expression for their love/hate fixation with Melanoid hair.

Despite Rancic’s public apology, the damage had been done already, yet we can’t help but to re-visit the hot-button topic at hand: natural hair, and the role that Melanoid women play in embracing their natural hair. For the past several years, we’ve seen a rapid increase in Melanoid women resorting to their “roots”…their hair roots, that is. A report released last year showed that hair relaxer sales have dipped as low as 26 percent as of 2014. Perhaps these figures are telling of a trend that’s here to stay.

There has been a long-standing fascination with Melanoid hair among groups in the dominant society. I myself as a Melanoid man was once a teenager who sported a relatively large afro when my hair wasn’t braided in cornrows, and could recall attending a predominately white school, in which the white students always asked to touch my hair. It’s safe to assume that the same inquiries of members outside of the Melanoid community are considerably higher in regards to Melanoid women seeing as how they typically (not always) have more hair than their male counterparts.

The Black hair care market is estimated to be nearly a $700 million industry. A 2006 documentary created by award-winning filmmaker Aron Ranen titled Black Hair shows that Koreans own nearly a 60 percent slice of the Black hair care industry pie.

Because the survival of Melanoid Nation is based upon increased ownership of thriving businesses in our communities, will there be a chance that the women of Melanoid Nation will corner this section of the beauty care industry? It’s evident that many more of our beloved Sisters are making the decision to consume natural beauty products by the day, but will this encourage our women to own & control these products to ensure that future generations inherit businesses and other institutions that emphasize the necessity of Melanoid embracing their natural hair? Time will tell, but one thing that the world envies, yet realizes–even if we ourselves have not totally accepted it yet–is that “Black is indeed beautiful”.

by B. Clark

On a surface and on a subconscious level Black masculinity has always been deemed a threat to the system of white supremacy. During antebellum slavery, white slave masters would use a process called “Buck Breaking”- where they would sexually assault and abuse Black males in front of other enslaved Africans as a way to diminish the masculine image of the Black man. The motive for this was to make the Black male submissive as a way to prevent any type of uprisings or rebellions from “masculine” Black men.
The entertainment industry today seems to have a high-tech Buck Breaking process. Many Black male entertainers are made to dress up as women in order to be acceptable and to seem non-threatening to the dominant society.

This is why it is so important for Melanoid people to start funding their own entertainment industry so that they don’t have to be at the mercy of suspected white supremacists.