KINGSLEY IWU

Sope Aluko may not be widely known in Nigeria, but the US-based Hollywood Nigerian actress who has made name for herself and has also made Nigeria proud internationally.

Recently, she landed a role in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe to play the role of Shaman in the upcoming, already commercially acclaimed comic movie, ‘Black Panther’.

Already making impressive strides in American television series like ‘Bloodline’, Law & Order SVU’ and having had recurring roles in ‘Army Wives’ and ‘Graceland’, Aluko is poised for greater heights in her acting career, as she is starring in a Marvel film scheduled for release later this year.

In an interview with The Nation, he actress talked about many areas of her acting career, most importantly, of how she is being treated as a black, African, and married woman with two boys in Hollywood and America.

Recently, Rose McGowan wrote a book, Brave, which centers around the Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment of her. She is a white woman in Hollywood and you are a black woman, basically a minority. How do you relate to that story as a black woman who is also in Hollywood?

There’s been a lot going on right now in Hollywood about the #metoo movement and female sexual harassment in Hollywood, but it’s not really about… I think the #metoo movement isn’t really about Hollywood. Okay, that’s kind of bringing it more to light for everybody, but it’s really about women in all forms of profession that have been experiencing sexual harassment from some powerful male figures, and that’s really the message as opposed to just Hollywood. For me, as a black person, as a Nigerian, as an African, I cannot tell a lie; I have always experienced racism even from schooling in the UK, I’ve experienced harassments of all kinds. I can’t frame the question of just sexual harassment, I have to frame it from a perspective that I’ve always been accosted to prejudicial situations in my life and there are still some instances that happen in this profession as well, where as a woman, I’m probably not taken as seriously as my male counterparts. So, it’s good that we are finally opening the conversation about this, but we still have a long way to go and I always think of myself as a triple minority, because not only am I a woman, I’m also black, an African at that; then also I’m a mum and a wife and there are also prejudices about everything; being a certain weight, a certain look, a certain this, a certain that and one cannot afford to focus on that. I honestly try to focus on my faith in God to sustain me through.

SOURCE: http://www.kingsleyiwu.com.ng/2018/02/as-black-person-and-nigerian-ive.html