Similar to the objectives in their utilisation as illustrated in especially Sankofa, The Spook and Daughters, the African elements in Higher Learning and New Jack City and their connected utilisation with Black Power politics, depict the assertion that a cultural black nationalist-based knowledge of African American heritage will contribute to durable African American identities.
As indexes of a black nationalist state of mind which speak to this contention, Fudge’s flat décor explains the source of his apparent political conviction. As he is sure of who he is, he is always ready to fight to keep his place, which he is shown doing on many occasions throughout the film. He is emboldened by the consequences of his cultural black nationalist education. Fudge, like Scotty in New Jack City, is thus a character who displays his black consciousness politics in the clothes he chooses to wear (including his hairstyle), and in the way that he adorns his home.
Scotty Appleton in New Jack City, is also driven by black nationalist passions which are affiliated very strongly with the interest he noticeably has in the improvement of his neighbourhood, which he does not want to see degrading further. As the hero (though Old Man may also be seen in this capacity), he is the medium through which the narrative employs its African elements. In all the scenes in which he is not undercover, Scotty is seen dressed in all-black outfits, with some, on occasion, displaying the distinctive, orange kente-cloth print. With these outfits, he also wears a pendant with a map of Africa in the Black Power colours. The combination of these features in his fashion choice amounts to the hallmarks of the Blank Panther uniform (i.e., generally, all-black outfits and a representation of the Black Power colours and/or panther somewhere on them). In addition to these, Scotty also has dreadlocks, thereby showing his preference for expressively “natural” hairstyles.
Though he may or may not be a member of the Black Panthers, the militancy of his black consciousness is thus implied, and is consequently expressed through his attitude towards and approach to those who are depicted in the narrative as destroying the African American community he is a part of.
Nino Brown (who throughout the film is wearing heavy gold chains) is pointedly shown wearing a leather pendant similar to that of Scotty’s in the scene in which he is arrested, which incenses Scotty, prompting the rhetorical question he eventually raises.110 The one Nino wears however, does not have the Black Power colours but is still indexical of a black consciousness which would consequently presuppose an active interest in the betterment of his community though, ironically he is doing the opposite, as Old Man and Scotty articulate.
Higher Learning's homage to blaxploitation films and popular black consciousness rhetoric of the 1970s begins with its opening credits and choice of opening music, with its noticeable funk accents. The funk guitar twang is present throughout the film, used at points
110 As referenced in chapters one and three, see New Jack City 01:28:29 minutes.
of elucidation for the characters. John Singleton is arguably enlisting these codes in order to signal his departure from that point in African American cultural and political history, which is especially demonstrated in the Black Power sensibility of the film.
It exhibits its affinities to a militaristic Black Power, which is a significant part of the promoted black cultural nationalist agenda coursing through it, via Malik and Fudge. As such, the narrative therefore asserts the premise that fortitude is derived from an African American re-education encouraged in Black Power and Afrocentrist discourses as exemplified by the scripting of Fudge. The boldly displayed Black Power colours on the flag in his home, the afro he wears, his taste in music, and the sense that is transmitted by way of his candid interactions that reveal his combative and self-assured spirit, are thereby attributed to his pro-African American erudition. Additionally, in the moment in the film when Malik is centering in on his black consciousness voice and thus the expression of his self-empowerment, he wears a Black Panther T-shirt which triggers a reaction from Remy, the neo-Nazi freshman, which ultimately results in a violent, physical exchange. He is thus literally compelled to fight for his power as a black person against the film’s crude personification of white power. Though Malik, Fudge and their group win this physical fight, the question that Singleton poses to the audience by the untethered close to the film is whether or not Malik will win against the figurative representation of white power in the form of the “game” or “system” that is US America.
Malik’s character development necessarily involves a progression of “unlearning” and edification from a black consciousness perspective. The point which marks the moment of his realisation of this for the viewer, is notable at the Halloween party when both he and Deja wear African masks. Fudge’s friend, Dreads (Busta Rhymes) says in response to seeing them
“Warrior representation yes” and thus vocalises for the viewer the politicised nature of this choice of costuming (01:06:12 minutes). In correlation with other moments, the audience is presented with cumulative scenes which shows Malik’s increasing awareness of the pervasiveness of the frameworks of oppression that steer him towards a more militaristic black consciousness stance (signified by his wearing of a Black Panther shirt and by the fight he takes part in). Simultaneously, the more he learns, the more he seems to be directed away from the conservative position of Professor Phipps.
Thus, articulated in these ways, these films include African elements as signifiers of a matured consciousness by the African Americans who are associated with them, and the implication of them in the self-empowerment of those characters.
Another twin device in the films is the choice of a rhythmic, hand-drummed track in
the extra-diegetic sound accompanying the fight scenes between Scotty and Nino in New Jack City, and in the one between the neo-Nazis and Fudge’s group in Higher Learning. Used to indicate the climax of the confrontation of the Black Power politics and opposing politics or ethics in both, the tracks suggest a buttressing of spirit necessary for them to win their fights by referencing in this way the enduring, and to use Dreads’ word, inner “warriors.”
5. Conclusions
An important part of defining African identities in these films is in its affirmation by other characters in the diegesis through actions, and/or statements, which also include those which are meant to demean, and those which are meant respectfully. “You must be African!”
is thus stated figuratively or literally on such occasions. Consent to either the negative or positive outcome of these affirmations is also produced in the spectator, who by virtue of the filmic codes, is in a constant and fluctuating relational state with one or more of characters or settings. When they are not concerned with constructing an African person, the films incorporate allusions to the continent for the purposes of articulating or outlining a particular black nationalist cause or as an exotic mise-en-scène. In the former, the African elements shape definitions of African American political empowerment, inducing the statement, “you must be African American,” in a black cultural nationalist sense. In other words, within this context, the African American character would be identifying themselves in this way as a sign of their political rejection of Eurocentric frames of reference. In the latter, the concern is in presenting an alternate Other and is thus usually diametrically opposite to the contrasted US setting.
As the title infers, the challenge of this thesis has been to assess the construction of Africa and Africans in the films discussed. Subsequently, in the assessments presented throughout, it has been shown that whether or not these engagements are positive in their intention, in each of these circumstances, neither African element resonates with a suitable contemporary representation, which makes resisting and/or conscious spectators from within the films broad viewership. The conscious viewer is thus compelled to unpack selective or exploitative approaches to the African continent and people, whilst simultaneously identifying with and supporting the self-determination of the African American characters and storyline as per the dictates of the spectator/film relationship. The unsustainable dynamics of connecting and distancing that results, has created tensions within relations between Africans and African Americans, which is supported by the empirical experiences referenced by, for example, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.