I am sure this also speaks to other African countries, besides Nigeria: haircare and barbing salons with spaces mostly decorated with wallpapers and images of celebrities—without mincing words, white-skinned celebrities.
I had never thought this far, until five years ago when I struggled so hard with finding African-themed images for my book, that I decided to settle safely for line illustrations. Yet months later, worry turned into concern, when I got hired by a friend’s mother to create lifestyle content for a blog, whose target audience was senior citizens (retirees). I searched for images with keywords like “old Nigerian couple” and “old African couple” and the results did not exactly answer my search query.
This still happens. One minute, while scrolling through social media, I think “Oh, we are doing better!” The next minute, I suddenly drop my shoulders. “Here we go again! Square one!” A demo video for a group of Nigerian health professionals done with western models? Or the advert for African foods, done with non-African animation characters. Help me! How can I unsee it?
While no one, including myself, is above this mistake, we need consistent, conscious effort to get it right. This is why, when I was tasked last year with scripting and working with animators and voice-over artists for a 2D video on prostate cancer awareness, I did not hesitate to write to the very detail, the description of the characters that should make the story. I specifically told the Nigerian animator that I wanted a Yoruba family setting, described landmarks in Ikorodu to him, sent him pictures of dressing styles, engaged with my Yoruba friends to find proper conversation fillers for the script, etc.
As health literacy enthusiasts in a community-centric clime, we are influencers, responsible for the health narratives that we promote and accountable for the images that we use, because pictures speak more than words.
We cannot use what is foreign to a [eople to promote or address their causes, nor white-skinned characters to amplify the narratives of black people, within or beyond the healthcare space. (If I may digress, it is most likely this societal preference for light-skin combined with low self-esteem that pushes more people into bleaching, toning, using filters, cat-fishing, etc).
Please this is not an appeal to reverse racism, i.e. asking us to detest those with whom we do not share the same skin. We are all equal and equally deserving as humans
When we choose to use images that do not represent us, we erase ourselves, our stories, and our struggles.
Here is what we can do today:
Use African-themed images to tell African stories. These can be found on sites like Black Illustrations, Shutterstock, Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels, Nappy, Createherstock, Afropx, Bantu Photos, Africa Knows, Afripics, African Stock Photo, etc
When creating infographics, say on Canva, start with a colour that clearly depicts the brown skin or the typical African. My trick when designing on Canva is to use the Hex Colour code 654321, then edit to use tints and shades of it, where necessary. If you are using other kinds of colour converters like CMYK or RGB, you may check out the alternative colour codes here on ColourHexa
Quotes of the Week:
"I whitened my face, that they might not know me" —Autobiography of Olauda Equiano (Ọlaụda Ekweanọ)
“…Old vs. young, light skin vs. dark skin, male vs. female, fine hair vs. coarse hair…Take simple differences and make them bigger. After receiving this indoctrination, the slaves will become self-generating for hundreds, maybe thousands of years.” —The Willie Lynch Letter, The Making of a Slave (Sourced from MI Abaga’s TEDx Speech, What If We Refused To Be Separated?)
One Solution:
Chidiebere Ibe is a Medical Illustrator who advocates for equality in health through black medical illustrations.
Opportunities of the week:
Scholarships to attend the 24th International AIDS Conference Virtually and in Montreal Canada
Apply for a fully-funded online Master’s program in Sexual & Reproductive Health Policy and Programming at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Apply to the Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Programme
Some Important health events in December
Safe Toys and Gifts Month
Dec 27: International Day of Epidemic Preparedness
Download the calendar of 2021 health events here.
Let’s do this again, next week.
Happy mid-month,
Chidindu Mmadu-Okoli
Health Literacy Notepad