Amala Ekpunobi

Acolyte Actress Drops a Music Video on the Racist Haters Oppressing Her

Star Wars: The Acolyte lead actress Amandla Stenberg has responded to backlash over the show and her viral 2018 comments about ‘making white people cry’ being the goal of her previous film at the time with a music video addressed to the racist oppressor haters. Let’s watch and react.

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Duration:: 20m
Broadcast on:: 20 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

So famous actress Amanda Lestenberg is clapping back at critiques and backlash that she's receiving on the internet and she's calling her critics racist, bigots, calling them oppressors and she's responded in the form of a song and today we're going to talk about the controversy that led to this song and respond to the song itself. Now one of you, I got to shout you out, let me know about this and tag me on this on Twitter and I'll show you right here. You said Amla Eppinobi, please ring her out and I had to respond with my little salute. I don't know that I'm gonna ring her out and I'll tell you why. I have a soft spot in my heart for Amanda Lestenberg and it's because she's been a celebrity that's really popped up in blips in my life and I see a lot of my former self within her and I'll have to show you a picture of my former self so you understand that. We'll pop it up on the screen and you'll see it especially once we get to the music video here. But yeah Amanda Lestenberg, you'll recognize her face. She was Ru in the first Hunger Games movie, she's been in other films like Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, Everything, Everything and most recently she was cast as the star in Star Wars The Acolyte, the new streaming series that they have on Disney Plus. Now we've been watching The Acolyte and responding to all the different episodes and you know that it's a Woke show so they had to have a Woke actress play the lead roles of May and OSHA and that's Amanda Lestenberg. She has a long history of activism particularly in the realm of race talking about her blackness and being a person of color and how that affects her and others within her community so it's no surprise that we're now dealing with this side of Amanda. Now let's talk about the controversy and the background that led to this new music video before you watch the music video. In 2018 I believe Amanda Lestenberg was on Trevor Noah's show doing press for her movie The Hate You Give. Now the Hate You Give is a movie that was a book originally that surrounds the idea of police brutality and specifically the killing of a young unarmed black man and Amanda Lestenberg plays a lead female role who is one of the friends of this black man who ends up losing his life. Now this clip of Amanda Lestenberg on The Trevor Noah Show ends up going viral recently in this year 2024. When people watch The Hate You Give what do you want them to walk away with because I know everyone has a slightly different feeling. Well I mean white people crying actually was the goal. We were the goal. Okay so there you go and many were calling this racist including myself and I stand by that statement others were saying this is clipped out of context what she's saying in this Trevor Noah interview which we'll get to and show to you is that she wanted to with this film ignite a sense of empathy in white people for people of color because she believes that white people don't truly understand acts of police brutality and the deaths of unarmed black men in particular and that this film would achieve the goal of making white people cry meaning they feel something for people of color. And I'll show Amanda Lestenberg talking about this at length just so you can see what I'm talking about. So it's based on this book by Angie Thomas which is incredible and I highly suggest that you read it if you haven't. But it's supposed to be a tool of empathy so oftentimes we see these events portrayed on the news and in media but usually they're misconstrued or they're at least postulated so that they don't fully humanize the people of color who are killed and affected by these events and so that's what this is supposed to be a tool to do. It's supposed to ground it in a personal narrative and hopefully people will have a sense of empathy because of that. And so far it's been really successful. We have a lot of white people crying which is great. I've never seen so many white people crying before like it's amazing. So you guys can see what's being said there. What is really underpinning the comments that she's making in this interview and I have to say if this wasn't a racist comment why focus on white people? If the outcomes of acts of police brutality are often misconstrued in the news wouldn't they be misconstrued for all? Wouldn't all sort of lack an understanding and an empathy towards a situation if we're all getting news that sort of twists the narrative when it comes to police brutality? Why is your goal specifically to make white people cry and for white people to feel a sense of empathy? Is it maybe that you're insinuating they don't have empathy and specifically don't have it for people of color and that they're the ones who need to be brought to tears by this movie and by what you're trying to portray? Maybe. And I have to call out the narrative surrounding police brutality because that's an issue that affects people of all different backgrounds, races, sexes, and that is just the truth. So why is it that white people specifically needs to be the ones who are brought to tears by the film the hate you give? I don't know. I'll leave the ball in your court. And as I said, this is not Amanda Listenberg's only act of activism. She's done other things in the past. She has a YouTube video online where she talks about cultural appropriation and black hair. Let's roll the clip. So black hair has always been an essential component of black culture. Black hair requires upkeep in order for it to grow and remain healthy. So black women have always done their hair. It's just a part of our identity brand. It goes on further and further and she talks about cultural appropriation and what that means for black people. Now when I say I see myself and Amanda Listenberg, I mean it's obviously it's not just aesthetically we had very similar viewpoints back when I was maybe 16, 17 before growing out of my political ideology at the time and learning a few new things. And I can understand being in the public eye receiving tons of backlash and criticism probably all the time where you might not be willing to step outside of the box of your ideology and it might actually reinforce the views you have about your oppression as a black person although I believe yeah by racial in her case. Now as I said she's recently come out with a music video after this hate you give press interview went viral and she thinks wrongfully so. We're gonna listen to the song today and listen to a little bit of the lyrics, do a little bit of a lyric or break down and see what we think about it. Her fro looks much better than mine did in that photo. I had to point it out. [Music] [Music] okay now she's saying in this music video that you know I did this interview with Trevor Noah now it has millions of views now years later and I was talking about people crying for this film and how I wanted it to access their empathy but in there she has a little bit of a slip maybe we'll call it a Freudian one where she says you know I wanted white people to cry because I wanted them to see us as human beings again it's the insinuation that I spoke about when we broke down the first video. She is assuming that white people do not see black people as human beings and therefore they needed that 2018 film The Hate You Give in order to watch an instance of police brutality to truly humanize black people and people of color because that's something that white people don't have access to unless we show them the story directly and suddenly they'll feel some amount of empathy and start to view black people as actual human beings. Does that sound racist to you? Does that sound like a hasty generalization made about an entire group of people where in fact maybe you wanting white people to cry was not truly about wanting to expand empathy and compassion for other people you were making a racist comment and your racist comment has come back to bite you a little bit although she clearly doesn't care but I'm hoping I think like one day like me this girl is going to open her eyes and I hope so which is why I don't want to like beat her down over this although there's plenty of criticism to levy out and we will do so respectfully throughout this video but I just hope you wake up and realize this is not the response to this. "This life lines make it a recognized making love like the same propaganda this period because the conflict are being silenced to try to recognize everything that we do. The desperation of the process is rising and now they hold a mountain and they all think they can use the key in the mind as information. And that tells me you're afraid of the truth." I gotta say I like the vibe. I like the beat. She's eating up the floor a little bit. You know I'll give her credit where we're credits do although I don't agree with the message of this song. I can appreciate a little bit of artistry. [Music] Okay and then she launches an attack on people who are using Woke, bastardizing it, appropriating it as she refers to it. She's saying that we are the ones who created Woke which is largely true. Woke was used by left-leaning people to say that I am awake. I am aware of the oppressive structures that be and the way that they affect us on all these intersectional points in regard to our identities and to be Woke was to understand the dynamics that exist within that system and your place within it. Now of course on the other end of things as people started to disagree with Woke they realized that this word, this phrase really encompasses an entire worldview that is all about victimhood and power structures and the oppressor versus the oppressed and they took Woke and started to throw it back and call things that were Woke exactly what they are. So I don't know about bastardizing and appropriating. They've held pretty true to calling things Woke when they are Woke. You just have disagreements on whether or not the the baseline for that Woke-ness or the claim that's being made is true. The Woke people would say what we're saying about oppression and victimhood is true. The others who are anti-Woke I guess we'll call them will say yeah I don't think that that's true and that's okay. It's it's different worldviews and nobody has ownership over words. I cannot stress that enough and if there's any side that thinks they have ownership over words it is the Woke side that's in fact not how language works. It's taken, it's morphed, it's used in different ways to convey different ideas and that's exactly what happened with the word Woke, a mandala and people who call out Woke-ness for what it is and recognize it in the culture, recognize it in yourself are not racist for doing so. In fact I would love to sit down with a mandala as two people of the similar racial background and say well what do you call me? Am I racist towards you? Do I have some sort of internalized racism towards biracial and black people within me because I also share this criticism with you and I hope we could have an actual conversation about that although I'm all home my breath. [Music] You know what I actually agree with that last part she said journalists I'm looking at you do you understand that your job is actually to provide the truth and that instead of doing that you are mining us and taking our data using those metrics to just fine-tune what we want to hear selling us stories, selling us propaganda. I think journalists on both sides are doing that and when she says that the future is the youth a lot of people disagree with that and say well that's a lot of hubris amongst young people but it is just factual. I mean the youth will become our future and that's always something that we should keep in the forefront of our mind in what we expose our youth to. Now a mandala and I will disagree on the ideology we are meant to expose our youth to and the ideas that we believe are healthy for them but I 100% agree with her critique of journalists on both sides when it is supposed to be their job to find and tell the truth and we've most definitely lost sight of that and we might also disagree on who's who and as far as telling the truth and what misinformation is actually misinformation but the general message I can get behind. [Music] [Music] [Music] Okay I mean there we go that seems to be the end of the video. In that last part she talks about the idea that rage should not be suppressed, that your anger should not be pushed down, that you should find a way to let that be known to the world and that oppressors have held down black people for 400 years she claims in this video and continue to do so and she's not going to allow it because now the hate that she's receiving on the line for racist comments that she made on the Trevor Noah show is I guess tantamount to the same oppression that her her ancestors face I'm assuming in the transatlantic slave trade and she's really calling on the energy of her ancestors as a means of releasing her rage on not only her behalf but on their behalf and it's just a victim card that I don't know how long we can continue to pull it and I have to reference a mandalist status here in the United States as an actress who is up there I mean she is rich she is well known she is constantly on people's tv she's constantly being seen she is reaping a lot of benefits and a lot of privilege here in the United States despite her biracial and female identity and I wonder how that happened in a world that is so full of oppressive structures is she some sort of superwoman who managed to just overcome every single barrier placed in front of her because of her race and gender or where there are not so many barriers to begin with because if you really think about it she is the exact demographic of people who are being pedestalized in this nation today with things like affirmative action diversity quotas higherings people just want to see more black women in power it is very much a fact and that was something undertaken in order to rectify a lot of the transgressions that were done here in american history but she's benefiting from that and that's I guess progress in her eyes although I think we should go towards a more race neutral future although she may disagree with that I'm just wondering what oppression she's still facing today she'd say what comments on twitter a video going viral if something wrong that she said that is a rightfully receiving critique and backlash from people who want to challenge an idea that she shared is that racism is that bigotry unfortunately when it comes to being woke and yes I'm bastardizing and appropriating the word oftentimes any amount of healthy criticism or backlash is misconstrued as being some sort of racist attack now I'm sure there were some people hurling insults at her and becoming very enraged by what they saw on the internet and I don't condone that or endorse that but what about the people who did have just valid criticism for the things that you said are they base are they bigots are they racist are they attacking you for your skin color probably not and maybe instead of pointing to other people and calling them racist and bigots we should look in the mirror and exercise a bit of humility towards our own ideas and ideologies and think about whether or not they're steering us in the right direction because as much as she says she's dealing with the hate and the bigotry and the oppression of other people I think she might be projecting a bit of hate out on to others and that may be what she's experiencing and I say this as somebody who five years ago six years ago would have a hundred percent been backing her and saying I feel for uses a hundred percent they're being racist towards you you are the victim in this case I am the victim of this case we are the victims in this country and now I've moved on to a little bit of a different perspective and I hope she's open to hearing about that not from a place of attack not from a place of wanting to put her down and punch down on her but from a place of actual care towards her her thoughts and feelings and maybe a more fulfilling idea on the other end of all the barriers that she seems to see in front of herself because she's managed to become massively successful in this country and if you've become massively successful yet still view yourself as this victim of bigotry and oppression you don't even really get the moment to sit breathe and actually enjoy the success that you've built with your own two hands and your two feet so you know I hope that she actually is as happy as she's claiming to be in this video because the message says otherwise and I think there's happiness in a different viewpoint and a different worldview towards the things that you experience in this world and why you experience them and I can almost guarantee you it has nothing to do with your race your gender or any victim card that we have now been trained and socialized to pull but those are my thoughts and I do you know hearts hearts to mandala I do like you girl even though I guess based on the things that you're saying you probably most definitely do not like me but let me know how you guys feel about this video like subscribe if you like the message click the notification bell to be notified every single time I post a video for you guys and drop your thoughts in the comments you know if you disagree with anything I said in this video do get out but do so respectfully and I'm gonna see you next time we're gonna see a mandala again because we're still watching Star Wars the acolyte even though it's not giving her acting is all right but the show is not giving well so I'm gonna keep uh appropriating and bastardizing the word woke on this channel uh have fun guys see you next time