Lupita Nyong’o: ‘Change is not an event, it’s a process’

IN THE BLOCKBUSTER and critically-acclaimed film Black Panther, the king of the African kingdom of Wakanda dies, and his son returns home to be crowned, but a powerful enemy stands in his way, putting Wakanda and the rest of the world at risk. The young king, bolstered by his allies, defeats his enemy and ensures the safety of his people,

Lupita Nyong’o (who won the 2014 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave) plays a member of his personal guard. She tells me why this movie is important.

What did you learn from doing a movie with an all-Black cast?

I learned that it is possible to make these kinds of films and nothing has to be compromised in order to make them. And the stories that are coming out of such a people are just as riveting and just as relevant as any of the other stories. This story is so authentic to what Wakanda is and therefore what African identity is, but at the same time it is relatable. And I am African and I spent my whole life watching foreign films. It was a second thought to say, ‘I’m actually not in it. I am not represented here and my colour is not in this.’ But I related to the human dynamics, and this film is the other way around.

This movie shows women in a powerful way. And now we hear more female voices seeking recognition. What are your thoughts on this?

Well, I feel very encouraged with where we are, the fact that a movie like this exists. There’s a lot of shifting going on in culture that is very encouraging. But I think that change is not an event, it’s a process. And so that is what I’m focused on, and that is what I want to participate in, the actual process of change, and not just an event where somehow we think that we are all fixed.

The director of this film is male (Ryan Coogler), and yet it has feminist elements. Can a man be a feminist?

Absolutely, because they believe in women realising their full potential. It’s not just about what sex or gender you hold, it’s about how you view women no matter what your sexual orientation or sex is.

If I remember right, you were also referred to as a Mexican actor when you won the Oscar. What are your feelings about that?

But it is also true that I’m Kenyan. Well, I was born in Mexico, so I hold a Mexican passport, so it is true that I am a Mexican woman who has won an Academy Award, but it is also true that I’m a Kenyan who won the Academy Award.

Do you have inner conflicts?

I do, I have tonnes of inner conflicts. One thing I have learnt from coming to America is how I take my history for granted, because I know where my people are from. So, coming to American and getting to know about the African- American experience and thinking and just being confronted with the idea that not everybody has that, it really humbled me and made me more interested in holding on to the privilege that

I have of knowing where my ancestry is from. That is something that I have really learned to appreciate. It is natural for humans to know where they are from.

You are beautiful, yet I read somewhere that you don’t see yourself as others do.

I didn’t feel particularly beautiful when I was younger, there’s still a remnant of that. This is what I think is reflected in Black Panther, the pains that we take on as children, they manifest themselves in sometimes very distracting and destructive ways. And for me my journey of self- acceptance has been a positive one. But still there is a little part of me that still doesn’t necessarily believe. But it’s a healthy conflict that I carry within me today. It doesn’t have the power over me that it once did.

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