24 MAR 2023 · In the year 1995 the movie White Man's Burden starring John Travolta and Harry Belafante was released. Almost three decades later the movie is being discovered by a new generation and seems to be something that is applauded for its portrayal of Black people being the ones in positions of power and white people as second class citizens who are disempowered. I found the movie very probematic even nearly 30 years ago when I first saw it and when you think about the fact that even the title of the movie, based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling implies that the "White Man's Burden" is managing BLACK people (and to a lesser degree, POC). As in, that is their mission, that in iself is a problem. I found the movie SO problematic that I ended up writing my first novel: MELANIN: A Novel as a counterbalance to the one dimensional narrative presented in the movie. You can read the complete forward to MELANIN as well as the complete 2nd Chapter at this link: https://www.iyapoyapa.com/melanin_excerpt.html And you can find my entire catalog of Novels and Short Stories and Kindle Vella Series for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Iyapo-Yapa/author/B0B3R7BVNL?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true