Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone

Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone

Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone

For the past several days, I have watched and read more than my share of articles, videos and social media rants about the choice to cast Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone in the upcoming biopic. Honestly, there were some interesting articles and posts that were able to articulate the reasoning behind their objections in a very lucid manner. I am not posting this short article for the purpose of suggesting that any of the objections are erroneous or without basis. Neither am I here to weigh in on whether or not Zoe Saldana is the right choice for the part. Although I have an opinion on the matter, I have learned that my opinion, though it may have great value to me, does not necessarily bear the same gravity with others that I place upon it. So, I choose to exercise a certain level of constraint when it comes to sharing my opinion.

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The truth is that my opinion will have no impact, whatsoever, in impacting the choice that the producers and casting director has made in choosing Zoe Saldana as the lead in this biopic, so I choose to focus on something that I believe will have a greater impact moving forward.

What I see when I read all of these objections of blacks who are frustrated with the idea that Zoe Saldana will be playing the role of Nina Simone is the cries of the powerless. We, as a race of people, have become quite perspicacious in our ability to emote when we see something that is antithetical to our upward mobility. We can organize to protest with an unparalleled level of pointillism; however, we still lack the capacity to organize in order to take any meaningful action.

Earlier, I posted a short video on YouTube addressing this same issue, and I decided to share my sentiments here as well. The truth is that we have absolutely no right to be upset with another group who has invested their money to tell a story, even when we identify with that story — even when it is our story to tell. We have to stop attempting to force others to tell our story from our perspective. We will always be faced with this enigmatic issue as long as we continue to play the game from the sidelines.

It is time that we invest in media outlets that will afford us the opportunity to tell our story our way. When we finance a production, we will be able to choose who plays what role, and we will be able to write our own narrative. It is time to stop begging others to tell our story. It is time to stop complaining about something we have the power to change. The white power structure has been telling our story their way for centuries, rewriting history to place themselves in a position of ex gratia with the masses. We have reached a point in history in which it is up to us to tell our story our way, and we must do it unapologetically and incessantly.

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If we are not satisfied with the way they are telling Nina’s story, then we must counter it with our own bigger and better version.

Make no mistake about it, this biopic is not about us, it is about profit, and it has a subtle message embedded in the manner in which the story is being told and by whom. This is our opportunity to start firing back. We can tell Nina’s story with greater clarity and honesty. So, let’s focus our energy on something that we have control over. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.

Over the last 20 years, Dr. Wallace has invested more than 45,000 hours of research into understanding the scientific implications of white supremacy and how they have directly impacted African Americans in all nine areas of human activity, which include economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex and war. He has spent a substantial amount of time attempting to answer the question of why blacks seem incapable of overcoming the barrier of racism despite the fact that the solution has been placed before them.

The preponderance of the evidence that Dr. Wallace has examined has provided him with a lucid perspicacity of the complex dynamic at play — a dynamic that includes psychological, sociological, economic and political oppression that is executed through multitudinous pernicious machinations. He has used this information to develop what he calls The Black Community Empowerment Blueprint 1.0. This blueprint is a comprehensive strategy that addresses every area of concern for the black collective in great detail. Dr. Wallace has also disseminated his findings in a number of literary works, including his latest book, The Mis-education of Black Youth in America.

Currently, Dr. Wallace is moving into the second phase of his research, transitioning from inductive research to deductive research for the purpose of advancing and introducing certain scientific theories associated with the African American experience. To this date, Dr. Wallace’s research has proven to be immensely valuable, as he develops social programs to counter external influences, lectures to African Americans across the nation and develops a comprehensive blueprint capable of facilitating the complete elevation and empowerment of African Americans, as well as the complete diaspora in time, but the cost of research can be quite exorbitant, especially when he is investing between 55-85 hours per week.

To this point, all funding has been covered by Dr. Wallace himself. He is currently seeking research funding, but due to the specific focus of his research, traditional channels, such as government, academic and private grants are not an option. While he currently has a couple interested sponsors, both of them are non-blacks, which speaks volumes. While Dr. Wallace has committed to proceeding at all cost, the support of the community and people he is fighting for will prove highly beneficial in multitudinous ways.