test the plugin hybrid version and give you the full report. read. 60 minutes on d w. a would people have to say, matters to us, but me, that's why we listen to their stories. reporter every weekend on d w. it's great to be back for another edition of your favorite magazine show. this is the 77 percent. the platform for africa's you. i am eddie mike, a junior hello and welcome to the program. with today's show is quite special. to me, it's all about black representation. let's dig into what we have for you from black

pump too, to children's folks. what's the status of black representation in the media? and on exclusive interview, kenya's boy by the south. you so tells us what it means to truly represent. and we meet a graffiti artist who is giving a fresh loop to matthews with i don't know about you, but i get excited when a black actor is cast in the remake of the popular will. but us is often the case. it also causes an offer when mainly questioning why it is even necessary to change it bashing, but many are already used to this. the production company, for example, has received criticism for planning to use a black character, and it's upcoming film a little mahmoud. so why do we need a black man made? of course we need a black ma made and a black else in flood. if fantastical features can be blue and yellow and i'll boil

wide, draw the line at bluff. but it's not just about the color now, is it? recently there was an uproar over the fact that american film company words disney studio, cast a young, brilliant, and black actress to play the role of the little mermaid. now the criticism wasn't based on the performance of the actress. highly bailey one group asked why disney had to remake the film with a black actress instead of sticking to a white wine as had been done in previous remakes. the 1st group of people is annoyed that the fantastic all film now includes black characters. and not only that, then all starved year for the film which has been produced for over 20 times now is solely missed out. and what's worse is that fantasy and re life and not any more

different for the 2nd group of people. halley bailey, being the star of an age old fantasy, is not a big when they say that these neat is playing faith by retailing the fame. all stories, but still arnie because they're tickling that last charger of people that desire to see themselves represented on screen. now when companies do this, it's called black washing. they say that these me can invest money in telling new stories, for example, about make absolutely one wins who thought of the europeans by dancing a very virus dance called to food. and now they've also another group of people who think that this discussion is not necessary and i can see why in the year 20, 21 january to june normally would produce over 1000 fill. yes. and then not the only ones on the continent. if you look across different countries there

blossoming film industry is now with so many films being produced with black actors. do we still need to have a conversation about having black actors? well, yes, we do. because hollywood is one of the biggest cultural vehicles in the world, and it is important to portray the world as it really is. and that means having black people existing in the same way other races do. now, disney shouldn't talk casting brilliant actors just because they're black. no, however, they could invest in telling new stories such as the african mythology, for example, the famished fraud by been or cri on the wizard of the crow. bye good, you are young or. but if these title found too complex for a children's story, then i have other examples ariella and the talking drawn by stephanie corker,

are soon away by lupita no. and no matter which can't someone peaks. the fact remains that talent had work and determination is not a preserve of just one race. that means more black actors are needed on screen one to do their job. and secondly, so that people can remember that we are all equal regardless of the race i for lot ones you can watch for, for that on tastic breakdown. i think it's crazy that we have to constantly remind people that no matter the race or color of skin we all equal. but i guess some people need a constant reminder to dive deeper into the topic. we've invited a studio guest for today. francis obama is a journalist. he was born in lagos, nigeria, but we locate that the germany in 2015. he uses photography and documentary skills to spock. conversations about this ability and the connection between identity and

immigration. yes, also the author of the children's book highlight bis, let's find out more about him, the photographer, community organizer, and he's with no children, especially for children of color. frances obama is not joined by birth. but in order to build a home away from home, he's taken on the role of organizing black community meet up in germany city of cologne. i've always put me off to people i've always been. i've always documented black conversations, black celebrities, like fashion weeks. so when i moved to germany, was just a natural progression into fit into such a role. he's call today's nissan, black and white places with a focus around african art and culture. in this case, the famous been in bronze to an artist residency at cologne's robin shop york museum frances was able to interact with the bronzes. and now he wanted to open the

door for others. in measuring would have been in bones here. it's just natural to want to see them because you don't get to the bronze of niger at the, at only here because they were neutral and having to see them here for the 1st time doing the exhibition of resist made me want to show other people this exploration, like i said, wiping black white spaces, you don't really see a lot of black in the sense of community shared experiences, but also reflecting on a shed, black history is what brought people here together. and for francis, that's a good start building a more except his generation and his kids the man you just saw is right here with me in the studio for francis. thanks a lot for coming through. so why is it so important for you to address black identity? first of all,

i think i'm black and it's also very important that people like me are well represented in media. and i like to speak in the german context since i live here. you hardly see black represented in media. i mean you see if you but you hardly see it way should be and i have an actual, their responsibility of documenting such that space and also being visibility to the community days. mostly i want to say not saying what exist. oh yeah, fair enough. i mean when you look at the current state of black representation, what, what are your thoughts? are we heading in the right direction? i would, i would say we're headed in the right direction. i mean, you could look at the last couple of the last 3 the last 3 years. a lot of a lot of things that changed in germany in particular. i mean, says the judge floyd conversation a lot of people now a more aware of the i don't see the i will, the i did is they know what they looked like,

but now they take it more seriously. and yeah, i would say it's going to the right direction and more media houses i taking cognizance of the fact that black people as part of the story, tell it. yeah, i mean, it sounds weird seeing the black people have some positive storytelling because of course we should write that pretty straightforward. that should be the no morality, i would actually be the normal situation, but we leave. sadly, in a while that it's not always what we wish for that we get, but i believe that like you acts previously, it's important that we go in the right step. lot of things. i haven't been done properly in the past, but i think people are now taking that recursion the doing the right things. now, as i leave that said, i mean, you mentioned earlier, you live in, in germany and looking at all the things that you've been, you've been here for a couple of years now. how has living in germany impacted the way that you do? okay. oh, okay. used to live in south africa. i lived there for 8 years and i've been in germany now for the last 8 years. i'm originally unsure, you know,

i'm major in. so i have that johnny. i had me and i would say germany has also impacted in how i told my stories because initially in south africa was all about the lifestyle type of work. but since i moved, yeah, i mean you, you are confronted daily with what you call the micro aggression sometimes, or you're confronted with lack of disability and that has also made me aware that i need it's just something so that i actually impacted my work deeply. i would say, yeah, i'm really looking forward to, you know, one of the secretions that have come up from your account that you would have book and hair like this, right? yeah. we're going to get into that too. so that leaves us to talk about representation in books, lack of representation can actually be life threatening. yes, a simple example. some rushes look totally different on white skin compared to black skin disease symptoms in most medical books around a world. based on white people will show you an idea and illustrator,

who got famous by coming up with the of the solution. we problem that nobody seemed to tackle a decades. that's have a look ah, chilly berry e b, d b, illustration of a black feet. so when people around the world realised we had never seen the fields were presented, that picture turned into much more than a showing for like a voice speaking out for the black community. they had to understand the destroyer was more than just american official. and what it was a message of hope to do to the black community. and then i said for me known drunk, i no longer a passion when the pep was for me, generation of doctors and all kinds of medic, half studies here. and this is one of the books that they use if, if they're not text book, you're right off today's all around the world. and if you sort of

a page is very easy to see that most of the illustrations here are just white. skin is almost black people goes how ratios are don't have the babies and for yeah, one really challenge that a little patient has moved as news because disney lack of representation, medical literature, for example, some skin condition represent differently on the blocking. and he's on i cities on, on the white skin, most of the clint oncology shows. we see you textbooks, a gentle white people raise up with the rushes you talked about in what was really pink. so then if i go to the hospital, if i stop my clinicals on my beautiful pink, right, she's why he's not thinking black people. so i feel this and minimal medical conditions related to blood to watch. i, the only way in the medical community is selling africa. yes. africa. yes, melanie. so once we start using our black people was we see is going to the scene

was we didn't, is, will do. it will be like a difference between what to read not is will i will to us in our group and at them $11.00 to $2.00 actually here. post late on the sunday with that. thank you. miss beach all went viral. he says several publishers have commissioned him to draw more black medical illustration. he says he plans to publish his own textbook on skin conditions in black people and wants to set up a training school for other african medical illustrated. have only one word to describe what i just saw. amazing. i guess francis is still here with me on this. you're francis. i mean, you all watched a skinny. what are your thoughts on what your fellow nigerian is interesting? first of all, i would say is dorian is, is he is doing what is very important to the future of how media should be sin.

first of all, i think it, that's how he should be. i mean, people want to see themselves in, in characters. people want to see themselves even in medical books, cuz i mean i, for the 1st time, i'm also thinking about it. i've never, i just realized that in most of the babies. oh, do the fishes the you see is all always. yeah. we is. we don't even recognize that i'm we're we, we are used to seeing how we are. yeah. and it hits you, it really hits you when you go like, wow how for, for decade, for centuries, that's just not being the case if you actually question us. so something doesn't like, or is there something wrong with me? you know, as for me, i've never questioned my know, but i, but obviously i know that there's something wrong somewhere and which is one of the reasons why i took it upon myself to change this type of marriage. because being a father too, and having to show your kids what they don't look like all the time is also confusing. and i would say that what the,

what the other person is doing that is the future of how even medical you can even take it beyond that. and even in labs we don't see how it also calling lab. yeah. so about really showing that black representation, you know, a part of the human race as simple as that. you hold on a book, i see, we talked about getting into this hair like this. what want to be had you to, to dig into a book like this? i must be honest with you. i would say, 1st of all, our personal reasons, my son, i mean for the boys and they have this type of hair. and it was a struggle having to explain why the head is different. and secondly, i took part in i, i did a documentation with almost 80 black people in germany. and i found that that had the composition on has a, is deeper than we know. it's also a mix up basically the all existence and i and for me was very important to reach

out to different age groups. and i thought, since i also have kids, it's important that i reach out to that audience. and that's what made me go into this. i'm happy about the book because i don't have kids yet. if i do have kids in the future, i'll definitely have to show them the type of plan why it's ok to have any type of entity. yeah. so let's, let's, let's talk about the audience, your targets and what that look like. this can, you are here. i would say everybody, i mean, ever the thing about kids book is that you do not only reach out to the kids. you also reach out to the parents. you see it's a, it's a kind of interesting story. i would tell you most of the people that have, uh, let me say the people that book this book and not just black kids are kids of color yellow. so a lot of white parents that bites such a book, a book like this, so they could, they able to synthesize it since i their kids to let them know that this,

this power diversity, this power in been different on the book also encompasses different character. this not just, it's not just about the head nozzles about what makes the hair. i see, i wish we had all the time to so many questions i was, but i think let's wrap up with this. i mean, for model you said you definitely have a kind of future that you wish to see. what is the future of the future is, is what i'm, what i'm doing now. what people like me doing now, which is more represent a representation in the media and i just media also having to do also having to lead. and i think that would be it's, we already making those most and our kids would leave that dream that we leave to the reality of our dreams as to for the future generation. thank you very much. thank you very much, francis for your time, francis obama. but the good news is that francis is not alone. he's got salty, soul can, yes. most famous boy about what i had is in music movies or literature black

representation. my test to salty. so the band does not only support young african musicians, they also inspire african kits through story. tell it, hello, what's up everybody. we are a day. oh, and then a day in your watching, listening wherever you are, 277, then with saudi sold, these 4 guys from kenya rock africa, famous for their gigantic acoustic performances. the boy group found a 2005, and i robi, consists of vocalists b, n g mano, so vara and e tourist 20. the band spent the years of the, quote, 19 pandemic, partially apart from each other, to grow individually. and that includes the following your own art and embracing,

who you are. at the end of last year, singer shimano had his coming out as gate a step that inspired him to his solo album heavy. it's the crowd. it's always been an open secret. it's just, i guess, like people waiting for you to say like, okay, i'm gay, gay, you know, as i, i, i said again, you know, like it's, it's 2022. i shouldn't be this central topic really. but then for me, it's some being, being able to say that tend to and to fully live my, my, my life and my, him to fully be myself, enables me to be creative now to flee an in my, in my own self, and actually finding out who it is that i actually am as an individual artist. and while the band keeps nurturing the next generation of artist through their own record label, se all has also embarked on a new journey to educate children through their new book collaboration called sol kits for polycarp. it's a hard project. what with you to do is to create content that is by africans for

africans and wanted like, keeps coming, leads to, especially kids are coming from where we come from was isn't much wanted them. i being a father of 12. now think the only side, there is a van asia through, he's almost 3 with and it's something that was really something that was really bothering me. you know, when, when i'm thinking about the near future and what kind of contents i want to see the, what values on to still in him. and then, ah, yeah, then on a look out, there isn't much that she presents us. you know, you rarely ever get an african perspective on what the experience of growing up in my presentation matters to south you. so whether it is in the music industry or in education and literature. so whether you are from west east, south or north africa, no matter what your background is, the guys from. so it is all have a message for every young african on the continent. door, the youth,

either into all the young people who are there, please lead with love, with everything you do, the reflection or positivity, good vibes, good energy and love b. b, you do, you live, you live for yourself. put yourself as your 1st priority, and it has something very radical a little bit. if you're, if you're an african kid out there and you only speak your african language, speak if you don't have to conform to english. yeah. just speak it. you'll be known, we just learn english to be understood won't. why? but just ah, i that ended on one of my favorite se, so sauls, nowhere is like africa. no, it's like,

oh, i have a good voice. it's a good job. what's also good is to be transported from one place to another in a super cool looking vehicle. in kenya, they call them my tattoos. they are many buses that are sometimes equipped, where l e d, khaled t. v's and huge boxes. the vehicles, how many unique designs of graffiti artist, mohammed katara, aka, why graphics is the master of my talk to design. ah, my full name is his mom had called curb. normally people calling mammography because of the job i've been doing since sad than 19 ninety's. so my work, his graffiti body shop and everything about cars and mortal bikes. when i started, i started on canvas doing cameras was not giving me that pleasure, which, you know,

i, every time i used to do a convers, i always wanted people to see what i've done. but most of the time you do, or conversely ticket to some one, maybe 2 or 3 people see if that's really good. they deal. should they play this on cars? because cars are moving canvas. so that's when i started just doing his hands on matter to small designs, the foster my study, they said it with stickers instead matter to them. they said they bring the graffiti on the outside, but of small things because at that time to pull di, nor does thing was normally how we start. the glands comes with the vehicle. we assess it. if there's any body work, we do it. there's somebody, some customers, they're very crazy customers. know you have to differentiate. you get a crazy customer. he tells you, okay, do what you want. even did like

a via p logins wrong guy. that's when people said in knowing this, i just graffiti upset think because normally at that time if you did something, someone could not sleep. there are leg, decide demonic things. and maybe you're cussing something ah, doesn't entitled to bill them. and that was the 1st time i put a tv on the market. first, they did it on my car. i had a small, totally winette put it into an inch on the dashboard. people are shocked at that time. it doesn't look like that. you see like today, am i to can have you been like 30 says to 15 such to liens and that time, that's how he started every day wanted grid, something different thing. maybe the board, the improving may be fits the kind of colors i'm doing. maybe the kind of graffiti i'm doing. so every day i wanted to do something different, even if a modeling them as much as i used to do before. but i created of a trend in people every did say and do set innovating new kind of things

with steve, i was seated in forbes magazine. i think that was the biggest assessment. people look up to me. it has given people the morale that it doesn't matter who, which, which j b o, where you come from. you can do anything. i go everywhere. people know me. i've been good for that and been determined that one day i would make it wow, that's what i call strain inspiration. the key message for me is that it does not matter who you are or where you're from. you can do anything, mark my, where it's one day you will make it now and that note of inspiration. it's a rap on this edition of the $0.77. i hope you enjoyed that as much as i did always love to hear from you. so when i taught us across all our social media platforms,

that's play you out with a song from niger and artist johnny drill. titled, how are you, my friend? i'm good and hope you are to eddie micah junior. is my name. thanks for sharing your time with me. i've been out ah, putting all this to me ever since that you well, i a ah, with

who nothing is as it was and is even said to be better. the overall astra, the original time automaker has completely revamped it's most important model. we

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o, any success stories. question of biodiversity say don't starts november 18th, on d, w again, they get all the harvesters or immigrants only say everything you enjoy, eating at home with your family, was harvested by people who are being exploited. it's done, i guess, for free, and we're going to need to, uh huh. we keep doing what we're doing and that's why your green revolution is absolutely necessary. europe revealed the future is being determined. now, our documentary theory will show you how people do companies and countries are rethinking everything i'm making may take change in

europe revealed this week on d. w ah, ah, this is d w. news. why from berlin? both us political parties, 0 in on the state. that could decide a crucial election. president's passion, president campaign in pennsylvania, the outcome will shape the 2nd half of democrat joe biden's term. his predecessor, donald trump predicts a republican.