Tackle racism in Hollywood, Nigerian born Actor, Jeta Amata asks US President Biden ….To sue Netflix, Amazon Prime, DSTV, others

….States case of institutional racism against him, Akon, Wyclef in Hollywood

…..Hails

Biden for Juneteenth

A  Hollywood Actor and international Director of Nigerian descent, Jeta Amata has called for the urgent intervention of President Joe Biden of the United States of America to remove the racial hurdles placed on the paths of Black Actors and entertainers in Hollywood to help them excel in their careers. This is important according to him for Africans to tell the undiluted stories of Africa to the world so that the world can appreciate the gains and challenges of Africa and Africans in the Diaspora.

To drive home his points, Amata has finalized arrangements to sue major stakeholders and distributors of films and entertainment works in Hollywood for institutional racism against him as well as against other top entertainers of African descent.

According to him, there is a carefully orchestrated and shrouded style among Hollywood promoters and distributors to play down or kill any movie, music or other creative work that paints Africa in good light whether there are historical facts to back them up or not. The stories they jump at, he said, are stories that paint Africa in bad light and perhaps give the Blackman a bad reputation. He stressed that he is speaking out of experience because more than three of his films which could have boosted historical understanding of the black race have been stepped down for no just cause after he had invested heavily financially to make them.

He specifically mentioned Netflix, Amazon Prime, Entertainment One, Numetro, DSTV and even Shell among others as those involved in this untoward attitude that is gradually silencing patriotic African voices in Hollywood. He added that in order to save future artists from the same situation, he has decided to take these organisations to court in his home country, Nigeria, for the world to see the shrouded injustice and racism that has kept the Blackman down as well as painted Africa in the colors of a dark continent over the years.

“Movies and Music are very powerful tools of influence across the world and the agenda of Hollywood as presently constituted is to stifle any story line that will rightly chronicle the history of the Blackman in order to inspire young black people across the world to be better citizens through lessons from their heritage.  Every story line they approve for wide distribution is meant to kill the morale of the Blackman and this is exactly what I am fighting against,” he said.

He continued: “Even world renowned Senegalese born musician, Akon, and Wyclef from the Republic of Haiti have been unofficially banned from the industry in Hollywood due to the conspiracy of distribution agencies who are mainly racists. They gang up and smartly desist from promoting their works because they insist on being themselves on issues of African dignity. Akon insisted on managing Lady Gaga whom he discovered, and refused to play a second fiddle role while Wyclef sang Dialo Dialo which was a story of what police brutality was doing to the black man in the United States which finally reared its head with the recent brutal killing of George Flyod. Their sin was that they insisted on doing what they believed in without following racist rules.

“If you decide to compromise and weave your story along their approved lines to defame Africa, they will be ready to invest heavily and circulate your works all over the world but if you dare to stand your grounds, you will be made to suffer loss. It is so pathetic and this is what discerning Africans have been going through in Hollywood. This is the current fate of patriotic African artists in Hollywood and something drastic must be done to stop it and that is why I am calling on President Biden to intervene. Yes, President Biden has finally declared Juneteenth a national public holiday and this is good, but we need to do more to right the wrongs of the past and drive in, in real terms, the development of Africa and Africans worldwide who are mostly currently either countries or individuals suffering from the multiple after-effects of slavery and colonization.

Jeta Amata, however, called for sanctions against these erring distribution companies in the form of firstly, an unreserved apology to Africans for their discriminatory roles and secondly, extraction of commitments from them to change their attitudes and support more black stars to excel in their careers by promoting their works without racial discrimination, as well as investing adequately in Africa.

Also, he called on other world leaders to join President Biden to prevail on financial institutions to give grants and loans to African artists to expand the entertainment industry in Africa which will in turn create jobs for the teeming youths and take them off the streets and prevent them from being ready tools for wars and crises which are currently serious threats to the development of the continent.

Jeta Amata, 47, is the son of popular Nigerian actor Zack Amata and produced and directed his first film at the age of 21.