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A novel co authored by Jada Pinkett Smith´s daughter Willow Smith has been accused of describing the Amazigh as "Violent Savages"
quote: “Black Shield Maiden,” the soon-to-be-published novel [2022] of American singer Willow Smith, has sparked controversy online for using offensive and explicitly degrading representation, including the description of Amazigh and Muslims as “violent savages.”
Many are calling for revisions to be made before the book’s official release later this year in October. The book, a fantasy fiction, was especially condemned for adapting stereotypical and orientalist tropes. An exclusive preview of the novel published online states, “The Amazigh are dangerous on their best day. They have little regard for anyone who doesn’t worship the Muslim god — and even their own tribes are always at war with one another.”
Willow Smith, the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinckett Smith, co-wrote the book with Jess Hendel.
From Willow Smith and Jess Hendel comes a powerful and groundbreaking historical epic about an African warrior in the world of the Vikings.
Lore, legend, and history tell us of the Vikings: warrior-kings on epic journeys of conquest and plunder. But the stories we know are not the only stories to tell. There is another story, one that has been lost to the mists of time: the saga of the dark queen.
That saga begins with Yafeu, a defiant yet fiercely compassionate young warrior who is stolen from her home in the flourishing Ghānaian empire and taken as a slave to a distant kingdom in the North. There she is thrust into a strange, cold world of savage shield maidens, tyrannical rulers, and mysterious gods.
And there she also finds something unexpected: a kindred spirit. She comes to serve Freydis, a shy princess who couldn’t be more different than the confident and self-possessed Yafeu.
But they both want the same thing: to forge their own fate. Yafeu inspires Freydis to dream of a future greater than the one that the king and queen have forced upon her. And with the princess at her side, Yafeu learns to navigate this new world and grows increasingly determined to become one of the legendary shield maidens.
For Yafeu may have lost her home, but she still knows who she is, and she’s not afraid to be the flame that burns a city to the ground so a new world can rise from the ashes. She will alter the course of history—and become the revolutionary heroine of her own myth.
publisher Del Rey news release:
quote:BLACK SHIELD MAIDEN is the first book in an epic, medieval fantasy series that makes visible the histories and mythologies of medieval African peoples, and women of the Viking age, which have been erased by dominant Western narratives in media and education. Championing intersectional feminism, freedom of gender expression, and dialogue across cultures, BLACK SHIELD MAIDEN confronts the most pressing subjects of our time, and shows a path forward, through connection and community.
BLACK SHIELD MAIDEN is the story of Yafeu, a defiant yet fiercely compassionate young warrior who is stolen from her home in the flourishing Ghanaian Empire and thrust into the world of the Vikings. There she discovers a strange new world of savage shield maidens, tyrannical rulers, and mysterious gods — but also a kindred spirit in Freydis, a Viking princess, who also wants the same thing: to forge her own fate. With Freydis at her side, Yafeu will alter the course of history — and become the revolutionary heroine of her own myths.
Willow shared news of the book on Instagram, writing, “I’ve been working on this historical fiction for over 4 years [and] I couldn’t be more excited to see what aspects of the story will incite more catharsis for you all.”
“I’m so grateful to bring the story of Black Shield Maiden to the world,” WILLOW said in a statement provided to Gizmodo. “At their core, the issues we’re facing now are the same issues we’ve faced time and again throughout our history. That’s why we create new narratives, from different perspectives and even look back into history for deep wisdom that can inspire and help us evolve. My hope is that this story will do that for readers.”
quote from the book:
quote:It sets my blood on fire to know that horses live in such luxury when there are people in Wagadu who are struggling just to survive. I’ve gone to bed without food myself more nights than I can count — and we’re some of the luckier ones. At least my uncle lets us stay in the village. Those without tribes don’t last very long; they either starve or get picked up by slavers.
A small domed building stands out from the houses of brick and acacia that line the edges of the market: the “mosque” for the Muslim traders.
I remember the first time I saw it — the first time I ever came to Koumbi Saleh. It was before we had settled in the village for good. I was young enough that I had to lift my hand above my head to hold Papa’s.
“What is that building for?” I asked him, pointing to the grey dome.
“It’s for the Muslims,” he replied. “They worship their god inside.”
“Which god?”
“Every mosque is for the same god, their Supreme Creator. The Muslims call him Allah, and they do not worship any other. They say Allah is the only true god, and that he is all-powerful.”
I couldn’t believe it. Did the Muslims not feel Sogbo’s might in the rumbling of thunder, in the cracking open of the sky before the heaviest rains? Did they not sense Agé’s essence coursing through the wilderness and all the animals that live within it?
With the frenzied shouts of bargainers and the scratch of cart-wheels on the ground as a greeting, we enter the brick walls of Koumbi Saleh. Kamo and Goleh race ahead, kicking up dust in their wake.
The Amazigh are dangerous on their best day. They have little regard for anyone who doesn’t worship the Muslim god — and even their own tribes are always at war with one another. Back when we travelled the desert with Papa, we took extra care to avoid crossing their path. The desert is lawless, and those who don’t travel under the protection of the Ghāna can fall prey to Amazigh thieves and slavers, often disguised as harmless merchants. Everyone has heard the stories: travelers beaten to within an inch of their lives by the Amazigh, waking only to find their wagons pilfered and their bodies chained to a caravan.After what happened to Jenne, more and more Soninke have started building their own mosques and worshipping the one god, if only to maintain peace with the Amazigh. The Ghāna mostly looks the other way, because Wagadu relies on the Amazigh to bring salt from across the desert. Much as I want to, I can’t fault his reasoning: Gold makes a man rich, but salt keeps him alive.”
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I don't have the source but this person on goodreads says this is a reply by co-author Jess Hendel) to the many online articles about this controversy prior to the book coming out but when excerpts of the book were being criticized:
quote:Without giving anything away, I can PROMISE you that prejudice, stereotyping, and ignorance about people from other cultures are issues this novel tackles directly— including prejudices about the Amazigh and other Islamic peoples. Our protagonists all START OUT harboring certain prejudices about people who are ‘Other’, but their journeys force them to interact with and learn more deeply about each other. They will confront and ultimately dismantle their own prejudices as they become more informed and more interconnected.”
Jess Hendel is an LA-based author and screenwriter. She has a BA in Sociology from Amherst College and an MFA in Writing for Screen and Television from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Her original scripts have been top placements in numerous prestigious competitions, including WeScreenplay and the Page International Screenwriting Awards. She is represented by Richard Abate and Ari Lubet at 3Arts.
Jess identifies as a bassist, a Trekkie, a futurist, an anarchist, and a Ravenclaw. When she isn’t reading and writing all things “genre,” she loves playing open-world RPGs, playing DnD, settling Catan, and learning new instruments. Catch her on bass with SoCal alt-rock band Solar Sister and in the upcoming synth-pop collective True Vacation.
quote:originally posted the lioness: Amazon description of book (below) sounds like something Brandon would come up with (not the controversial part though)
Yes I also thought about Brandon reading about the story line.
The combination Africans and Vikings I remember he has shown in some of his art work.
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I did preorder the Kindle version, as it does sound like an interesting premise. I do hope the main character unlearns the attitudes about Amazigh people expressed in the controversial excerpt, though.
"The Amazigh are dangerous on their best day. They have little regard for anyone who doesn’t worship the Muslim god — and even their own tribes are always at war with one another. .
Founders' ethnicity Theorizing concerning the origins of Ghana has been dominated by disputes between ethnohistoric accounts and archaeological interpretations. The earliest discussions of its origins are found in the Sudanese chronicles of Mahmud Kati and Abd al-Rahman as-Sadi. [4] In addressing the rulers' origin, the Tarikh al-Fettash provides three different opinions: that they were Soninke, Wangara (which are a Soninke/Mande group), or (least likely) Berbers.
Kati favored another interpretation in view of the fact that their genealogies linked them to this group, adding "What is certain is that they were not Soninke” (min al-Zawadi).[5] While the 16th-century versions of genealogies might have linked Ghana to the Sanhaja, earlier versions, for example as reported by the 11th-century writer al-Idrisi and the 13th-century writer Ibn Said, noted that rulers of Ghana in those days traced their descent from the clan of the Prophet Muhammad either through his protector Abi Talib, or through his son-in-law Ali.[6] He says that 22 kings ruled before the Hijra and 22 after.[7]
While these early views lead to many exotic interpretations of a foreign origin of Wagadu, these views are generally disregarded by scholars. Levtzion and Spaulding, for example, argue that al-Idrisi's testimony should be looked at very critically due to demonstrably gross miscalculations in geography and historical chronology, while they themselves associate Ghana with the local Soninke/Mande.[8] In addition, the archaeologist and historian Raymond Mauny argues that al-Kati's and al-Saadi's view of a foreign origin cannot be regarded as reliable. He argues that the interpretations were based on the later presence (after Ghana's demise) of nomadic Berberid interlopers from Libya, on the assumption that they were the ruling caste, and that the writers did not adequately consider contemporary accounts such as those of Ya'qubi (872 CE), al-Masudi (c. 944 CE), Ibn Hawqal (977 CE), and al-Biruni (c. 1036 CE), as well as al-Bakri, all of whom describe the population and rulers of Ghana as "negroes".
Imperial decline Given the scattered nature of the Arabic sources and the ambiguity of the existing archaeological record, it is difficult to determine when and how Ghana declined and fell. The earliest descriptions of the empire are vague as to its maximum extent, though according to al-Bakri, Ghana had forced Awdaghost in the desert to accept its rule sometime between 970 and 1054.[26] By al-Bakri's own time, however, it was surrounded by powerful kingdoms, such as Sila.
A tradition in historiography maintains that Ghana fell when it was sacked by the Almoravid invasion in 1076–77, although Ghanaians resisted attacks for a decade,[27] but this interpretation has been questioned. Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources.[28] Dierke Lange agrees but argues that this does not preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that Ghana's demise owed much to the latter.[29] Sheryl L. Burkhalter (1992) was skeptical of Conrad and Fisher's arguments and suggested that there were reasons to believe that there was conflict between the Almoravids and the empire of Ghana.[30][31] Furthermore, the archaeology of ancient Ghana does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests.[32]
While there is no clear-cut account of a sack of Ghana in the contemporary sources, the country certainly did convert to Islam, for al-Idrisi, whose account was written in 1154, has the country fully Muslim by that date. Al-Idrisi's report does not give any reason to believe that the Empire was smaller or weaker than it had been in the days of al-Bakri, 75 years earlier. In fact, he describes its capital as "the greatest of all towns of the Sudan with respect to area, the most populous, and with the most extensive trade."[33]
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quote:Originally posted by BrandonP: I did preorder the Kindle version, as it does sound like an interesting premise. I do hope the main character unlearns the attitudes about Amazigh people expressed in the controversial excerpt, though.
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The TV series Vikings Valhalla had also a woman of African descent who came to grow up and live among vikings. She is the daughter of a Viking Jarl who met an African noble woman in Alexandria. In time she came to be a Jarl herself, called Jarl Estrid Haakon (Jarl Haakon is a person who is mentioned in old texts but he was white and a man).
The series received some critique because of this fictive person but also for a lot of other historical inaccuracies. But most viewed it as just a Fantasy, without any documentary ambitions.
Jarl Estrid Haakon was played by singer and actress Caroline Hendersson. She is is of mixed African American and Swedish descent and she has lived in Sweden, USA and Denmark.
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In the first Vikings TV serie, which preceeded Vikings Valhalla there are some other foreigners too, most notable a young woman from China, named Yidu. In the series she becomes a personal doctor for the series "hero" Ragnar Lodbrok. She gives him opium to relieve the pain from some combat wounds and he nearly ends up becoming an opium addict.
Yidu is played by Dianne Doan, who has Vietnamese and Chinese ethnic background but was born and raised in Canada.
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Now it was not the Scandinavians who started the opium wars, it was the Brits. But on the other hand Americans who made the TV series partly descend from Britain.
And Brits have at least some viking ancestry --------------- When concerning Africans in Viking age Scandinavia (and Iceland) we have just a very few mentions of "Blamadr" (blue men) in the early medieval Nordic literature. One such story tells about a Blamadr at the court of Harald Fairhair (c 850 - 933). The poor man was kept in a cage and forced to fight other men. There are no reports of any Viking jarls or kings of African descent. And I have not seen any reports of African Viking shield maids.
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Published online 2005 Mar 24. doi: 10.1086/430073 PMCID: PMC1199377 PMID: 15791543 Saami and Berbers—An Unexpected Mitochondrial DNA Link Alessandro Achilli,1
Abstract The sequencing of entire human mitochondrial DNAs belonging to haplogroup U reveals that this clade arose shortly after the “out of Africa” exit and rapidly radiated into numerous regionally distinct subclades. Intriguingly, the Saami of Scandinavia and the Berbers of North Africa were found to share an extremely young branch, aged merely ∼9,000 years. This unexpected finding not only confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum but also reveals a direct maternal link between those European hunter-gatherer populations and the Berbers.
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Southern Scandinavia began to be repopulated about 12000 years ago (an earlier "attempt" was made about 14000 years ago, but a last resurgence of very cold climate, called younger Dryas, drove them back again). The people who came 12000 years ago were the Western hunter gatherers. Somewhat later an immigration of one (or even two) waves of Eastern Hunter Gatherers came from the Northeast. When they met they became Scandinavian Hunter Gatherers. The Saami also have some DNA from these early immigrants. Probably somewhere during the Bronze age an Uralic component came into the Northern parts of Scandinavia and due to the mixing of different peoples the Sami culture as we know it was born.
During the neolithic different migration waves changed the Scandinavian genetic landscape so not so much of the original hunter gatherer DNA was left.
During the viking age the Scandinavian genetic diversity increased due to the many contacts with the surrounding world. After the Viking age the diversity decreased again. But today it increases again due to immigration and contacts with the outer world.
quote:We often think of the Vikings as ultimate explorers, taking their culture with them to far-off lands. But we may not typically think of Viking age Scandinavia as a hub for migration from all over Europe.
In a study published in Cell, we show this is exactly what happened. The Viking period (late 8th century to mid 11th century) was the catalyst for an exceptional inflow of people into Scandinavia. These movements were greater than for any other period we analysed.
What’s also striking is that later Scandinavians don’t show the same high levels of non-local ancestry present in their Viking-era counterparts. We don’t completely understand why the migrants’ genetic impact was reduced in later Scandinavians, but there are some possibilities.
quote:The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.
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