Engaging Activism on Screen: Black Resistance to Oppression and the Disruption of Master Narratives in USA through Netflix.

Abstract

This thesis is aimed at analyzing ‘Strong Black Lead’ movement, a Netflix content production project started in 2018, as a form of Black Activism and resistance on screen. This visual activism is examined through its main actions of occupying screen and opposing mainstream narratives in USA. The latter, represents a pivotal role in reshaping the imagery associated to African American identity. This is achieved first through the humanization process of the characters presented and the emancipation of black identity from its mainstream depiction such as criminals and other perpetuated stereotyped versions of Blackness through Hollywood and mass media. The first section provides a background to the movement by analyzing its objectives and the correlation with traditional representation of Blacks. Additionally, it gives a brief insight to the socio-political from Barack Obama’s election to that of Donald Trump.It discusses as well the importance of being in charge of storytelling and why this shift has a political meaning. The second section focuses on the analysis of two Netflix series produced by ‘Strong Black Lead’: When They See Us by Ava DuVernay and Dear White People by Justin Simien.The first one is employed as an example of the humanization of Black identity while exposing the criminal justice system as a racial oppression force. While, the second series represents the challenges of emancipating Black identity from the associated stereotypes when unraveling racial discrimination.