Lupita Nyong’o wants to show Africa through her eyes

Last updated on September 27th, 2024 at 09:23 pm

Lupita Nyong’o has brought African characters – both fictional and real – to life in memorable ways throughout her career, both on screen and on stage. Playing Nakia in Black Panther, Nakku Harriet in Queen of Katwe and The Girl in Eclipsed on Broadway, she has won critical acclaim, a loyal fan base and a place in Hollywood history as the first black African actress to win an Oscar. Today, Nyong’o is taking on the task of telling authentic African stories in a new way: with a podcast.

Released on Thursday, the actress’ new storytelling podcast, Mind Your Own, is about what it means to be African, told from the perspective of Kenyans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, South Africans and others. Every week, Nyong’o, who was born in Mexico and grew up in Kenya, will take listeners on an intimate journey through villages, cities, cemeteries, on planes and even on the red carpet to show the joy, the mess and the complexity of Africa and Africanness.

While Nyong’o grew up on a steady diet of American series like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Step By Step in Kenya, no amount of pop culture could have prepared her for the culture shock she experienced when she arrived in the US 20 years ago. Navigating life as a foreigner and learning to speak with an American accent – and what it meant for her career and identity – she took a teacher’s suggestion and started listening to NPR’s This American Life.

It also got her thinking about what it would be like to tell the story of Africans with the same depth and richness. This American Life also got her thinking about what it would be like to tell the African story with the same depth and richness. After all, she knew only too well that the music, literature, fashion, food and people of Africa were far more interesting and complex than the quick news stories of famine, war and corruption.

Although Nyong’o eventually became a Hollywood celebrity, winning an Academy Award and an Emmy Award, she couldn’t give up her dream of telling the African stories that we don’t see or hear enough. Five years ago, at the height of the podcast boom, she returned to the idea.

Growing up with her father and other men listening to football matches, news, music and other programmes on the radio in Kenya, she knew the power of radio on the continent.

Having spent a decade working in Hollywood, she is well aware of the difficulty of selling African ideas on a global scale: ‘People tend to scratch their heads when you have an idea for a film or TV show set on the continent, because we are not always seen as a target market.

Produced by KQED’s Snap Studios and distributed by Lemonada Media, aired its first two episodes on Thursday. One episode tells the compelling story of a grave robber in Kenya, the other the story of a Ghanaian musician who has made it 25 years beyond his wildest dreams. In each episode, Nyong’o guides listeners through the journeys of her subjects, but allows them to lead the way, using her own experiences at the start of the episodes to simply relate the themes to her life and that of her audience. 

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All remaining eight episodes will be broadcast weekly. Now that every celebrity has a podcast, Nyong’o’s podcast stands out for its lack of complacency. Even though her name is in the title of the show and will certainly attract many listeners, her storytelling and careful sound design  will keep people coming back.

In episode one, Nyong’o aptly points out that the phrase ‘mind your own business’ is often heard on the continent as both a warning and an invitation. Talking to ELLE.com, Nyong’o said she wanted listeners to feel like they were being invited to a dinner party where a compelling conversation naturally unfolds.