Black Girl Analysis

Early Migrations of Postcolonial Africans

When it comes to stories of the African Diaspora, no two people will have the same experience. In the story Our Sister Killjoy we hear the story of Sissie, a young african woman who travels to Europe hoping to improve herself with a European education. Contrastingly, in the movie “Black Girl”, Diouana, a poor young Senegalese woman travels to Europe to work for the white couple she nannied for in her hometown of Darak. However despite their differences, during their experiences in Europe, both Diouana and Sissie come to understand the harsh realities that accompany the diaspora experience. Though they have been raised to believe that Europe is a land of opportunity and promise, this dream is quickly

However, when she arrives, she quickly realizes that her new living conditions are boarderling enslavement and as a result she quickly falls into a deep depression. The most clear example of when Diouana’s spirit has been broken is towards the end of the movie, right before she takes her own life. When the movie shows flashbacks to Diouana in Africa, she is spirited and optimistic, which is a stark contrast to crushed woman we see in France. Where she was once overly respectful to her mistress, quickly granting her every wish, suddenly one day, she gives up. Though Diouana was doing everything her mistress asks she was still treated cruelly and inhumane, so finally Diouana decides she’s had enough. When her mistress rudely wakes her up, she very slowly awakens and takes her time getting out of bed, when her mistress tries to kick her out of the bathroom, she pushes the door shut with her body, and when the mistress tells her to take her shoes off, she sarcastically takes them immediately off and leaves them in the middle of the floor. The largest act of subordination occurs after the mistress threatens not to feed her. She simply replies “if I don’t eat, I won’t take care of the children”. Though this doesn’t seem too radical, his is some of the most dialogue we have heard from Diouana throughout the course of the movie, and it’s

The audience can truly see how she has solidified her opinion of Europe when she argues with her fellow diaspora community. As she’s discussing her opinion that they should return home, one man says “I am making good money here and living as well as any Black man can live in these parts” she is tempted to “tell him to go to hell” (Aidoo, 122). Sissie’s upset because even this man’s statement supporting Europe clearly shows the racism in the society. Sissie doesn’t understand how he can support a nation that has destroyed their homeland and culture. Then, when people claimed that they stayed in Europe to send money back to their mothers, Sissie goes on to bemoan the hypocrisy of the situation. If the african’s hadn’t had to “[wake] up to forced labour and thinly veiled slavery on colonial plantations” and other actions of the colonizers which put their nation into such poverty, then their mothers wouldn’t so desperately need money (Aidoo, 123). This is a perfect example of the claim Hamilton makes that “a common experience throughout the age of diaspora has been the persistence of oppression, radicalization, prejudice and discrimination, political disenfranchisement, and hostile social environments” (Hamilton, 7). Sissie then goes on