In the 1990s, the CIA started hiring liaisons to go inside Hollywood studios to fix their image. From “Transformers” to 9/11 war films, they wanted movie watchers to think they were the heroes. And you might be surprised by how involved they’ve been with Black films.
A recent example: “Black Panther.” The white CIA agent in the film is a naive but honorable hero who tries to save Wakanda – seemingly harmless, but quite insidious when you think about the CIA’s actual history with Black revolutionaries and African nations.
During the 2019 Oscars, the CIA launched a social media campaign to explain “how #Wakanda's tech matches up w/emerging ‘real life’ tech.” They couldn’t be any more obvious! And, it gets even worse.
Famous actors like Will Smith have literally been asked – and went – to hang out at CIA headquarters! And many more movies and TV shows with Black police, CIA, and FBI officers are in the works.
The CIA, FBI, and police always have an agenda. We have to be critical about the way we engage with entertainment media – and we can’t let federal agents be a part of our filmmaking culture! We must refuse to allow white supremacy to sneak into our media and tell us who to be or how to live our lives.