Black Diaspora in Hollywood 2.0

Watching Sunday night's Homeland finale, which brutally and ironically dispatched one of my favorite characters from the show, CIA Counterintelligence Chief David Estes, superbly embodied by British actor David Harewood (see below), I recalled that during Black History Month in 2006 I wrote a blog post pointing out the sizable number of black actors from across the African Diaspora now in Hollywood, and featured stars including Idris Elba, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Edjiofor, Garcelle Beauvais, and Boris Kodjoe. I noted then that I hadn't seen any discussion at all of this reality in the mainstream media, though the black film and TV communities in the US appeared to be acknowledging the diversity of their talent pool, and, like the larger black communities across the country, reflected the truth that the US black population has always comprised people from all over the world. As far as cinema and TV go, you need only cite iconic non-US-born black actors from the past such as Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Juano Hernández, Frank Silvera, Austin Stoker, Percy Rodriguez, and Zakes Mokae to bear this out.

As of 2012, the trend continues; just as with white actors in Hollywood, a number of high-profile black stars of film and TV shows are originally from overseas, but have found roles and homes (even if temporarily) here. The list below suggests that black actors from several different parts of the globe are making their names and careers in the US. Some, like Mel B, play themselves; some, like Dania Ramirez, are able to get roles crossing ethnicities; others like, Harewood and Oyelowo, quite effortlessly slip into African American/unspecified black roles without much problem. The British actors have gained considerable attention, and it remains the case that in the UK, roles for talented black actors are scarce.  In Hollywood, there are many more roles, but few leading ones, outside biopics, for actors of the caliber of many of these folks or their African American colleagues. As the country darkens, though, one can hope.... Here are a few of the most notable contemporary black diaspora actors gracing US TV screens:

David Harewood (UK)
Homeland, Blood Diamond

Ashley Madekwe (UK)
Revenge, Drop Dead Gorgeous

David Oyelowo (UK)
Red Tails, Last King of Scotland, Lincoln, The Help

Naomie Harris (UK)
Skyfall, Miami Vice, 28 Days Later

Benjamin Charles Watson (Jamaica/Canada)
L. A. Complex

Gloria Reuben (Canada)
ER, Feast of All Saints, Lincoln 

Dayo Ade (Nigeria/Canada)
L. A. Complex, Lost, Let Go, Degrassi High

Dania Ramírez (Dominican Republic)

Entourage, Heroes, Fat Albert, She Hate Me

Dayo Akeniyi (Nigeria)
The Hunger Games

Mel B (Melanie Brown/Scary Spice) (UK)

X Factor, Mel B: It's a Scary World

Dwain Murphy (Canada)
Saving Hope, The Mentalist, How She Move 

Enuka Okuma (Canada)
Rookie Blue, 24, Andromeda 

Lyriq Bent (Canada)
Rookie Blue, Saw III, Saw IV, Four Brothers

Marsha Thomason (UK) 

2 Broke Girls, General Hospital, Lost

Peter Mensah (Ghana/Canada)
Avatar, True Blood, Spartacus

Lorraine Toussaint (Trinidad & Tobago)
Scandal, Friday Night Lights, Saving Grace, Ugly Betty

Rocsi (Díaz) (Honduras)

106 & Park, Brothers, Soul Ties

Aml Ameen (UK)
Harry's Law, Red Tails, CSI Miami

Harriet Lenabe (South Africa) [shown with Don Cheadle)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Hotel Rwanda

Nonso Anozie (UK)
Game of Thrones, The Grey

Kandyse McClure (South Africa)
Battlestar Galactica, Persons Unknown

African Diaspora in Hollywood + New Orleans Libraries Need Books

Perhaps another blogger has already covered this topic, but since it's Black History Month and when I was watching the Lars von Trier film Manderlay, it struck me that recent studies on the shifting ethnic and national origin cast of Black America (as Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's Black Migrations site and similar studies on this topic have made clear) are being reflected in some of the brown faces on screen in Hollywood these days. Each of the following actors was born in another country, or grew up there, and several have at some point played not only played foreign roles (as Africans, as Black characters of indeterminate national origin, etc.), but African-American ones. In fact, I remember that some fans of the excellent HBO series "The Wire" were very surprised to learn that the gorgeous Idris Elba was British and had a pronounced accent (when not in his role as "Stringer Bell"). Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who first came to wider US notice through her superb performance in the British film Secrets and Lies, now plays Vivian Johnson on the US TV show Without a Trace (which I believe also stars Australian Anthony LaPaglia as an American).

Idris Elba	Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	Maurice Dean Wint

Clockwise, from left: Idris Elba [UK], Marianne Jean-Baptiste [UK], Maurice Dean Wint [UK/Canada], Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje [UK]

Thandie Newton	Djimon Hounsou
Richard Chevolleau	Sophie Okonedo

Clockwise, from left: Thandie Newton [Zambia], Djimon Hounsou [Benin], Sophie Okonedo [UK], Richard Chevolleau [Jamaica/Canada]

Boris Kodjoe	Zoe Saldaña
Razzaq Adoti	Adrian Lester

Clockwise, from left: Boris Kodjoe [Austria], Zoe Saldaña [US/PR/Dominican Republic], Adrian Lester [UK], Razaaq Adoti [UK]

Isaach de Bankolé	Garcelle Beauvais
Rae-Dawn Chong	Chiwetel Ejiofor

Isaach de Bankolé [Côte d'Ivoire], Garcelle Beauvais [Haiti], Chiwetel Ejiofor [Nigeria/UK], Rae-Dawn Chong [Canada]

I was trying to think of others who might fit this category; any suggestions?

Roles for Black actors from any background in Hollywood still far too often fall into stereotypes and are nowhere near as numerous as for White actors, but over the last 30 years, things have improved, in terms of there being more films directed (and produced) by Black people, more TV roles, especially on cable, and more race-blind casting opportunities, which benefits not only African Americans and other Blacks living in the US, but other non-American Black actors, especially from Britain and Canada (Rae-Dawn Chong's father Tommy Chong is Canadian, but several of her siblings, like hottie brother Marcus Chong, were born in the US.)

I wonder if there have been any discussions among American-born Black actors about the presence of foreign-born Black actors in Hollywood, and what sorts of conversations have occurred between and among the two groups. Is their presence even on the radar screen? (I know some Black writers and directors have written non-US roles into their work, and for many years African-American actors have played non-US Black characters.) I also wonder if the majority of African-Americans, especially outside the Eastern seaboard and larger cities, realize how great the immigration of Blacks from Africa, Latin America and Europe has been over the last 10-15, and if folks are even aware that these actors are not US-born, though I'd argue that at some level, people may be aware, since there are foreign-born Blacks (and not only just people from the Anglophone Caribbean) living in predominantly Black and non-Black communities across the US. Whether the presence and representation in film and televisual media of non-US born Black actors may be reshaping perceptions is another question, though it's one I think that could and should be posed.

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From an email I received from the wonderful Carolyn Micklem of Cave Canem:

Seeking Book Donations
The New Orleans Public Library
(New Orleans LA)

The New Orleans Public Library is asking for any and all hardcover and paperback books for people of all ages in an effort to restock the shelves after Katrina. The staff will assess which titles will be designated for its collections. The rest will be distributed to destitute families or sold for library fundraising. Please send your books to:

Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112

If you tell the post office that they are for the library in New Orleans, they will give you the library rate which is slightly less than the book rate.