The film adaptation of the sensational Nigerian fantasy novel “Children of Blood and Bone” has been teased for years. Finally, in 2024, author Tomi Adeyemi announced an open casting call. But once the final cast was revealed, there was backlash on social media.
“Children of Blood and Bone” is based on Nigerian mythology and takes place in the magical kingdom of Orïsha. It tackles issues of oppressive rule, class, and colorism, and has a badass female protagonist. The book is very Black and very African, and readers have concerns about representation, since a relatively small amount of the cast is Nigerian. However, much of the Internet’s rage went to one cast member in particular: Amandla Stenberg. According to Twitter and TikTok users, she’s notorious for stealing roles from dark-skinned Black women.
Just to be clear, colorism is a very real and horrible issue in our community. However, to vilify another black woman and claim that she is racist because she was casted in a role is terribly misguided. The blame shouldn’t be placed on her, but on the people calling the shots in Hollywood.
User @Rayeskj wrote: “If you’re hating on Amandla then your hate is misdirected. This woman picks roles she believes, experience or relates to & reads the books unlike Blake Lively. Amandla does her research.”
Still, the hate was so bad that one Twitter user @plainpotatotay called for a boycott of the movie: “We need a boycott that children of blood and bone film before they even turn the cameras on to get amandla stenberg ass fired. colorism is gonna keep running rampant on these sets unless we do something as a COMMUNITY to combat it. y’all move too scary for me!”
Amandla Stenberg has come out with a nine-minute TikTok video to explain why she does in fact fit the role.
The video is long, so here’s a quick breakdown:
It all started with “The Hate You Give:”
Amandla believed it all started with her being picked as lead in “The Hate You Give.” She received backlash for that role but she states that the author of the novel, Angie Thomas, picked her for the role.
Amandla did her research for “Children of Blood and Bone:”
When auditioning for her role in “Children of Blood and Bone,” Amandla made sure to look up a picture of the character, to see if she fit the role.
The book’s author, Tomi Adeyemi, reassured her:
A dinner with the author of “Children of Blood and Bone,” Tomi Adeyemi, gave Amandla the reassurance she needed for the role.
Stenberg states she read the book and her skin color serves the story, but commenters under her video still did not seem convinced. User @etisyaip25, speaking about Amari’s depiction in the book, responds: “You read it? Amari isn’t described as biracial/light nor is she thin. This is important because her mother asks her to bleach [her skin] and her size matters for the same reason. You’re ignoring that aspect.”
User @Zay.zee says: “Your awareness in this desicion turns my stomach. As a Yoruba girl Tomi let us down big time.”
But not all the comments were against Amandla. Some fans did stick up for her and for the casting decision.
The uder @officialolly_a said: “As a Nigerian lady I can say that we have a lot of women from different ethnicities that are light skinned, even lighter than Amandla is... so.”
Whilst @_becani stated “For those that read COBAB [”Children of Blood and Bone”], you know that Amandla is the cast perfect for Amari character. Stop the hate.”
Filming is set to begin later this month, and Stenberg has already completed four months of training for the role, so a recast seems very unlikely. Unhappy fans will just have to decide whether they’re still prepared to watch the film with a light-skin Black girl as the lead.