The Acolyte star Amandla Stenberg has written and released a song in response to a racist backlash against the Star Wars prequel show.
The show is set 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and the first four episodes are streaming now on Disney+.
It was created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and stars Stenberg (The Hate U Give, Bodies Bodies Bodies) in the twin lead roles of Osha and Mae. The two characters are raised by a coven of witches, led by Jodie Turner-Smith, and are separated by tragedy, with Osha training as a Jedi before lapsing, while Mae turns to the dark side.
The show has been well received by critics, including NME, but Stenberg has said she has been “flooded” with “intolerable racism” from some of the show’s viewers since its release, and has taken it upon herself to write a song addressing the controversy.
Posting on Wednesday (June 19), she wrote on Instagram: “Happy Juneteenth 🖤 and to those who are flooding me with intolerable racism — since it took me 72 hours on my laptop to make this song and video, u got 72 hours to respond. and I expect choreo!!”
Part of the backlash that Stenberg has addressed relates to a clip from 2018 that went viral recently in which the actress says that “white people crying actually was the goal” of the film, referring to The Hate U Give. The clip has, however, been presented out of context as if she was referring to The Acolyte.
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In her song, Stenberg sings: “I’m going viral on Twitter again / open up the news to find some interesting things / 20 million views / interview from 2018 / with Trevor the king when I was a teen”.
“I was running from city to city to speak on a story / you know the one: police murdering a black boy / my people cried in theaters finding release / white people cried they could see us as human beings,” she continues.
“Trevor ask what I want the people to know / I say white people crying was the goal / If they could take one thing what would it be? / I say empathy / ooooo that’s why they mad at me? / they splice lines make hate they recognize / make it look like the same propaganda they spew / cuz they conflate our pain with violence / and try to weaponize everything that we do / the desperation of oppressors is rising / and now they holding onto any of thing they can use / If you rely upon misinformation / that tells me you’re afraid of the truth.”
After a chorus of “We so bored, don’t fuck with yo discourse,” Stenberg goes on: “My sis said don’t let it get down my spirit / but i’m sick and fuckin tried of suppressing my rage / 400 years of taking their bullshit / to compartmentalize like my ancestors had to encage / if you don’t confront the pain that you live with / it’ll manifest as addiction disease and hate / i’ve seen the infection repressing can give ya / I’m not goin to be the next one sent to an early grave.”
In a four-star review of the show, NME wrote: “As with everything in Star Wars, balance is everything – but it feels like Headland has managed to walk a finer line than most with The Acolyte. It’s new, without feeling unconnected. Pristine, but not too shiny. Fun, but still substantial. It feels like a place to grow from, as well as a worthy stand-alone story in its own right.”
Episodes are being released weekly, with four more still to come. The final instalment is set to premiere on July 16.
Many viewers of the show were left reeling by the shock of a major name actor being killed off in the opening minutes of the show.