Wrestling With Whiteness | A Documentary Sorely Needed.

Here's the thing. My 2 viewers will know that I've been a wrestling fan for 15 plus years but what they do not know is that I've been a Somali (aka a Black Muslim person) my entire life so talking about this documentary is going to be a little more personal, to say the least. 

And look, I know this is the part where I insert my usual wit and fart jokes but you're not gonna see less of that because this is a serious topic (and you know it's serious when I mentioned my ethnicity) about representation and the shared struggle across every single black performer featured in this documentary. 

From the press release, Wrestling With Whiteness "focuses on sharing the stories of Black folx and their experience in the wrestling community. Using a combination of interviews with Black wrestlers and Black content creators, Wrestling With Whiteness uncovers the unique experiences of Black people in the industry and the rise of representation for performers and fans around the world."

"The following shared experiences are highlighted in the film Brotherhood/Sisterhood, Transformation of Role Models, Accurate & Authentic Character Representation, Ways To Change The Community, and Advice To Future Stars. 

And I think the title is clever since it's about black people navigating their life in a white hegemonic society.  

I came out of watching the whole thing so speechless, there were times it was hard for me to articulate how I feel about the specifics in which the performers talked about representation, being role models and staying true to your authentic self. 

In other words, it's like that saying of "show don't tell" kinda moment for me. Now, why is this documentary made by a future prospect in wrestling today, spoken to you so fondly? 

There's one word to describe the video and that is to quote Queen Latifah's 1993 hit, "U.N.I.T.Y". 

Unity and a sense of community are more than just, "Hey, we're just friends, you know." It's a connection with one another about their shared struggle. There's a reason why a black man (in America) calls another black man "my brotha". 

It's the shared prejudice that leads to them doing great things not only for the black community as a whole but also for the entire world whether it's creating modern musical genres like jazz, rock, blues, pop, rap/hip-hop etc or just doing a simple kind gesture. 

A great example of that is Tasha Steelz mentioning how Kiera Hogan has helped her and vice versa throughout their tag team tenure as Fire 'N Flava. 

My thoughts on representation within the black community are best noted by Shane Taylor and that is to change the norm of how black people are perceived and promote the positive aspects of black people which is what makes black stables like The New Day so great. 

This documentary is also inspiring from a film-making standpoint especially since we all have a friend that wants to film a CSI  movie because they thought David Caruso was so cool wearing those shades but it never happened (are you talking about yourself, Omar?) 

And it's also refreshing to see a film that isn't another black trauma or white saviour film, ya know.  

Apologies if I can't talk about every single detail that happened in this film due to the fact that It'll take James Cameron's Avatar sequels levels of long but I hope this was short and to the point. Thank you Jaychele for providing me with the press material and most importantly, the documentary itself. Follow me on Twitter @omartheplayaguy and stay safe smarks.