Both Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing” and Beyoncé’s “Black Is King” films explore the interconnectedness between Africans on the continent and Black Americans. They illustrate their connected history, hardships, and aspirations while portraying a positive future of pan-Africanism and empowerment. In “Homegoing,” Gyasi follows the descendants of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, across continents and generations. Gyasi’s personal stories highlight the long-term impact of the transatlantic slave trade on African and African American identities. Despite the physical and cultural barriers that separate them, the novel underscores the underlying links that bind these various branches of the African diaspora together, uniting them. Similarly, Beyoncé’s “Black Is King” honors the richness and diversity of Black identity…show more content… She had already given him up.” (Gyasi, 187). Gyasi’s depiction of pan-African connection not only fosters understanding and empathy for Marjorie at this moment, but also exposes the continued influence of historical traumas on modern Black realities. Through characters like Marjorie, Gyasi explores the complications of identification and belonging individuals encounter when moving through the intersections of race, ethnicity, and culture in modern society. Despite her Ghanaian origins and life in America, Marjorie’s struggle to find acceptance and belonging exemplifies the long-standing legacy of colonialism that haunts Marjorie and many characters within the novel, someone who is decades away from slavery, the same way it did her ancestors; Gyasi highlights this continuum. Furthermore, Gyasi’s portrayal of Marjorie’s experience with interracial romance highlights the continued existence of racial hierarchies and biases in today’s
