FKA Twigs fights 'invisible oppressor' of racism in new video

FKA Twigs’ new music video for the song "Don’t Judge Me" features the singer fighting against an invisible oppressor with featured artists Headie One and Fred Again.

FKA twigs, real name Tahliah Barnett, wrote on Twitter, “This project is very personal and special to me. It was an honor to shoot with Kara Walker’s fountain exploring the interconnection of Black history between Africa, America, and Europe.”

The music video features various scenes of FKA twigs battling an unseen force. According to a press release, the choreography performed by FKA twigs is her “struggle against an invisible oppressor – propagated by cultural, systemic and structural biases – that is often hard to see and even harder to overcome.”

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The video features Black activists who stood around a sculpture called Fons Americanus by Kara Walker, currently housed in the Tate Modern in London.

This enormous sculpture is symbolic of the transformation of Black history in western society. The Tate modern explained, the “Fons Americanus presents an allegory or extended metaphor of the Black Atlantic. ” 

The Black Atlantic is the historical theory that the slave trade across the Atlantic has shaped Black history and Black identity in America and Europe.  

FKA twigs co-directed the six-and-a-half-minute video with Emmanuel Adjei, a Dutch film director and visual artist who notably directed Beyonce’s visual album, Black Is King. 

The music video featured a variety of Black activists and artists who stood alongside the sculpture. This visual depiction of solidarity was dramatic as individuals from different walks of life, from poets to footballers, stood together to support Black activism. 

Reni Eddo-Lodge, the author of Why I Am No Longer Talking to White People About Race, and British poet Benjamin Zephaniah were two of the many activists to feature in this video.

Featured guests included Clara Amfo, Efua Baker, Munroe Bergdorf, Nicole Crentsil, Lisa Elde, Danto Earth, Solomon O.B, Mahlon Romeo, and Kukua Williams.

Model Kukua Williams wrote on Instagram, "to be a part of this honestly meant so much to me, a celebration of blackness and Art - Thankyou to everyone ."

Co-Director Adjei wrote: “In this audio-visual document we get to witness artists FKA Twigs and Headie One, amongst other Black British influentials, fighting against invisible forces of judgment and oppression.” 

He continued, saying that the Fons Americanus sculpture was pivotal to the video, “this important monument creates another layer of depth and meaning to an invisible yet shared history.”