Willow Smith, daughter of Hollywood star actor Will Smith have drawn criticism for portraying the Amazigh tribes in a very negative way in a new fantasy novel entitled, “Black Shield Maiden,” due to be released on Oct. 4.
The 21-year-old, released a preview of her new novel, which she wrote with author Jess Hendel where she stated that, “the Amazigh are dangerous on their best day. They have little regard for anyone who doesn’t worship the Muslim god—and even their own tribes are always at war with one another.”
Tell me I’m not crazy for being horrified by how the Amazigh (indigenous North African group) & Muslims are portrayed (third pic) this is a preview from Willow Smith’s new fantasy book (first pic)- I saw EXPLICIT Muslim rep (second pic) & thought omg so cool! Then I read on 😭 pic.twitter.com/VEhSs8keuv
— S. Mughal / سدرة (@readswithsid) February 19, 2022
The book follows two young women, an African warrior named Yafeu and a Viking princess, Freydis, who encounter both Muslim and Amazigh characters throughout the story.
“The Amazighs aren’t some ancient mythical people, we’re very much real and alive and she’s basically portraying us as this harmful stereotype of barbaric savages,” wrote one Twitter user.” while another said: “Why do we get portrayed YET AGAIN as savages?”
The Amazigh people community as well as many social media users across the globe condemned the preview of the book, deeming it offensive and very defamatory for such a peaceful people like the indigenous Amazigh of North Africa, and urged for the book to be edited or re-written before its made available for purchase.
