"Queen of Katwe," the newest Disney film starring Lupita Nyong'o and Madina Nalwanga, follows a young Ugandan woman on her path to becoming a chess champion. But surprisingly, the Real Queen of Katwe, Phiona Mutesi, chose to play chess on a whim. She had dropped out of school because her family couldn't afford her school fees. Mutesi chose to play a game of chess when someone wagered a bowl of porridge.
After the match, she found the game interested her. Though she faced challenges coming from a slum and being a woman, she pursued her passion and became a master. The film focuses on her challenges coming up through poverty and shattering misconceptions about what can be accomplished by people who come from her kind of socioeconomic background. I would like to take a moment to highlight some additional challenges a number of African women face, which the real Phiona Mutesi likely faces as well.
In many African cultures, women are expected to carry the household. They cook, clean, carry water and they look after the children, the sick and the elderly; and many also work outside the home. Some of these responsibilities start from as young as 5 and are expected to be handled masterfully by adolescence. "How else will you care for your husband?" I was told several times over my last visit to Ghana. Mind you, I am not married. This element of some cultures in and of itself is not necessarily a problem. But when some women choose to focus on activities that take them away from being this optimal homemaker, many of them face social stigma.
Additionally, over the course of the past several years, I have spoken to young women from Uganda (where the film is based), Tanzania and Kenya, who have told me of another unfortunate problem facing some African young women. Certain cultures preferentially put resources into their male children. If there are school fees to be paid, the son goes first, and some families leave out girls all together, believing the girl won't have much use for education once she is married anyway.
Phiona Mutesi can teach us a valuable lesson. We are all allowed to have a drive, regardless of where we come from and what challenges we face. It doesn't matter what sparks our drive for something or how tiny our drive begins. What matters is that our drive is real to us, and we should nourish and care for that part of ourselves. Commit to it, and it might take you far, like Mutesi!
Maybe one day, you can have multiple championships and a Disney movie on your résumé!
The movie is set to be released in select theaters September 23rd and everywhere September 30th. Go to the nearest theater and find your inner Queen!
