Thoughts on “The Zola Story”

I believe the key takeaway from “How Aziah Wells Is Being Erased From The Zola Story” is that a narrative, when shared on social media, can change as a result of it being published there — for instance, it can be appropriated by different groups, resulting in different interpretations and social consequences. In this case, the “Zola Story,” by Aziah Wells, a Black woman, was transformed into a Rolling Stone article, which will serve as the basis for a script and a film produced by a group of white men, with no mention to Wells. Upon finishing this reading, I wonder if there are other stories that I have consumed and that were created through, or as a result of, cultural appropriation (the answer is probably “yes”). I am left reflecting on the forms of entertainment that I enjoy at the expense of silenced voices and whose voices these were in the first place. We like to think that because we live in a globalized world, everyone can equitably use and share their voices on social media, but the Zola Story proves that is not the case — social media can amplify the gap between those with power and those who are pushed away from it. Moving forward, I would like to continue exploring how the interaction between social media and fiction can map onto pre-existing power structures, but also be used to subvert them.