Oscar award winner Lupita Nyong’o has waded in on the debate of the rare black leopard sighted in Kenya.
Lupita said where and when the animal was photographed does not matter.
This was after foreign media houses ran a story that said it was the first time the black panther was caught on camera ‘properly’ in Africa for 100 years.
But the country’s local media and Kenyans said the feline had been photographed in 2013 by a local journalist.
While posting on her twitter account she wrote, “Whose account of reality matters? Rare #BlackPanther sighting perspective,” Lupita who also featured in the ‘black panther’ movie
Whose account of reality matters? Rare #BlackPanther sighting perspective: https://t.co/Jp7zcCelJ0
— Lupita Nyong’o (@Lupita_Nyongo) February 14, 2019
Lupita’s reaction attracted a mixed feeling among her followers both from Kenya and abroad.
“Until the Lion learns to speak..” We (Kenyans) have long heard of sightings of the elusive Black Panther. Obviously the “100 Years” headline was proper click bait by Nat Geo!
— KolektaEnt™ (@DomiKolekta) February 14, 2019
Classic Christopher Columbus syndrome. The natives were always there. So he never ‘discovered’. Just like the panther was there and Kenyans knew. This photog’s “first time” is not really first and not in 100 years.
— Chris Smithson (@ChrisCSmithson) February 14, 2019
A case of #Columbusing Schrödinger’s cat: #BlackPanther is real when sighted by white person; at the same time black panther is elusive nonexistent when sighted by local black people in Kenya…smhhttps://t.co/EstIIgqFY5#globdev #colonialisminmedia
— Anand (@Anandstweets) February 14, 2019
But it wasn’t previously reported by a White Male, how are we gonna trust these women and foreign black people? ???
— Kelly V (@kellymvee) February 14, 2019