This Is How to Connect Pop Culture with Important Social and Health Messages
Whoever tells the story, writes history, says The OpEd Project. I agree. As a global health thought leader, storytelling is at the core of my global health equity advocacy. In my Igbo culture, storytelling is the way through which information is passed down generations. Chinua Achebe, the famous Nigerian writer said, “in the Igbo culture, proverbs are the oil with which words are eaten”. A well-told story is almost edible. One can literally bite into it.
People hardly forget a compelling story. I cannot forget the wily ways of the tortoise as told in Igbo folktales as he manages to outsmart other animals. Till date, I look at the tortoise with admiration. This is why public health advocacy should be done using storytelling. It leaves a lasting impression and is more likely to lead to behaviour change. Effective health advocacy involves identifying the problems, solutions and then providing calls-to-action (what you advise your readers to do in order to change behaviors).
Indeed, public health issues are serious and sometimes can be life-threatening. However, sometimes public health advocacy should be done using relatable social issues such as pop culture.
Pop culture is all around us. It’s the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the TV shows we binge, and the books we read. It’s what we talk about with our friends and family, and it can have a powerful impact on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. That’s why pop culture can be such a powerful tool for social good. It can be used to raise awareness about important issues, challenge stereotypes, and promote social justice.
Pop culture and celebrities have huge influence on what kinds of news are routinely consumed by the public. No wonder celebrities are social influencers. Social media has made their influence even more ubiquitous.
In my global health storytelling, I have used pop culture a few times as a way to deliver health advocacy. For instance, I have connected some of my opinion pieces to pop culture. These include: “Africans Mourn Chadwick Boseman: ‘A Great Tree Has Fallen’”;“Dance to Buga, but please don’t do this”; “5 Things I’d change about Netflix’s ‘Young, Famous & African’”; “Blood Sisters Not Only Entertainsbut Highlights Important Social Issues”; and “We Are Africans. Here’s Our View Of Beyoncé’s ‘Black Is King’”.
Do you also want to use pop culture to deliver compelling advocacy through your opinion pieces? Follow these steps:
Draw from what you know and connect it to the timely pop culture moment.
In my NPR piece tribute to Chadwick Bozeman — the Black Panther, after he died, I drew from my Igbo culture’s eulogy for a great king in this tribute. Among the Igbos, when a great king passes on, we say, “Oke osisi adaala n’obodo”. It means, “a great tree has fallen in the land’. Beyond the eulogy, I reminded readers about what killed him and lessons we can all learn from that. Boseman died from complications of colon cancer, which affects the large intestine. According to the American Cancer Society Journal, “African Americans are about 20% more likely to get colorectal cancer and about 40% more likely to die from it than most other groups.” The tribute was also an opportunity to identify gaps in colon cancer prevention, treatment and care across the African continent and what should be done to improve survival.
Tap into celebrity status to advance your advocacy.
My piece on dancing to Buga and what not to do was a hit in part because the song was a hit. Buga is the viral song by Nigeria’s top music artistes — Kizz Daniel and Tekno. On TikTok, everyone dances to Buga. In May 2022, Buga was the most Shazammed song in the world. Buga is a Yoruba word, which means proudly displaying oneself, and successes. The video of Buga is colorful and begins with one of the female dancers opening a drink with her teeth. As a public health physician and health equity advocate, that was a red flag for me because of how opening drinks with one’s teeth can cause serious dental complications. So, I reached out to Adekemi — a dentist and friend. We used Buga’s popularity to deliver a dental health message in a piece for African Arguments. The summary of our piece was, “Using one’s teeth to open drinks may seem like a small thing, but it can lead to a vicious cycle of pain, discomfort, and mental trauma”.
Make bold arguments and recommendations.
Africa is a youthful continent. About 46% of the population is less than 17 years old. Therefore, it is easy to see how Netflix’s ‘Young, Famous and African’ would be a hit on the continent. The stars of this reality Tv show are famous Africans drawn from different African countries including Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe. True to the stereotype of reality shows, it was about flaunting wealth, gossiping and fighting. It was painful to watch. My major argument in the NPR piece is the need for us to redefine fame. If I was to produce the second season of the show, I would add to the cast famous young Africans who are leading social change across the continent such as Tunde Onakoya, founder of Chess in Slums Africa and Vanessa Nakate, a climate justice activist from Uganda. I would also use the popularity of the show to get the cast to discuss pressing social issues on the continent.
The next time By telling global health stories, I am writing global health history.
