Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o recently launched her podcast, Mind Your Own, a labor of love five years in the making. The 10-part series focuses on personal stories from the African diaspora, allowing Nyong’o to merge her artistic vision with her African identity. Celebrated for roles in films like Queen of Katwe and Black Panther, she emphasizes that her work is driven by a sense of purpose: telling African stories authentically and creating spaces where African experiences take center stage.
Nyong’o explains that her primary audience is Africans, both on the continent and in the diaspora. She wanted a platform where Africans could connect, relate, and share their narratives without needing external validation. Growing up, she absorbed global media that often wasn’t designed for her, and she seeks to reverse that by centering African voices. She stresses the importance of authenticity over conforming to American norms, noting that her value lies in who she is, not how she sounds.
The journey to launching the podcast was not easy, as the entertainment industry initially showed little interest in content for an African audience. Nyong’o realized that to succeed, she needed to lead with her own narrative, using her experiences as a portal to other stories. Despite the challenges, she remains committed to telling African stories on African terms, emphasizing that cultural representation should be shaped by Africans themselves, not by external validation.