In a recent Substack post “Longevity, Fragility, and Writing Anyway,” award-winning children’s author Tọlá Okogwu takes a critical look at the state of the creative industries, warning of what she describes as a “cultural reset”—but not the kind many hoped for.

In the post, Okogwu, author of the popular Onyeka series, considers the growing difficulties facing Black artists, particularly in the wake of what she calls a post-2020 “fragile” surge in interest in diverse storytelling, what she poetically likens to “a balloon in the chubby hands of a toddler.”

The post, subtitled “What happened to the Onyeka film adaptation…,” was prompted by a recent LA Times interview with David and Jessica Oyelowo, in which the couple cited Okogwu’s debut novel Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun. The book, The Oyelowos had been attached to adapt the book into a live-action feature with Netflix and Westbrook Studios, which, at the time the deal was announced in 2022, was hailed as a powerful Black-led superhero story.

However, as David Oyelowo explained in the LA Times article, bringing such stories to life has become increasingly difficult: “‘Onyeka’ is an absolute bull’s-eye for what we are looking to make, but it is also symptomatic of the challenge we have. We gained traction with that project in the wake of the George Floyd murder and in a moment where there was a cultural correction and people seemed to want to do better. But now we’re in a moment where it’s evident that a lot of that was performative and not bone-deep. Projects like that suddenly become challenged.”

Okogwu echoes this sentiment in her post, writing: “Creative projects by Black creatives are disappearing and opportunities are drying up faster than spit on a desert ground.” While acknowledging that multiple factors influence any one project’s development, she argues that the broader pattern is hard to ignore.

The author points to recent data from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), noting that the most recent Reflecting Realities report revealed a significant drop in the number of racially minoritized characters in UK children’s books—the first decline in the study’s seven-year history. It is a sobering data point that aligns with Okogwu’s own lived experience and that of many authors of colour in the UK and the US.

“We are in the midst of a cultural reset and it’s not the kind many of us hoped for,” she writes. “In a lot of ways, it feels like we’re being dragged even further backwards than we were in 2020.”

Her reflections come at a time when both the UK and US are seeing increased pushback against perceived Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. While the public debate often centres on corporate or institutional commitments, Okogwu’s account highlights how these broader political currents are also having an impact on the world of storytelling—specifically, on whose stories are deemed marketable or worthy of support.

Though candid about the challenges, Okogwu remains committed to her work: “Still, like [the Oyelowos], I will continue writing the stories that matter to me regardless of the politics at play because I am not a ‘diverse’ author. I’m just an author who writes stories. That they feature and centre Black characters should be no more extraordinary than a white author who writes about white ones.”

Okogwu’s statement speaks to the power and perseverance of creative work, regardless of the political context in which it is produced.