By Steve Early and Suzanne Gordon — In recent years, Danny Glover has used his formidable acting chops and Hollywood connections to boost a series of independent films that might…
By Dr. Julianne Malveaux — One of the first Broadway plays I ever saw was Melvin Van Peeble’s Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death. A. Robert Phillips, who led the Black…
By William Nash — Speaking on NPR’s Fresh Air, Barry Jenkins, the director of “The Underground Railroad,” noted that “before making this show … I would have said I’m the…
The perils facing Blacks in Tulsa, Oklahoma didn’t end with the show’s season finale. By Dreisen Heath, Human Rights Watch, Co-written by Kristi Williams, The Real Black Wall Street Tour Company — Watchmen may have been snubbed by the Golden Globes, but the season finale left many viewers in awe. As Black women who hail from Tulsa, Oklahoma — where the Watchmen plot plays out — we hope the season’s biggest legacy will…
We must atone for the sins of imperialism By Priya Satia, Washington Post — Every Thanksgiving, Americans trot out the self-congratulatory myth that colonization was a harmonious, bloodless affair —…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — Part 1. The conversations and controversy surrounding the movie “Harriet” of Hollywood seems, at first sight, to be simply about Harriet Tubman, the liberator, the…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — This is a reminder, prelude and promise of a coming review on the movie “Harriet”. This is in joyful and grateful homage to our illustrious…
By Richard Brody, The New Yorker — A common failure of movies, especially historical ones, is that they don’t open their drama to intellectual context or to the inner lives…
The director Roger Ross Williams on the Harlem ‘temple’ that has hosted legendary performers from James Brown to Lauryn Hill. By André Wheeler, The Guardian — The Apollo Theater is a living piece of black history. Located in the heart of Harlem on West 125th Street, the theater has operated as a refuge for black audiences and performers from its opening in 1934. Artists from James Brown and Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill have graced…
In the Emmy-nominated virtual reality project, viewers are given an immersive historical experience on the depressingly topical dangers of being black in America. By Dream McClinton, The Guardian — The theatre has luxurious red velvet upholstered seats, grand ceilings and gilded trimmings. The rows of chairs stretch back into the ostensible blackness, with light beaming from the projector room. Ahead, archival footage of stylish black travelers pack the screen as…
The uproar over Disney casting Halle Bailey as the Little Mermaid overlooks generations of Caribbean and African folklore. By Tracey Baptiste, The New York Times — As a young child growing up in Trinidad and Tobago within sight and walking distance of the Caribbean Sea, I was gripped by the intrigue of mermaids. I was introduced to one version of a mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, whose tale of a magical girl…
This 2009 documentary was produced by the Washington, DC Office of Cable Television to commemorate DC Emancipation Day. The film is a stirring account of African-American history from the colonial…