Tag: Black History

The Haunting of Da 5 Bloods

“After you’ve been in a war, you understand it really never ends. Whether it’s in your mind or in reality, they’re just degrees.” The ghosts of the past often stay with us. Try as we may, running from…

Read More »

Much Like Its Setting, Green Book Feels Like a Backward Glance at a Bygone Era

Green Book follows a 1962 concert tour through the south for Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world-class black pianist being chauffeured for the duration by Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), a tough, boisterous bouncer with mob ties…

Read More »

BlacKkKlansman Focuses on the Enduring Duality of Being Both a Minority and an American

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) was hired as the first African-American police officer for the Colorado Springs Police Department in the 1970s. After being promoted to the intelligence unit, Stallworth sets out to infiltrate the Colorado Springs chapter…

Read More »

Mudbound Explores the Ties That Bind America

Mudbound follows two families, the Jacksons and the McAllans, one black one white, in the Mississippi Delta who farm on the same land. Two sons from each respective family return to the Delta after serving in World War…

Read More »

Detroit is an Unflinching Look at American Justice

“Past is prologue” In the midst of the tumultuous Detroit riots of 1967, reports of a sniper send Detroit PD, the Michigan State Police, and the National Guard to the Algiers Hotel in search of the shooter. After…

Read More »

Fences: A Glance Toward the Past

For me, Fences is an interesting delve into how the Greatest Generation raised their children and families, particularly black families. Fences follows Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) a sanitation worker in 1950s Pittsburgh. Troy is a former star baseball…

Read More »

The Birth of a Nation and Missed Opportunity

I enjoyed this film. I’m really interested to see if it sparks any conversations around Blacks and Christianity; the film has HEAVY religious connotations and really delves into the duality of the Christian experience for blacks (it being…

Read More »