- Dear White People (2014)– This movie stars Tessa Thompson (Selma) and Tyler James Williams (Everybody Hates Chris). It brilliantly discusses race relations and tensions that occur at PWIs, predominantly white institutions.
Thompson plays Sam, the highly opinionated and “woke” radio host of a eponymous show. Her remarks on the racial atmosphere of her university cause outrage among the white students. Williams plays a student writer, Lionel, who is recruited by the university paper to write an article on Sam and the ensuing racial tension and discussions. Dear White People attacks racism, both conscious and unconscious head on and provides great insight into multiple views on the topic of systematic racism in America.
- Straight Outta Compton (2015)– This movie follows the rise of the iconic rap group, N.W.A. from the streets of Compton, CA to superstardom. Critics and audiences alike raved about this movie and the portrayals of the members. Ice Cube is portrayed by his own son, O’Shea Jackson, while Jason Mitchell plays Eazy-E, Corey Hawkins is Dr. Dre, DJ Yella is played by Niel Brown Jr, and Aldis Hodge is MC Ren. One memorable scene sees the band performing their hit “F*uck Tha Police” despite being asked not to by the concert authorities and the FBI.
We are able to see N.W.A as more than rappers, but activist for the black community. This particularly is relevant with America’s current racial tensions and #BlackLivesMatter. However, the lows of the group were also shown, such as Eazy E’s death and the breakup of N.W.A, as well as subsequent feuding.
- Blackish (2014-present)– Starring a myriad of famous k actors in its cast, as well as young newcomers, Blackish depicts an upper-middle class family living in a sea of whiteness. The black father, Anthony Anderson, often argues with his biracial wife, Tracee Ellis Ross, about how to raise their children in their environment, while also incorporating aspects of “traditional” black culture to keep them in touch with their heritage. Lawrence Fishburne and Jennifer Lewis portray the father’s parents who frequently involve themselves in the parenting. Also starring in Blackish is 16 year old Yara Shahidi, a African- American and Iranian actress. She plays the typical social-media obsessed teen daughter, while also providing the show with touching scenes about youth and growing up black in a white community. The part of the goofy brother is portrayed Marcus Scribner who acts as the main source humor with his strange habits ad idiotic ideas. It is refreshing to see so many personalities in black characters, besides the stereotypical ones, like baby mamas or abusive parents. The show also discusses issues affecting the black community, such as police brutality.
- Dope (2015)– Dope follows the young Malcolm Adekanbi as he begins his college applications. He is applying to Harvard and struggling to sound authentic, while also impressive his first-choice college. Malcolm scores a meeting with a local Harvard alum who turns out to be involved in illegal activities, and ropes Malcolm into these activities. While completing task given to him by the alum, he finds himself in grave danger and enlists his best friends who are also his bandmates. Malcolm breaks the mold of the typical “ghetto” Inglewood, CA black kid by being intelligent, nerdy, and having unique interests, such as punk music and 90s rap music. Dope portrays minorities as, yes, drug dealers, but also as aspiring college students seeking to better the world. So I leave you with a quote from Malcolm: “So, why do I want to attend Harvard? If I was white, would you even have to ask me that question?”
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