Must-See Movies and TV Shows Starring Black Actors and Actresses

  1. 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.

  2.  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.

  3. 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.
  4. 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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I Am Not My Hair – Part 2

1920s-1930s                                                                                                                                  During this time period, black hairstyles that were trending pretty closely resembled that of the rest of [white] America. Short hairstyles were very popular, especially slicked down or curly. The most popular curly hairstyle was Marcel waves. In addition, these short hairstyles were often either around the length of a pixie cut or a chin-length bob. Some iconic hairstyles of that time include:

                                                                    Marcel Waves

                                                             Josephine Baker

1940s-1050s                                                                                                                                 During and following World War II, black women wore their hair in many styles. Many popular hairstyles included some sort of variation of coifs. Sometimes, the coifs would be pushed back out of the face, usually in two large ones along the side of the head.

Another way to do this hairstyles was to have one’s bang curled into one large coif, sometimes with the rest of the hair pinned back with the ends into a coif.

These coifs were also worn by men, as well as hairstyles similar to the tight curls of the previous two decades.

Little Richard sporting tight curls

In 1951, a hairstyle that would forever change the way humans do [all] hair was created: the weave. The weave was invented by Christina Jenkins. Her patented technique included attaching the weave hair to the live hair using a cord. The one issue with this was that the elongation of hair became permanent as you could not remove the weave hair. This did not really catch on until the late 1960s, as the hair being used was stills tiff and bulky, which did not lend itself to many hairstyles.

1960s-1970s                                                                                                                                            The 1960s were a very tumultuous time for not only the African-American community, but all of America. As the Civil Rights Movement began to pick up traction so did the Black Pride movement. Black people began to welcome their heritage and history. As a result the first Natural Hair Movement began. Women who were actively and/or passively supported Black Pride began to wear their natural hair. This was response to centuries of being told their hair was ugly or “nappy”. Black women used their hair to defy Eurocentric standards of beauty by embracing their own. This movement was also impacted by black celebrities who were uninvolved in politics. For example, Cecily Tyson made waves when went on TV wearing her usually straightened hair, in a short natural buzz cut. Seeing an African-American woman in entertainment who had natural hair was unheard of and immediately made waves. Black women saw a successful woman wearing her natural hair and it inspired them to do the same. 

Cecily Tyson

One of the most popular hairstyles was the Afro. Even though it had been around as long as black people had, it truly began to rise to popularity at this time. This hairstyle would continue in popularity from the late 60s to the end of the 70s. It was worn by men and women alike.

A man and a woman both sporting afros

1980s                                                                                                                                              The 1980s marked the age of the Jheri curl, a style loved by women and men. The Jheri curl was invented by Jheri Redding, a white hairdresser and chemist; however, it was popularized by African-Americans. This hairstyle includes perming the hair to produce long-lasting loose curls. This hairstyle took the kinky tight coils of black hair and loosened them. Looking back, the interest in this style could have to do with colorism in the black community, with how lighter-skinned individuals with wavy and less-curly hair were [and are] idolized. The Jheri Curl offered a toned-down version of one’s natural hair.

                                                        Rick James’ iconic Jheri Curl

1990s Not too many new trends occurred, but rather reinventions of old ones. For example, the short haircuts of the 1920s returned either as Marcel waves or pixie cut. The hair was also usually straightened or slicked down. 

Toni Braxton with a pixie cut

Also during this decade, cornrows and braids were very popular, as a new wave of Pro-Blackess was brought on through hip-hop culture. Box braids were especially popular among young females. The hit movie Poetic Justice, starring Tupac Shakur and Janet Jackson brought this hairstyle to fame in the Black community, as they are commonly referred to as “Poetic Jutsice braids”. These braids could have many lengths and colors, as well as being very easy to care for.

Also gaining popularity at this time were locs. This also went along with the Pro-Blackness movement as they are considered a form of natural hair, due to them not altering the state of the hair or requiring chemicals. Locs can come in many styles, such as freeform (which require no maintenance), sister locs (which are very thin), and basic locs (which are in between freeform and sister locs, in terms of size, but require the same maintenance as sister locs).

Lauryn Hill of the Fugees with her semi-freeform locs

2000s-2010s The general trends of the 90s continued into the 90s and still prevail to this day. During the early 2000s weave certainly surged in popularity, with their prevalence and emphasis put on long-haired girls in rap songs. This led to many black women getting weaves in order to appear less black and more “exotic”. However, not all black women in weaves wear them for this reason, but this was a common societal pressure among the Black community. Weaves were, and still are, very common due to their versatility.

Destiny’s Child wearing weaves

Currently, the afro is currently making a comeback, with the increase in awareness of the struggles of the African-American citizen, as a result of systematic racism. Natural hair is not only worn as locs or as afros though; there are bantu knots and twistouts as well. Twistouts consist of twisting ones hair and leaving as such for a period of time, then unraveling it to reveal more uniform curls. Whereas, bantu knots are just tights balls of hair all over the head, which can be undone for a similar effect of the twistout.

A Twistout- Before and After

Bantu Knots

During this time, it also easy to see a conscious effort to accept and show pride in all hair textures, not matter how kinky or loose one’s hair may be.

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I Am Not My Hair- Part 1

In this post, I will be discussing the rich history and importance of hair in black culture. Black people, and those of African diaspora, have a very unique relationship with their hair. This complex bond dates back to before the days of imperialism and slavery.

Mother Africa                                                                                                                              In early African tribes and civilization, a person’s hairstyle could have several meanings. For example, it could denote their family history, marital status, age, religion or social status. Hair has always played a large part in African culture, and during this time it was very positive. Those of pre-slavery Africa were very proud of their hair; hours were spent doing intricate designs using braids and embellishments, such as cowrie, combs and, beads. 

Slavery                                                                                                                                         Slavery and Imperialism caused African people to be introduced to European culture. Within a couple of generations most traces of African culture were erased and the African diaspora was created. Slaves did not have the luxury of being able to take care of their hair. In addition, the mixing of different African tribes caused what culture that was left to be a combination of several different African cultures. A similar thing was occurring in Africa to those who had came into contact with Europeans; many Africans were beginning to adapt more European-looking hairstyles, especially as imperialists gained more power.

Post-Emancipation                                                                                                                          The pressures and effects of European rule on those of African descent was still very visible following the emancipation of African-American slaves in 1863. Around this time, the use of hot combs became popular among white women with curly hair and black women. Black people had received more freedom, especially with their appearances, allowing some African hairstyles to resurge and new African-American styles to form. There were many attempts by white Americans to try and discourage such shows of culture in the form hairstyles. One example, is a law that Louisiana had in the 19th century, ordering all women of color to cover their hair, as to cover up the intricate braids and styles that were worn by these women. In the end, this law backfired because black women began to do beautiful designs and wrap methods with their headscarfs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early 1900s                                                                                                                                  In the early 1910, Madam C.J. Walker founded her own hair care company, the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. This company was unique for being founded and owned by a black woman, as well as being made for black women. Besides changing the way black women did their hair, Madam C.J. also became the first self-made female millionaire in America. The company specializes in scalp treatments and hair growing treatments. As many hair products of the time were made with Caucasian hair types in mind, they often caused great damage to black hair types. Walker noticed this took it into consideration when making her products. This is why many of the products of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company were focused on restoration.

In the next part of I Am Not My Hair, I will further explore 20th and 21st century black hairstyles and how they are viewed.

 

 

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Top Black Activists Under 35

Amandla Stenberg is an actress and activist. In 2015, she was named the “Feminist of the Year” by the Ms. Foundation for Women, a prominent feminist organization by Gloria Steinem. She is best known for her roles as Rue in the Hunger … Continue reading

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Being “the Only”

By Simone Pope

The following is based purely off my experiences and in no way are meant to portray the plight of every black person who has been, or is, “the only”.

To begin with, the term “the only” is commonly used to describe any [usually] black person who is in a situation where they are the of their race. Being in this predicament usually produces a sense of dread, loneliness, or anxiety.

Growing up in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina, I was almost always the only black student in my [honors] classes and the only black girl on the soccer team. What lightened the blow of alienation was knowing that I wasn’t the only person of color in my class or the team. the town where I grew up had plenty of White and South Asian residents, but very little of any other ethnicities races. It wasn’t until after I left that town, that I realized how many microaggressions or outright racist moments I experienced. The summer before freshman year of high school, I moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I lived in the city, but attended an, even more white, Catholic high school. There I experienced the most racist people I had ever met. In Charlotte, people for the most part knew they were racist, whereas, in Philadelphia, I had argue with people to show them how they were being racist and it almost never worked.

 In high school, I was always the highest academically ranked black student, which to this day has taken a severe impact on my mental health. I always felt like I represented my entire race and if i didn’t raise or maintain my ranking I made all us look bad. I felt like it was my duty to close he racial gap in academics at my school. This contributed greatly to my stress and anxiety in high school, as I constantly felt as though I was crushing under the pressuring of being the “smart one” in my school.

Now let’s get one thing straight: I’m not an Angry Black Woman™. Black women are not allowed to be mad. We are not allowed to react or, “Oh no, here comes the Angry Black Woman™”. For example, when Nicki Minaj performed her famous “Miley, what’s good?” monologue in response to her culture and race being constantly ridiculed by Miley Cyrus, Minaj was constantly criticized for “overreacting”. The same happened to me at school whenever I responded in annoyance to any form of racism or prejudices. I had to justify my emotions an reactions to every little thing because God forbid I’m anything other than a quiet, obedient black girl.

Next, the amount of times I have heard “You sound so white!” would honestly shock no one, due to how ingrained stereotypes are in American society. I don’t sound “white” nor am I an “Oreo”. My race does not define how I act or speak. Just because I speak articulately or without slang, does not negate my race. The idea that intelligence or dialects can be labeled as belonging to certain races is extremely racist.

As the poet Kai Davis said: I will never, I will never equate stupidity with my melanin
Nor will I ever sacrifice my skin for the white man’s standards
So never ask that I speak for anyone but me
Represent anything but what I stand for and fight for anything but what I believe in

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