Tuesday, February 19, 2008
I said I was going to do a black history post each week, but did you think I was going to do a random fact ramble? Sweet molasses, smelling salts, no!
For many of us, our first introduction to black history was through films. Many blacks and whites were mortified at some of the imagery that graced the silver screen from the 1970s on. During black history month many of these films are on heavy rotation. So let's go through the movies that make you want to do a Nat Turner.
Amistad (1997)
Summary: Amistad is the somewhat true story of an 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship. The native Africans had just about enough and began killing all white devils in sight. Unfortunately, their ship still lands in the United States, they are captured, go through the corrupt judicial system and magically learn how to speak and read English. A flawed movie, but still impactful.
I saw this movie in the theater and I was already wore out by the first thirty minutes but when the director, Steven Spielberg, took us to the slave ship scene -- it was the most realistic depiction of slave ships I had ever seen. In a horrific scene, several slaves are chained to a bag of stones, which is tossed in the ocean. Gruesomely, the enslaved people are violently pulled in the ocean—naked, screaming and crying. For those who do not know, sharks changed their route because there was a plethora of food, basically, African bodies thrown overboard. I saw Amistad in the theatre and when this scene played I was crying so hard I had to cover my mouth with both my hands! I felt like at any moment some primal wail was going to charge out of me. If you don’t get a tear in your eyeball, watching this scene then you simply have no soul. See below for the clip.
The Long Walk Home (1990)
Summary: The Long Walk Home is one of Whoopi Goldberg's greatest and underrated movies. The movie is placed in a 1955 Montgomery, Alabama during the bus boycott lead by Dr. Martin Luther King. Whoopi Goldberg is a maid for Sissy Spacek's character and when blacks boycott the bus she is forced to walk endless miles each day, back and forth to work...I can't even walk three New York avenues without needing to rest my "feets".
During an elaborate Thanksgiving scene the good white folks are ranting on "those lazy, greedy, selfish niggers". Ever notice when white folks play these roles they just seem to NAIL it. I digress, Whoopi's character is serving the food as one of the women rants in that privileged Southern twang, "They are just dumb niggers! Dumb, stupid niggers!" She looks at Whoopi, "And I don't care who hears me! I just don't care." Whoopi goes back in the kitchen. While it's not graphic, it was one of these scenes that you know black maids had to endure everyday from their white bosses, especially if there was anything political happening at the time. It felt so real and managed to capture the daily lives of black women. If that happened today "sistah gurl" could go the fuck off and sue the devil for some coins... only fifty plus years later that isn't a long time ago.
Rosewood (1997)
Summary: Poor white trash are enraged that the neighboring black town is doing much better than them. After accusing an innocent man of raping a white women, they decide to burn the town down. The story of Rosewood actually happened all over the country from Oklahoma to Mississippi.
Rosewood is not the movie to watch if you're in an interracial relationship; every white person is made out to be common, racist Jim Crow trash. Then, there is that moment when angry white members of the town threaten to burn down the home of Don Cheadle’s character, Sylvester. Esther Rolle, in her last role as Aunt Sarah, begs the white men to leave... many of whom she was a mammy for. Bam—they shoot her dead! Lawd!!! They done shot Florida—the mama from Good Times! Damn! Damn! Damn! I remember I saw this is a movie theater in Philadelphia with a predominately black audience. Once Esther was shot people started cursing up a storm, jumping up from the seats and throwing popcorn at the screen. I was sitting next to a young white girl, probably a college student, who turned to me with tears in her eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was moved by the tragic scene or terrified by the colored folks reaction in the savagery of West Philadelphia.
Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1977)
Summary: The epic miniseries, which tells that fictionalized account of Alex Haley's family history.
I think it's obvious... when Kunta Kinte is whipped because he refuses to say his slave name; it is one of the most important scenes in television history. Each lash you feel as you wonder if you would be so steadfast to your race, ethnicity, or name. Lawd knows after that first lash I would’ve yelled, “I’m Toby, damn it!” When Kunta finally gives in, saying his name, the overseer adds, “That’s a good nigger.” Damn it—hold my mule! Click here for clip.
Sankofa (1993)
Summary: An independent film, not well-known and hard to find on DVD. A materialistic, black fashion model is spiritually transported to a plantation in the West Indies, where she gets the living daylights beat out of her!
Sankofa is graphic, shocking and unforgettable. I'm not giving to give too much away because I don't want to spoil it for those who want to see it, but in the most graphic slave scene I have ever seen, the main character, Mona, is brutally raped. The look on the master's face is possessive, the character is screaming like a banshee and the viewer feels like they are right there. Something boils in your gut and you know how real, bloody and scarring slavery was. Sankofa is an excellent film with a small budget, but it's one you will never forget.
Don’t think I didn’t forget other great films like Mississippi Burning, The Color Purple, Glory, Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing and many others.
What movie or scene gets you in that rebellion mood?
Check out the clip below from Amistad. The scene I detailed above starts at 6:52.
Labels: Race
Posted by Clay ::
12:00 AM ::
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