Roger Guenveur Smith: ‘I, Too, Am ‘Africa’ America’
“I’ve worked with primarily Black directors, men and women, who recognized that I, too, am ‘Africa’ America, to paraphrase Langston Hughes.”
“I’ve worked with primarily Black directors, men and women, who recognized that I, too, am ‘Africa’ America, to paraphrase Langston Hughes.”
In Spike Lee’s iconic racial-awakening film, “Do The Right Thing,” the legendary Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of a charismatic, peace-and-love promoting disc jockey in a Brooklyn neighborhood named “Mister Senor Love Daddy.” Boy oh boy – have we needed Mister Senor Love Daddy’s messaging and leadership in my beloved Los Angeles this past couple of weeks. The outrage and fallout of the horrific racist, homophobic, antisemitic, and anti-indigenous rantings and commentary including three city council members continue. In one particularly poignant scene in “Do The Right Thing,” Spike Lee features a series of White, Black, Latino, and Asian
When I received my review copy of “SPIKE” by Spike Lee it took me a full day before I broke the plastic on the gorgeous table book.
Festival organizers hope Lee will “shake things up” among the world’s cinema elite at the festival which runs May 12-23. And anti-racism campaigners hope Lee’s appointment wakes up the French cultural world to persistent discrimination and the damaging stereotypes it perpetuates.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, currently under construction in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park, is thrilled to announce its recent acquisition of the Separate Cinema Archive, which documents African American cinema history from 1904 to 2019. Encompassing more than 37,000 rare items, the archive includes a major selection of original film posters, lobby cards, film stills, publicity material, scripts, an extensive reference library, and more.
The 2019 Academy Awards have come to an end and #BlackGirlMagic and #BlackBoyJoy were in full effect as some of our favorites walked away with statuettes, some after a 30-year uphill climb.
Ruth E. Carter is a black woman blazing a trail as a costume designer in a film industry with not many who look like her. But through her upcoming career achievement award and Oscar nomination for her Afro-futuristic wardrobes in the superhero film “Black Panther,” Carter believes she can “knock down” more doors so others like herself can walk through them. If Carter wins an Oscar for best costume design this month, she would become the first African-American to win in the category. Despite “very stiff competition,” Carter believes she has a good chance going up against Mary Zophres, Alexandra
Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” iconic film poster is one of the more widely recognized images in cinema history
Bill Nunn, a veteran character actor whose credits ranged from the “Spider-Man” movie franchise to such Spike Lee films as “Do the Right Thing” and “He Got Game,” has died.