During the 51st Annual NAACP Image Awards celebration, the accomplishments of the industry’s top artists and contributors were highlighted in an atmosphere of Black love and acceptance
Issa Rae’s quick comment after five men were announced as Oscar nominees for best director was spur of the moment, but for many captured the lack of diversity among this year’s nominees.
Look back on the most noteworthy films of 2019 and they all display a diverse array of superb talent—in front of and behind the camera.
“Harriet” the movie is a portrayal, based on the life of the legendary African American heroine. It is not, nor is it intended to be a documentary of her remarkable life. At times during the movie historical facts are noted on the screen. Harriet Tubman lived for 91 years, this movie covers about 8 to 10 years of her life. So we know there is much more to her life that we don’t see in the movie. I pray the movie raises interest in Harriet Tubman, particularly among young people, many of whom had unfortunately never heard of Harriet Tubman.
Part 1. The conversations and controversy surrounding the movie “Harriet” of Hollywood seems, at first sight, to be simply about Harriet Tubman, the liberator, the Harriet Tubman of history. But in a larger sense, it is about Black people, about: how we see ourselves; how we see our heroes and heroines; how we understand and honor our history, especially the history of the Holocaust of our enslavement; how we think and feel about male/female relations; and how we relate and respond to our oppression and our oppressor. And it’s about our willingness and ability to rightfully uplift Harriet Tubman, the Liberator, and unmask Harriet of Hollywood, the imposter, regardless of the seductive propaganda by the illusion-making, myth and money-producing enterprise we call Hollywood.
Indeed, for her, freedom meant more than seeking and finding a comfortable place in oppression and letting those who would and could follow you. That is why, having escaped form enslavement, she could only feel free and happy for a brief while and was thus compelled to turn around and bring all she could out of bondage so that they could enjoy the collective and inclusive freedom both she and they needed. For she tells us that all the people she loved and knew and who suffered and longed for freedom were back in the belly of the beast, fighting daily against the deadening, debilitating and acidicly corrosive and erosive effects of the Holocaust of enslavement, and she was determined and duty-bound to liberate them.
Cynthia Erivo has a Tony, Emmy, and a Grammy — can an Oscar be next? “Harriet” opens November 1 and some Hollywood insiders think —yes!
“HARRIET” directed by Kasi Lemmons a “must-see” cinematic experience
Wendy’s Window
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) today celebrated the end of tunnel excavation for the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project. Harriet, the tunnel boring machine (TBM), completed digging the second of the twin tunnels for the light rail line on April 6.
Community leaders stress the importance and significance of the project to Leimert Park and its surrounding communities.