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Rooting for Everybody Black: Handicapping the Black Oscar Nominees
With the Grammys behind us, it’s time to turn our collective attention to the Academy Awards. The Oscars are Sunday night, and just like Issa Rae, we’re “rooting for everybody black.” Here’s a breakdown of the black contenders for the gold in this year’s major categories. The news of Daniel Kaluuya’s nomination for his portrayal…
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Black Heroes for Hire: Scratching the Black Panther Itch
As colorful as comics are, they have not always been kind to people of color. Even though Stan Lee and Marvel were bold enough to create the X-Men in reaction to the civil rights movement, not everyone else was so enlightened or has been so enlightened since (see #DonaldforSpiderman). The gap is noticeably present in…
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Why Aren’t There More Black WWE Stars?
The first time I remember consciously turning on the TV to watch wrestling, I saw the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels, squaring off against Mike Tyson. I watched in confusion as the two superstars threatened to hit each other and Michaels ripped open Tyson’s shirt to the thunderous roar of the audience, indicating that they’d formed…
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The Dark Tower: Mediocre Marksmanship and Magical Negroes
The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and The Shining are a trio of renowned Stephen King titles turned to film. And they are also leading exhibits for the Stephen King “Magical Negro theory,” the idea that a lone black character is at the behest of white characters and protagonists by whom he’s surrounded. This black…
