michael k williams
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We Outside at the 2021 BET Awards!
BET Awards host Taraji P. Henson made sure we knew it was the Year of the Black Woman!
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PageTurners: Fighting With Fact and Fiction
It seems as though authors this week are gearing us up for some sort of fight. Whether it be of the fictional kind or a nonfiction account of something or someone who inspires us to be or do better, these authors are coming in hot, armed with books that will leave you saying, “Fuck yeah,…
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Critic’s Choice Awards 2021: Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Kaluuya, John Boyega Among Winners
On Sunday night, the 26th Annual Critic’s Choice Awards ceremony aired live on the CW. Hosted by All American’s Taye Diggs, the evening kicked off with some expected wins but y’all know how we roll over here— so let’s get to a few of the Blackity-black highlights. Per a press release sent to The Root,…
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Michael K. Williams Dug Deep Into His Own Generational Pain to Portray Montrose in Lovecraft Country
Michael K. Williams is a standout actor in any role he portrays, and most recently, he has been receiving much acclaim for his turn as Montrose Freeman in Misha Green’s Lovecraft Country. Throughout the HBO series, Montrose is consistently plagued by the traumas that haunt him, even to the detriment of the group’s larger mission.…
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The Safe Negro Guide to Lovecraft Country: 'Strange Case'
Hey! Welcome back to another week in Lovecraft Country! Our fifth week’s episode—the first half of our midpoint in the season, and our most extensive analysis to date—was full of interruptions and metamorphoses (spoilers to follow): Ruby was plagued by interruptions, both as a Black woman and a white one; Tic’s progress seems to be…
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The Safe Negro Guide to Lovecraft Country: A History of Violence
Welcome back to another week in HBO’s Lovecraft Country; our fourth. I want to begin this article moving backward from the largest issue in this week’s episode (serious spoiler alert): the violent murder of Yahima by Montrose. The final scene features a presumably cis Black man slitting the throat of a “two-spirit” Indigenous person in…
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Lovecraft Country and the Horror Story of America
Welcome to Lovecraft Country…or um, you know…welcome to America for Black folks. Based on the Matt Ruff novel of the same name, Lovecraft Country follows Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Jonathan Majors) who takes a road trip from Chicago across 1950s Jim Crow America to find his missing father Montrose (Michael Kenneth Williams). His childhood friend Letitia,…
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Proof of the Reality of Slavery ‘Up North’ in New York City and Its Aftermath Is in Danger of Disappearing Forever
A report just last year found that when it comes to teaching about slavery—the very economic and social foundation on which this nation was built—the U.S. does a piss poor job. As the Southern Poverty Law Center found: “Students lack a basic knowledge of the important role [slavery] played in shaping the United States and…
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When They See Us Teaser Trailer: The Central Park Five Are Authentically Seen
The “Central Park Five” may have been immortalized with the name, but it’s always important to remember that each member of that historic group is a person. Humanizing them is important. It looks like award-winning director Ava DuVernay is attempting to do just that with her new limited series about these five black and Latino…
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Michael K. Williams Joins the Cast of Ava DuVernay’s Central Park Five
Omar coming to a small screen near you as Michael K. Williams joins the cast of Central Park Five, a limited four-episode series that Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay is creating, writing and directing for Netflix. Central Park Five is based on the true story of five teenagers of color from Harlem—Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson,…