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Movie Night Friday – MAAFA 21: Black Genocide in 21st Century America

Welcome back to another segment of Movie Night Friday, where I discuss some of my favorite movies (now coming to you bi-weekly) and why I love them.

MAAFA is a Swahili term which means “tragedy or disaster” and is used to describe the centuries of global oppression of blacks during slavery, both before and after emancipation. While the number “21” refers to the continual oppression of blacks in the 21st century (though beginning in the 19th), which the film says is the disproportionately high rate of abortion among African Americans.

Released on June 15, 2009, this is a movie that I have grown out of a bit, but that remains a great research piece far as black history goes. My most favorite reason for watching it (on occasion, though still one of my favs) is for its history on Planned Parenthood, Abortion, and the medical experimentation of blacks in general. The film highlights figures that indicate that abortion is the primary source of black depopulation, ranking higher than AIDS and Cancer combined. It discusses some of Planned Parenthood’s origins (formerly known as “The Negro Project” and “The American Birth Control League”), attributing to it a “150-year-old goal of exterminating the black population.” It traces Planned Parenthood’s roots back to Margaret Sanger, and further to include many famous birth control advocates, as racist eugenicists.

It is also interesting that I often get this film and Harriet Washington’s “Medical Apartheid” mixed up. This movie reminds me so much of a film version of this book that I first titled this post “Medical Apartheid” before I noticed I was not recommending a book but a movie! I would highly suggest reading Washington’s book alongside this movie. Not only does it provide more information, but gives greater detail into the meaning and origin of Eugenics and how it became what we know today as the most common forms of Birth Control and also abortion. In short, the book compliments the movie very well.

Trailer:

You can watch MAAFA for free at its official website here.

You can also find it here on Documentary Addict. (that or just YouTube it)

Movie Night Friday – Soul Food

Welcome back to another segment of Movie Night Friday. Where I present some of my favorite movies and why I love them.

Today I would like to discuss Soul Food, one of my favorite movies.

Soul Food is a movie about one family and their ability to stay a family through their willingness to endure all of the trial and tribulations that befall them. Told from the perspective of 11-year-old Ahmad, the Chicago family creates a bond around the Sunday “Soul Food” dinners they have every Sunday. Documented to have been coined in 1964 when blacks exercised self-awareness concerning themselves and “Soul” and “Black Power” got popular, there are a lot of misconceptions concerning Soul Food. The assumption is that the essential ingredient is pork and that deep-fat frying is its ultimate technique. It is assumed that the food must be dangerously unhealthy (I have to agree with Huey on the Boondocks. How they gonna go back to eating the same food that gave Big Mama diabetes tho) and is even mentioned in the movie that because we didn’t have anything else to eat in slavery we made meals of whatever we were given and that this is soul food. While it is true that blacks during slavery had little to nothing to eat, Soul Food got its name, not necessarily because of slavery, but because of how it brought black families and communities together which predates the institution of chattel slavery. African Americans have always been a communal people and food has always been an art form. Even if it wasn’t called Soul Food specifically, “Soul Food” is a tradition that go back for centuries.

I still remember when I watched this for the first time back in ’97 or ’98 and it was the ideal family I imagined we have all wanted and if we had, something that we have all cherished. However, it is always easy to be there for one another during the good times, but what about when tragedy strikes? Multiple tragedies?

Can the Joseph family endure the ultimate challenge of betrayal, hurt, and Big Mama’s failing health? Does a family, who is knit together seemingly through the strength of one person, have what it takes to stay once that person is gone?

As is obvious, this became my favorite because of the family bond and the unity of love they had for one another. I wouldn’t say that I watch it over and over again or anything, but it is a good throwback classic.

Soul Food was eventually spent off into a TV series.

Trailer:

Is Soul Food among one of your favs? Why do you love it?

Movie Night Friday – Harlem Nights

I know yall were hoping I forgot about Movie Night Friday, nope! lol. So, today’s pick is Harlem Nights.

Whenever I am in the mood for some real laughter I have to put this in, by far one of Eddie Murphy’s best to date, which is kind of ironic sense I think it won the worst directors award or something. I want to watch it just thinking about it.

Harlem Nights (’89) was written, executive produced, and directed by Eddie Murphy, who also starred in the movie alongside Richard Pryor. After a young Quick (Murphy) shoots a man trying to play Sugar Ray (Pryor) in a dice game, Ray decides to raise Quick as his own son when he discovers both his parents are dead.

Having discovered just how much money the men are bringing in, Ray comes home to find a stranger in his home looking for the owner of the club. Calhoun has sent a corrupt detective, Phil Cantone, to threaten Ray with shutting the club down unless Calhoun gets a cut. Ray uses the wisdom of his old age to decide it may be best to shut down and move to a different location. But the young and fiery Quick on the other hand is not to be ran away by anyone. Nonetheless, Father and Son must make a decision and time is running out.

The film also features Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Della Reese, and Murphy’s brother Charlie Murphy.

Movie Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes:

In the opening scene when the guys are shooting craps, Little Quick shoots the large man squarely between the eyes. The man wasn’t looking downward and it would have been impossible for a 4 foot tall kid to shoot a 6 foot tall man at that angle squarely in the forehead.

LOL!

Pop Quiz:

In what other movie did this kid act in that I featured in another Movie Night Friday post? Comment below if you know!

Movie Night Friday – Brown Sugar

Yall know what this is, we’ve reached another Friday where I present some of my favorite movies and why I love them. Now, since I love Friday’s, today’s theme is Love and what better way to celebrate love than with a little brown sugar?

This is one of my most favorite movies. From the beginning until the end I was hooked. One reason is because the narration is so poetic. Sidney (Sanaa Lathan) is using her love for Hip Hop as a metaphor for her love for Dre (Taye Diggs), even though she would probably initially disagree with me. You see, Sidney’s got issues confessing her heart.

A Coming of Age Love Story, the spark was kindled between Sidney and Dre in the Bronx, on the corner of a New York Street corner, where together they witnessed the birth of hip hop. As time goes on music would bind them into a friendship that picks up some 15 years later. We see that Sidney is the successful editor of XXL magazine, a music critic, and Dre’s a successful music executive. As you can see, their love for music has driven them into their respective careers, but that’s not all. Their love for music has also driven them in love….with each other.

But, Dre has just proposed to this new honey, the beloved brown sugar of his dreams, sending Sidney into a wave of emotions. Though she has feelings toward Dre they have never actually been in a relationship. However, this new love in his life causes Sidney to reexamine her heart. Stubborn that she is, Sidney gets romantically involved with a professional basketball player and it seems the prospect of a little brown sugar with Dre is obsolete.

Will Sidney and Dre ever cross the line between friendship and romance? It is up to the music to teach them.

Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes

During the scene where Sidney and Dre are walking through The Mall in Central Park, you can hear someone giving set directions.

Is this your favorite movie? Why do you love it?

Movie Night Friday – The Day After Tomorrow

Today, I will be discussing The Day After Tomorrow for movie night.

This movie is special to me because I remember the exact day I saw it for the first time. My Aunt was a major Movie Feign and had every movie ever made. Literally! She had boxes and boxes of DVDs and VHS tapes. So naturally, after she got this DVD she announced the commencement of movie night. But, as we were still young adults when this came out, no one really felt like sitting around watching movies since all we ever wanted to do was go outside and flirt with boys and other things teenagers do. You see, my Aunt was famous for her forced movie nights. She’ll load her ever comfortable bed down with snacks and force everyone in for the grand event. If your feet were dirty though you’d better get a chair because you’re not sitting on the bed! But I decided hey, “why not?” and went in to watch it with her and it turned out to be a really good movie. Three years later (2007), my Aunt died and that movie night we shared would always be associated with this movie. And so this movie is very special to me.

Synopsis:

After climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is largely ignored by U.N. officials when presenting his environmental concerns, his research proves true when an enormous “super storm” develops, setting off catastrophic natural disasters throughout the world. Trying to get to his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is trapped in New York with his friend Laura (Emmy Rossum) and others, Jack and his crew must travel by foot from Philadelphia, braving the elements, to get to Sam before it’s too late.

Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes:

When Jack is in the library towards the end of the movie, he looks in a room and then the shot goes back to facing him. If you look very carefully, in the back of the hall you can see a person walk by. He is very hard to see.

Do you have good vision? Put it to the test! Watch the movie and see if you can spot the knot!

Movie Night Friday – Boyz N The Hood

Welcome back to another Movie Night Friday, where I tell you about my favorite movies and why I love them. If you like the movies too, feel free to comment why you love them.

So today we’re looking at Boyz N The Hood, one of the best hood movies ever made.

John Singleton’s Directorial debut, Boyz N The Hood, released in July of ’91, is a Coming of Age Drama surrounding the life of three black men growing up in South Central LA, and starring some of the best black actors to date: Lawrence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Basset, Regina King, and a young Nia Long, and Morris Chestnut. In fact, this was Ice Cube and Chestnut’s first movie debut.

After his many troubles in school, a young Tre (Desi Arnez Hines II) is sent to live with his father Furious Styles (Fishburne) by his mother Reva (Basset) in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Central. His father, one of the reasons this became one of my favorites, instills in Tre the life lessons and values many of his young friends do not have. In fact, as Tre reunites with his childhood friends, Darrin “Doughboy”, his brother Ricky and Chris, their mutual friend, his lessons in manhood take on new meaning and his decisions become critical. His friends do not have the privilege of a positive father figure and are drawn to the streets for guidance. Furious therefore warns Tre about following in their footsteps but despite his warnings, older Tre (Cuba) and his friends have their own way of surviving. In this Teen Hood Drama, loyalty and danger dance too close for comfort, and dire situations force Tre to decide for himself the future he wants.

Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes:

In the scene where Lawrence Fishburne hooks up Cuba Gooding Jr.’s fade, he never actually cuts any hair, but then demands that Cuba clean up the mess after he is finished.

LOL!

Watch the movie and see if you can spot the knot!

Rest

I wanna turn off my brain. Not completely, just enough to gather my breath and lay it at the head of the bed….a temporary moment to which renewal finds itself back to my pillow; to which I may die, and in the same second be reborn. I want my eyes to bow in submission to my bones, and my soul to fall slowly to the contours of this mattress….and for a second pretend that the world has crumbled around me. For a second, for just a moment, let me lay my body at the foot of sleep’s doorstep, pretend to swim with the clouds, and in the same moment…. taste of rejuvenation’s delicacies.

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