The Past Is The Present

I remember being in high school when The Lion King debuted on Broadway.  I was at a friend's house when her mother returned home from opening night.  We asked her opinion of the show and her response was "It was good; it wasn't embarrassing."  I remember feeling relieved but also struck by how low the barometer for art featuring black people had fallen.  Whether or not something was "embarrassing" defined its value. 

Unfortunately, twenty years later embarrassment lurks around every digital corner.  On one television station women shaped like bottom heavy Barbie dolls argue over who is the "baddest bitch."  On another, politicians use thinly disguised code words to speak about us, but not to us.  Social media is no less treacherous as we mindlessly "like"and repost videos of black men taking their last breaths and women hawking detox tea,  waist trainers, teeth whiteners and wigs.  We are reduced to our body parts: asses, teeth, hair and bleeding hearts, as we have been throughout history.  As Solange says, "I'm weary of the ways of the world."

As the media is fixated with Nate Parker and his mediocre film Birth of a Nation, Ava DuVernay has debuted both a documentary and a television show on Netflix and OWN respectively.  13th and Queen Sugar are both beautiful and painful works of art that reflect the complexity of being black in America.

I might be the only person who didn't love DuVernay's movie Selma, but 13th is truly masterful.  It's not that DuVernay presents any "new" information about race and the criminal justice system in this film, but the way that she provides historical context to a contemporary problem is what makes it compelling.  The documentary seeks to explain why a nation with only 5% of the world's population  has 25% of the world's prison population.  Her project is to examine the implications of the fact that the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution banned slavery except in the case of those convicted of a crime.  It traces the progression from slavery to chain gangs; from black codes to the suppression of the Civil Rights Movement; from the War on Drugs to the expansion of the criminal justice system.  Interestingly, she describes "crimmigration," or  the current trend of detaining and criminalizing immigration as part of this continuum.

One of the most disturbing parts of this documentary is a montage where Donald Trump's comments about "the good old days" are layered over footage of Civil Rights activists being attacked in the 1950's and 60's, and scenes of protestors being assaulted during his rallies today.  The film makes it clear that the language (and subtext) that Trump is using to galvanize white voters has a long history.  Make no mistake, 13th is not an political ad for the Democratic Party.  The blame for mass levels of incarceration caused by The Three Strikes Law, mandatory minimums and the militarization of police is placed squarely on the shoulders of Bill Clinton.  

Although the topic of this documentary is heartbreaking, DuVernay uses a diverse group of academics and activists to tell the story.  Black intellectuals including Angela Davis, Michelle Alexander, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and  Van Jones ensure that the picture of black America painted by the film is reflective of the diversity of our community.  If I didn't know with 100% certainty that I would be fired for showing this film, it would be part of my American History Social Studies curriculum.  It is a must see.

On a (somewhat) lighter note, this summer I enjoyed Greenleaf on OWN,  and Queen Sugar is even better.  Loosely based on the novel by Natalie Baszile,  Queen Sugar is the story of  three siblings who reunite after the death of their father, a struggling sugarcane farmer.  The story is set in Louisiana and captures the family's attempt to produce a crop while negotiating their relationships with each other.  DuVernay uses this story to explore social issues such as sexual consent, gender identity, and the criminalization of black men.  It portrays the complexity of black love, both familial and romantic.   The characters are deeply flawed, but they are complicated and multi-dimensional.  They engage with their environment, rather than simply absorbing and reacting to the negative aspects of it.  

Rutina Wesley annoyed the heck out of me chasing after Sookie in Trueblood, but she is excellent in Queen Sugar

It's not Huxtable like perfection I seek in art, but depth and range.  DuVernay's work makes it safe to turn on the computer and television again.