Brandee Evans joins Season 3 of Reasonable Doubt as Monica, the talent manager of a popular musician who’s carrying a sinister secret. We chat with Evans about her role and what she hopes viewers can learn from her storyline.
Continue reading “‘Reasonable Doubt’ Star Brandee Evans on Protecting Our Youth From Predators”
The Comic Shop is a new web series that delivers big laughs and dynamic characters in the world of comic book geeks. After a highly successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign, Cheyenne Ewulu’s series brings to life a workplace comedy that centers a Black female lead and a diverse group of supporting characters.
Continue reading “‘The Comic Shop’ Turns Traditional TV on Its Head”
When I pressed play on The Pickup, I was ready for a light, laugh-filled heist romp. Keke Palmer, Pete Davidson, and Eddie Murphy in one film? Directed by Tim Story? I expected chaos. I expected jokes. I expected surface-level fun. What I didn’t expect was a film that would detour from slapstick and romance into a quiet story about Black grief, corporate neglect, and what happens when the system that takes from us decides we’re not worth the refund.
Continue reading “‘The Pickup’ Blends Comedy, Chaos, and Reparative Justice — and I Was Not Ready”
At long last (though not quite so long if you’re used to British TV), We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor’s bold and riveting show of a punk rock Muslim women band, named “Lady Parts” has returned to Peacock and Channel 4 in the UK.
Continue reading “‘We Are Lady Parts’ Season 2 Masterfully Displays the Life of the Artist”
Nida Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts debuts its Season 2 trailer, with the season releasing May 30.
Continue reading “‘We Are Lady Parts’ Season 2 Trailer Shows the Band in Their Villain Era”
Nida Manzoor’s masterpiece of a show starring Muslim women of color makes its long-awaited return. Three years after its debut, We Are Lady Parts will return for a second season on Peacock on May 30.
Continue reading “‘We Are Lady Parts’ Returns to Peacock in May for Season 2”
Vehicle designer Dala Elsheikh grew up playing with Hot Wheels. She never expected she would be working with them as an ambassador to the brand, let alone judging a Hot Wheels Competition on national television.
Continue reading “Dalal Elsheikh on Judging NBC’s ‘Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge’ and the Changing Auto Industry”
The rip-roaring show of a Muslim women punk rock band is coming back to our screens and our hearts.
Continue reading “Peacock’s ‘We Are Lady Parts’ Renewed for a Second Season”
Get a first look at the cast of We Are Lady Parts, a new series coming to Peacock in June!
Continue reading “Peacock Reveals ‘We Are Lady Parts’ Trailer and Character Posters”
Black adult women aren’t often depicted in animation. Most of the Black female characters are kids or teens or little-seen moms. Some notable central characters include: Storm. Trudy Proud and Big Mama. Donna Tubbs. Uhm, the Muses? There aren’t very many. It’s the Mrs. Frozone problem, off-screen and never developed. (Pixar could stand to improve upon that problem in particular.)
Continue reading “No More Mrs. Frozone: Black Women Characters in Pixar’s ‘Soul’”
Co-written with Edward Hong
What do you do when you’re born with a superpower but it’s really not that super? Especially if it’s a power that can accurately pinpoint the success or failure of any romantic relationship? Gifted, which is currently playing at the Sacred Fools till February 29, explores this question in a world not at all too different from our own. Written by Bob DeRosa and directed by Rebecca Larsen, the play takes a somewhat absurd premise into a truly in-depth and touching story that is a feast for the eyes, ears, and the heart.
Be warned, this is a spoiler-heavy article.
When I saw Joker at the Toronto International Film Festival, the main question I wanted answered was: Do the Black people die in this movie? Spoiler alert: they don’t. At least not on screen. Clearly, the director, Todd Phillips, knew what it would look like if they were to die by the Joker’s hand (even if he doesn’t seem to quite know how to do a press tour). But that doesn’t mean all is well for positive representation in the widely divisive movie.
In which I wish I could have Monica Rambeau’s fearlessness when it comes to Black women characters in sci-fi, but I’ve been burned twice before.
Continue reading “Maria Rambeau and My Fear for Black Girls in Space”
What makes a hero? Is it the super powers? The skill sets? The gadgets? Our intentions? Our actions?
I’m a comic book guy through and through so these are the questions that haunt me. There are moments in our lives that define us. That we allow to define us through our choices, our mistakes and how we respond to them. Sometimes those moments are big, sometimes they are minute. But in those moments we definitely learn the content of our character.
Here’s an example.
In a scene in Hidden Figures that is all too familiar for Black women viewers, or really anyone from a historically marginalized group, Taraji P. Henson’s character Katherine Johnson rushes to enter the NASA control room where she has just handed off crucial calculations for astronaut John Glenn’s safe return from orbit, and has the door summarily slammed in her face. The camera lingers on Henson’s profile, as she grapples yet again with the devastating knowledge that although she may be a useful “computer” for spitting out numbers that may make missions successful and even save lives, she is still not seen as fully human in the eyes of her peers and superiors. Indeed, in Henson’s capable hands, viewers ourselves experience the physical and emotional pain of being barred from entering the halls of power for absurd reasons beyond one’s control — in this case, race and gender.
If you’re in the Bay Area this week, you should attend this conversation. It is one of our events leading up to 2017’s Black Comix Arts Festival, a Co-Presentation of MoAD, Cartoon Art Museum, and Black Comix Art Festival.
Join the Cartoon Art Museum and Black Comix Art Festival at the Museum of the African Diaspora for, “Ajuan Mance in Conversation with Shawn Taylor,” an evening celebration of current Bay Area cartooning sensation Ajuan Mance as part of the SF Comics Fest. Writer Shawn Taylor from The Nerds of Color will chat with Ajuan about her latest projects in illustration, cartooning and writing, her creative process, her recent rise in popularity, and what she plans to achieve next.
Continue reading “Artist Talk: Shawn Taylor in Conversation with Ajuan Mance”
Spoiler warning: spoilers throughout. Best to read this after watching the whole season! Which I recommend!
It was during a small, nearly throwaway scene deep in episode 10 that it hit me like Jessica Jones’ fist: Luke Cage is the most feminist show I’ve ever seen.
The scene, captured in the screen grab above, features four women characters — four black women, not a one of them under the age of 30 (and none of the actresses under 35) — each of whom is in fundamental conflict with the others, but who come together in two temporary alliances to fight a multi-level battle. Yes, it’s complicated.
Continue reading “Luke Cage is the Most Feminist Show on TV”
In watching The Birth of a Nation I was a little destroyed. There’s so much to unpack. Nat Turner is a legendary figure in the Black community — a former slave who removed his own shackles. It’s a story I’ve wanted to see on screen for a long time. The reviews out of Sundance were huge. Then, news of Nate Parker rape charges and acquittal broke. I debated a long time about whether or not to cover the story when I came to TIFF. Eventually, I decided that a film this prominent and this culturally invested couldn’t be ignored. I have mixed feelings about what I saw. I’m going to take it slow.
So… The trailer for the new Ghostbusters film hit today. I am a really big fan of the original first film, and I enjoyed the much misunderstood second. I was really looking forward to this reboot. The new (all woman) cast looked stellar. I love the idea of an all-woman ghostbusting squad. I think there are opportunities for a completely different type of humor that would be a welcome relief from the smarmy, white guy charm of the original two films. I damn near broke my tablet trying to watch it.
Continue reading “The New Ghostbusters: Should I be Afraid?”
