Films set in prisons often center around stories of redemption, broken paths, journeys to freedom or the day-to-day movements of those who must now live their lives behind bars. It seems astounding to consider, but the mental, emotional and psychological statuses of those who are carrying out lengthy sentences particularly for violent offenses are often overlooked. Imprisoned men and women are seen as being without redemption; labeled as damaged goods for involving themselves in the things that have led them to jail in the first place. In his directorial debut, Jairus McLeary shifts the lens away from the actual crimes and circumstances that have led men to prison and instead looks at the psychological turmoil that is keeping them in mental chains within jailhouse walls. “The Work” follows a group of men; prisoners who are serving time within Northern California’s maximum security Folsom Prison, and everyday men who journey into the prison to discover what’s ailing them as they move about freely in the outside world. The program, which is run by inmates and ex-convicts of the Inside Circle Foundation, funds and facilitates the retreat. Extending over the course of four days, prisoners leave the politics of prison life (and correctional officers) at the door, engaging in intense group therapy with one another in an attempt to find the source of their pain.
As the film opens, we meet the outsiders who will be joining the prisoners in this revealing process. Charles a bartender, Brian, a teacher’s assistant and Chris, a museum associate, all show up in search of something that either shakes them out of their state of complacency or gives them clarity. With no true narrative in place, “The Work” seeks to follow the men along with their incarcerated brethren on their four-day journey to find some peace and understanding about themselves and their circumstances.
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If you exist outside of the Greek world, and certainly if you attended a predominantly white university as a student of color, Greek life swirls around you.
In the early ‘90s, hip-hop was spreading across the globe, while hip-hop artists from Los Angeles were putting their own significant stamp on the musical genre. N.W.A. was putting gangsta rap on the map, and Warren G, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg were using elements from Motown, Funk, and R&B to create a new style of hip-hop, a style that would be later termed G-Funk.
"Contraband," the first episode of the second season of Underground, opens with Beyoncé’s “Freedom” blaring as a roll of thunder awakens an enslaved man on the Fellow Plantation in 1858. The man arises before sundown, and we watch him toil all day, sculpting a statue before handing his money over to his Master at sundown. Soon, a montage of his workdays reveals what he's really up to, stealing news clippings from around the plantation to teach himself how to read. “Soldier” is the first word he learns.
On February 1st, artist and entertainer Beyoncé Knowles announced her pregnancy with a grand Instagram post. Though her announcement and her subsequent performance at the Grammys was met with glee, excitement, and congratulations across the globe; white female writers at alarming rates attacked the Lemonade singer for expressing her joy over the impending birth of her twins.
The first season of Underground opened in 1857 on the Macon Plantation in Georgia. The plantation’s Master, Tom Macon is in the midst of running for Senate while trying to manage his pregnant wife, Suzanna, their large cotton plantation and many slaves. In the twenty years that Tom has been the Master of the plantation, he hasn't had a single runway.
On May 15, 2010, sixteen-year-old Kalief Browder, a Bronx, New York resident was arrested while walking home from a party for allegedly stealing a backpack. Though he was never convicted of the crime, Browder would spend over the next one thousand days of his life locked away on Rikers Island, being beaten, starved and tortured. Browder spent eight hundred of those days in solitary confinement before he was finally released, with all charges dismissed, over three years later.
The justice system is failing us right now, and it has been for years. If we look at the world around us, the man who walks the halls of the White House and the policies that are reigning down on the citizens and residents of this country, it’s clear that laws are being made to keep us shackled and immobile for generations and centuries to come. We are all being crippled whether literally or morally. However, no group of people has been more devastated, cast aside and broken by the system than impoverished people of color. In her astounding Netflix documentary, 
In a debate on the subject of being Black in America, James Baldwin once said, “To be a Negro in this country is really… never to be looked at. What white people see when they look at you is not visible. What they do see when they do look at you is what they have invested you with.” There is a choice among some white people, to stand in their apathy and ignorance, clinging on to stereotypes about other groups and races in order to continue to make themselves feel superior. What comes forth in the wake of this, are ideals that are entrenched in both bigotry and white privilege, which are so horrifying that they are often borderline amusing.
Since our journey began in this country, parents of Black and brown children have had very frank and often chilling conversations with their offspring about encounters and interactions with law enforcement. While many police officers honor their code; others wield their power by brutalizing, terrorizing, murdering and wreaking havoc throughout communities of color.
As much as Ice Cube has helped shape the fabric of hip-hop, the rapper, actor, and entrepreneur has also been a constant presence on the big screen since his feature film debut in John Singleton’s 1991 film, “Boyz n the Hood.” Starring in various film or television projects every year since then, Cube has formed a name for himself outside of gangsta rap, a position that few of his contemporaries have been able to obtain. With a new deal between Fox 21 TV Studios and his production company Cube Vision, Ice Cube has a ton on his plate. Recently, he took the time out to chat briefly with me and Shadow and Act about his upcoming film “Fist Fight,” working with top comedians and returning to the director’s chair in the future.
There have been many films and documentaries about Anti-Apartheid leader and South African President Nelson Mandela’s expansive life. However with BET’s EPIC three-part miniseries, “Madiba,” viewers will finally get a comprehensive and personal story of the man who became a legend.
To this day, education is not an inherent right. The effects of segregation are still deeply steeped in the Black community, and unless there is careful nurturing within the family home or by some particularly devoted educators, many Black people in this country have found themselves severely under and uneducated. Despite the lack of resources that are devoted to many public schools particularly in impoverished communities; Black people have always desired the opportunity to learn more about not only themselves but also the world around them. After all, is that not education’s purpose?
Fraternities and sororities at historically Black colleges and universes have had a significant impact not just on the students who are a part of them but on the Black community as a whole. In films like “Drumline” and “Stomp the Yard,” which are set on HBCU campuses, we often get a small glimpse into the sacred world of pledging, the focus of these film shining a light on other aspects of college life. Perhaps not since Spike Lee’s 1988 film “School Daze” has there been such a major focus on pledging Black frats and sororities and the hazing that often comes along with that.
In his spellbinding and heartbreaking Academy Award nominated film, “I Am Not Your Negro,” Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck examines the story that James Baldwin never finished writing. “Remember This House” was to be a sweeping narrative exploring the lives, journeys, and deaths of three pivotal men in our history; Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. An intricate and fascinating narrative, “I Am Not Your Negro,” gives us a view of both Baldwin and Peck’s journeys as Black men in America, encountering racism and violence.
The iconic musical group that shattered records and broke down doors is finally getting a biopic that has been nearly thirty years in the making. BET‘s “The New Edition Story” follows the legendary R&B group from their 1978 humble beginnings in the Orchard Park Boston Projects through breakups, reunions and everything in between. With director Chris Robinson (ATL) and executive producer, Jesse Collins at the helm and with the rare blessing and backing of real-life New Edition members who served as consultants and co-producers on the film, “The New Edition Story” just might hit the nail right on the head. The multi-talented cast includes Bryshere Y. Gray as Michael Bivins, Elijah Kelley as Ricky Bell, singer-songwriter Luke James as Johnny Gill, Algee Smith as Ralph Tresvant, Keith Powers as Ronnie Devoe, and Woody McClain as Bobby Brown.
It is no secret that American history is often white-washed and male -centered, erasing the dedicated work of women and people of color; especially Black women who have worked tirelessly throughout time to make this country what it is today. The story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, Black female scientists and mathematicians who played an integral role in getting the United States into the race for human space flight is just one of those stories. Based on the compelling book by Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures” tells the story of this visionary trio of women who crossed every barrier in order to make space travel possible.
Returning to their roles six years after the Tony Award-winning revival of August Wilson’s “Fences” stunned Broadway; Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and Stephen Henderson are at long last presenting the sixth play in Wilson “Pittsburg Cycle” to film audiences.