12 Jun Black Joy + Rebellion: A Watch List for This Moment

by john morrison

If you are Black living in a world inundated with anti-blackness,  joy and resistance can appear interchangeable. Whether in music, art, violence, love, sex, wherever, when Black rebellion occurs, we bask in the joy of resistance. When we take the time to play, to create, to please ourselves or commune with our loved ones, we know that there is a spirit of resistance that is inherent in Black joy. For almost as long as the medium has existed, there has always been a deep need for us to find Black joy and resistance than in Black film. Ever since Oscar Micheaux built the first Black-owned film production company over 100 years ago, Black filmmakers have used movies to express the many intricacies of Black life.

Here are 10 films that follow in the long and rich tradition of capturing Black joy and resistance— 

PANTHER —Dir. Melvin Van Peebles Where to Watch: ReelBlack

Melvin Van Peebles’ 1995 film Panther is a semi-biographical drama about the founding of The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Taking place in Oakland in 1966, the film follows Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in their journey from grassroots organizers to leaders of a movement that would have global impact. Updating the Panthers’ story for a contemporary audience, Van Peebles’ film is quickly paced and action packed, depicting the revolutionary organization’s struggle against the police in particular and the broader systems of capitalism and white supremacy.  

DO THE RIGHT THING —Dir. Spike Lee Where to Watch: iTunes , Google Play, YouTube

Released in the summer of 1989, as Black militancy and Afrocentric consciousness was reaching its highest point in America since the Black Power era, Spike Lee’s opus Do The Right Thing would have a deep cultural impact that is still being felt decades later. Staged during a hot summer day in Brooklyn, Lee and cast vividly capture the joy and underlying tension of daily life in the Black community. As nightfalls, a conflict between a group of young Men and a pizza shop owner, ends with the police strangling a community member to death. In the wake of this murder, the community explodes in an outburst of violence. An elegant, fiery and multidimensional film, Do The Right Thing speaks to multiple things at once; youthful malaise, the generational gap, race relations, gentrification and the frustrations felt by Black America in the post-Civil Rights-era.

A KILLER OF SHEEP —Dir. Charles Burnett Where to Watch: Milestone Films

Along with Haile Germina and filmmakers like Julie Dash and Ben Caldwell, Director Charles Burnett was a part of the L.A. Rebellion, a progressive Black film movement that sprung out of UCLA’s film school in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Burnett’s 1978 film A Killer Of Sheep focuses on the daily comings and goings of a young Black Man named Stan who lives in Watts in the wake of the riots. Beautifully shot in black and white, Burnett’s film follows Stan as he works at a slaughterhouse while trying to support his family and maintain a romantic relationship with his partner. Understated and moving at an unhurried pace, A Killer Of Sheep presents a different take on day-to-day life in the hood.

RIZE —Dir. David LaChappell Where to Watch: iTunes , Google Play, YouTube

In the wake of the L.A. Riots of 1992, a Los Angeles-based entertainer named Tommy Johnson began performing at children’s parties and developing a new form of dance that would spread across Los Angeles like wildfire. Painting his face and donning a wig, Johnson rechristened himself “Tommy The Clown” and went about spreading a gospel of fun, optimism and positivity throughout his community. Filmmaker/photographer David LaChappell’s gorgeous 2008 film Rize tells Tommy’s story and the story of a cutting-edge dance culture in L.A. Over the years, Tommy took many young proteges under his wing, employing them and training them in the way of the clown. As his young students began to mature, they broke free of Tommy’s paternal gaze, branching out and developing their own new form of dance called Krumping. Dancing faster, and more aggressive than ever before, the evolution from the clown dance to Krumping is a stylistic leap similar to when Be-Boppers in the 50s began playing a rougher, more abstract form of music that critics would label “free-jazz”. LaChappell captures it all lovingly, and contextualizes it all with revealing interviews with dancers, their families and community. 

LEGENDARY: 30 YEARS OF PHILLY BALLROOM —from Philadelphia Inquirer Where to Watch: YouTube

A beautiful foray into journalistic documentary filmmaking, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Legendary: 30 Years Of Philly Ballroom, tells the story of a vibrant underground culture that has thrived in the city of Philadelphia for decades. Showcasing the vast creative genius of Philly’s LGBTQIA community, Legendary invites viewers into the fierce and colorful world of Ballroom where music, fashion and competitive dance collide.

DEACONS OF DEFENSE —Dir. Bill Duke Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

In 1964, in Jonesboro, Louisiana, a small cadre of Black Men would form an armed self-defense organization to combat racist oppression in their state. One year later, the Deacons For Defense would famously clash with the Ku Klux Klan. Actor and Director Bill Dukes’ film Deacons Of Defense with a stellar cast including Forest Whitaker, and Ossie Davis. An essential and rarely highlighted piece of the Civil Rights struggle, the story of the Deacons is the story of how a courageous group of

Men mounted an inspired resistance to racism in the South.

**GREAT FILMS (NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE or HARD-TO-FIND AT-HOME)**

THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR —Dir. Ivan Dixon Where to Watch: Available on DVD only

Based on Sam Greenlee’s 1969 novel of the same name, Ivan Dixon’s film follows Dan Freeman, a young revolutionary who infiltrates the CIA with the purposes of learning the government agency’s counter-insurgency tactics. After rising through the ranks, Freeman leaves the CIA and takes this knowledge back to the community and recruits a cadre of young militants to help him wage an urban guerilla war. Clearly inspired by real life Black radical groups like The Black Panther Party and their offshoot, The Black Liberation Army, The Spook Who Sat By The Door is a film that reinforces the fact that violent resistance to oppression is both a morally and strategically sound course of action.

CHILD OF RESISTANCE —Dir. Haile Germina

Another classic of the L.A. Rebellion movement, Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Germina’s 1973 short Child Of Resistance was inspired by a dream that Germina had about Angela Davis. An abstract and heady art film eschews linear narrative allowing Germina’s unique storytelling style shines. Alternating between scenes of the film’s protagonist (played by Barbara O. Jones) locked away in a cell and colorful, surrealistic sections, Child Of Resistance uses an avant-garde approach to film to capture the heady spirit of the Black Power era.

THIS IS THE LIFE —Dir. Ava Duvernay

In 1989, activist and entrepreneur B. Hall began hosting open mic events at her Good Life Cafe Health Food Centre in the Leimert park section of Los Angeles. An instant smash, the open mic nights at the Good Life attracted waves of gifted rappers eager to display their skills. One such rapper was a young Ava Duvernay who performed under the name MC Eve alongside her partner MC Jyant in the duo Figures Of Speech. Duvernay’s 2008 documentary This Is The Life is a wonderful love letter to the Good Life and the radical avant-garde rap scene that it nurtured. Featuring interviews from prominent Good Life alumni like Freestyle Fellowship, Abstract Rude and others, This Is The Life takes an insider look at the boundless creativity of L.A.’s underground Hip Hop scene.

FANIA ALL-STARS: LIVE IN AFRICA —Dir. Leon Gast

When Muhammad Ali and George Foreman traveled to Zaire (the country now known as the Democratic Republic Of The Congo) in 1974 to square off for the infamous Rumble In The Jungle , it was evident that the event was NOT a typical boxing match. In many ways, the event  represented a collision of multiple socio-political and cultural forces that existed within the diaspora. For some, Ali and Foreman’s conflict represented the Black American militant confronting the Negro conformist, for others it was Islam vs. Christianity. The star-studded concert that preceded the match would also attempt to deal with and harmonize some of the multitudinous aspects of Blackness. Black music giants like James Brown, Bill Withers, The Spinners, Miriam Makeba, B.B. King and others took the stage at 80,000-seat Stade du 20 mai in Kinshasa. One of the standout performances with from The Fania Allstars, a live ensemble composed of many legends of Latin music. With it’s propulsive poly-rhythms and deep historical connection to the continent, Salsa is a direct descendant of African music. The point is driven home powerfully while watching Latin music greats like Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe and others bringing this inventive diasporic musical form back home to Africa.

John Morrison is a Philadelphia based writer, DJ, and Musician. As a freelance journalist, his work has appeared in NPR Music, Bandcamp Daily, Jazz Tokyo, Grammy.com, and more. He is also the host of Culture Cypher Radio, a Hip Hop radio show on University of Penn’s public radio station WXPN.