A screenshot from Melvin Van Peebles, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss A poem.
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A screenshot from Melvin Van Peebles, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss A poem.
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Carter J. One of Woodson’s most powerful quotes Bad upbringing of the Negro this: “If a race has no history, no valid tradition, it becomes an insignificant factor in the thinking of the world and is in danger of extinction.
Woodson, the father of Black History Month, would have been pleased to know that since 1928, the month, formerly known as Negro History Week, has always been the theme.
This year it was the Black Resistance.
It’s a rich vein because the definition and manifestations of resistance—from the subtle to the most intense—are situated in the everyday experiences of black people.
Black resistance and its fluidity are important accents in the tapestry, from blacks attending church, to dancing and singing, to bearing arms, to education, and of course, to voting.
But there was a movie that struck hard at the motives of freed Black people.
Some of the earliest depictions of black life were reduced to caricature, creating steep hills for newly freed people to climb, fighting both the dogma of white supremacy and grotesque depictions of their humanity.
Representations of black people have evolved over time thanks to black filmmakers, actors, writers, and creatives who have created communities in the space to challenge depictions that limit the scope and complexity of black roles.
Directors such as Oscar Mies, whose groundbreaking films captured the imaginations of audiences who looked to the tropes in their trusty eyes. And actors like Sidney Poitier, their focus and responsibility for social progress did not come at the expense of their mainstream careers in the 1950s and 60s.
Maya Cade believes that this is one of the charges against black cinema and is still a form of resistance.
Cade is the creator and curator of the Black Film Archive, a digital archive based on late 19th century black cinema, and is a Library of Congress Fellow.
In an interview with NPR’s Ailsa Chang, Cade explores the myriad styles and threads of black resistance from the late 19th century to today.
Maya Cade will attend the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in March 2022.
Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Maya Cade will attend the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in March 2022.
Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
This interview is lengthy and has been lightly edited for clarity.
Highlights of the interview
Black History Month 2023 is themed “Black Resistance.”
I think I first thought of this idea as being based on the denial of equal rights to black Americans because of the existence of American freedom, black cinema. Therefore, among black filmmakers, actors, and performers, cinema became a means of self-expression and resistance to these tropes. Tropes like the sexy black woman, black thugs, the tragic mulatto, the know-it-all negro. All of this is at the forefront of black creators casting the role.
Also, I think what’s unique about black cinema is that black performers always carry the weight of black representation on their backs. Black audiences see black films the same way they see voting. Going to the movies is seen as a means of resistance. That representation, if you will, is not what the audience had in mind, but the audience said, “If I don’t support this, I don’t know when another movie or moment like this will come back. “
On examples of black resistance that resonates and evolves
I think of the life and career of Melvin Van Peebles, who with his film prototypical black images on the screen. Baadassss Sweet Sweetback song, since 1971. The film follows revolutionaries as it depicts a black sex worker on the run from the police after being accused of a crime he did not commit. And this film, which began with the idea that it was dedicated to “all brothers and sisters who are tired of people” – it is said literally on the screen – has become a prototype. Melvin Van Peebles self-financed the film after backing out of his contract with Columbia. It’s the stuff of legend: If Melvin Van Peebles can do it, can’t we? This movie Baadassss Sweet Sweetback songhe is a prototype of libel and the future generation of filmmakers.
trailer for Baadasssss by Sweet Sweetback.
Youtube
About Resistance-Based Films from the Black Film Archive
I want to start with Oscar Miko, his film At our doorsFrom 1920, in response to DW Griffith The birth of a nationSince 1915. The birth of a nation a film that revived the KKK for portraying white nationalism as conquerors. Instead of focusing on white nationalism, Oscar Miko’s 1920 film focuses on a school teacher and his journey into his past. You understand that his parents were lynched by a mob in his past. And in doing so, he opposes the portrayal of so-called black evil and white virtue. And the realistic lynching was so intense that the film failed to pass the censor board the first time, because the Chicago Film Board believed that the film would provoke a riot.
full movie, At our doors.
Youtube
Films were rediscovered in the late 19th century
A good thing is Negro Kiss A film from 1898 that is the first depiction of black love on screen. Ironically, the film was considered lost. The film has taken on a new life in recent years and has truly been a film that has inspired millions. It showed people that there is beauty in the movies of the past, because I think resistance works on so many levels. I mean, when we challenge assumptions about the past, we work to create a better future.
short documentary about A good thing is Negro Kiss.
Youtube
African American fragility as resistance
You know, the Black Film Archive was born because in the summer of 2020, the only thing that’s going to happen again is that the only thing in the past is a negative representation of us, and that film’s past was just racism. I have noticed that there are already many examples of these people promoting the future. In this way, film noir’s subtlety as a guide to its past allows people to explore. It is not just a kiss, not just a warm hug, but also signs of understanding. It should also be understood deeply and seriously. These are all forms of resistance that give us new life, a new way of exploring the past of film noir.
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