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Black History on Screen in 2020
by Caleb Wood It may not have been a great year overall, but 2020 was a strong year for Black filmmakers. Shows like Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You” and movies like Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” are considered amongst the year’s best, with good reason. Within these shows and movies, a certain type stands out: the historical movie. These works are essential in the way they help frame and build our understanding of major historical events that are too far often not known because of systemic racism in the creation of
history course curriculum. These works are not straight history, though. They each build on the richness of their historical sources to create new worlds. From the Tulsa Massacre to Mangrove Nine, from pioneering to abolition, each of these maintain a strong historical basis, but the worlds and characters that inhabit them are the work of art. To stream each movie or show, just click its title and you will be sent to its official website.
Lovecraft Country
Jurnee Smollett in “Lovecraft Country” Photo courtesy of HBO
As you might expect from the title, “Lovecraft Country” is not straight history. It’s a pastiche of Lovecraftian horror and pulp sci-fi, but the true horror is from real-life racism. The actual horrors are never as much a threat as sundown towns, police brutality or white mob violence. Yet “Lovecraft Country” is not another story of suffering. Above all, this is a story of Black triumph in the face of unending obstacles. It a story of a familyfinding their power.
