In May and June of 2020, we are witnessing an uprising of civil rights protests all across the country. The deadly encounter of George Floyd, an African American living in Minneapolis, MN, with the police highlighted the conflicting relation between law enforcement and the African American community, which had been denounced by NFL players since 2016, most notably Colin Kaepernick and has been the topic of the Black Lives Matter movement.

However, the oppression of African American in the USA is unfortunately not something new, but is a reflection of 400 years of black history. In the light of these events, we decided to discuss these conflicts by highlighting some movies that have portrayed life and culture of black lives in New York City.

Coming to America (1988) – Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy), from the fictional African country Zamunda, decides to move to the United States in order to live a normal life, afar from the royalty of his homeland. He lands in Jamaica, Queens, where he is confronted with the reality of a typical African American neighborhood in New York, where nobody knows his royal status, including his life interest, Lisa (Shari Headley), the daughter of a fast food joint owner (John Amos). The film also counts on a cast of star, in the likes of Arsenio Hall, who plays Akeem’s sidekick, and James Earl Jones, as his father. Based on an original plot by Eddie Murphy, who has the leading role, this movie represents an ironic portray of the perception of blackness in both African and America. Murphy, who plays several other small caracteres in this comedy, is one of the most iconic comedians of his time.

Jungle Fever (1991) – It’s hard to believe that in the 1990s an interracial relationship could cause so much controversy. But it did in this feature that tells the story a successful architect, Flipper (Wesley Snipes), a black man, who falls in love by a temp worker in his office, Angie Tucci (Annabella Sciorra), who is Italian-American. Spike Lee, who created the movie, did not only portray a love story but it also denounced the tense race relations in New York City. Jungle Fever stars an ensemble cast: Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Torturo, Frank Vincent, Halle Berry, and Anthony Quinn. Steve Wonder is in charge of the music soundtrack.

Malcolm X (1992) – Another Spike Lee joint, inspired by Malcolm X autobiography. Denzel Washignton plays the role of this legendary figure of the civil rights movement. Malcolm X was the very influential spokesperson of Nation of Islam, an organization of black muslims. He had converted to Islam during his prison years. Lee is very thorough in portraying Malcolm X’s life, upon his arrival in New York from Boston. In New York, he got involved in illicit activities until he landed in prison. His childhood growing up in Nebraska of a black family being constantly harassed by the Ku Klux Klan, his father’s death and his mother’s hospitalization are portrayed in form of flash back. He was assassinated in 1965, in the Audubon Ballroom, in New York, by the members of the Nation of Islam, who had been threatening him and his family. Malcolm X is an important figure in black history to this day and this a very complex feature portraying a very complex character. A lot of the scenes of confrontations between the protesters and the police in the film were very similar to the scenes we all saw in the Black Lives Matter protests last week.

Precious (2009) – Claireece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a 16-year old teenager, living in a subsided housing with her abusive mother in the Bronx. This film is narrated by Precious, who daydreams of an optimistic future in spite of her horrific reality of poverty, family and sexual abuse, poor health, welfare system, and HIV. A film by Lee Daniels, it also counts with Mon’que, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, and Lenny Kravitz on the cast.

42 (2013) – This is number of Jackie Robinson in the baseball Major League throughout his career. Robinson was the first African American player to join a Major League Baseball team. In 1945 he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers (today this team is based in Los Angeles), whilst facing racial prejudice from society and even fellow players. Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman plays the leading role and Harrison Ford portrays Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers owner at the time.

Get Out (2017) – This movie came out in 2017, first year of 45’s presidency. The events of Charlottesville, VA, in which white supremacists clashed with anti protesters and prompted the president to call the nazi protesters “very fine people,” happened just a few months after the release of this film. Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a black photographer who dates a white woman, is heading upstate to meet his girlfriend’s family. What it seems to be a trivial happening for many couples out of a sudden turns the worst nightmare for a black guy. This movie made so much sense when it came out, and it still does, as we see the objectification of black bodies in our society. Jordan Peele, who created the film, has a background in comedy (he has one of the leading roles of the Comedy Central acclaimed show “Key & Peele”. Even though this feature is a thriller, the audience can sense a hint of satire.

Bonus

Boyz N the Hood (1991) – From all the movies in the list, it’s the only one that is not set in New York. But this movie is too good to be left out. Plus, I’ve been meaning to write about it since last year when its creator, John Singleton passed away last April. At the time, I attended a special screening of it at the TriBeca Film Festival. The movie starts in 1984, when the leading character Jason Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is shown to have his guardianship transferred from his mother to his father. They are leaving in LA. Fast forwarding, Tre is a young adult leaving in the same city in 1991, ironically a year before the LA riots. While his father Jason “Furious” is teaching how to live a honest, violence-free lifestyle, his childhood friends are digging into criminality, especially Darrin “Doughboy” Baker (Ice Cube). He also witnessed the assassination of his best friend Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut).