Black Icons

This year, it seems that Black History Month has come early, or maybe it will stretch out to cover both January and February, so they won't be just relegated to the shortest month of the year. Not only is Maya Angelou being featured on a U.S. quarter, but Barbie is making an Inspiring Women doll of Ida B. Wells. Plus ABC is showing Women of the Movement about Mamie Till-Mobley, and an accompanying documentary called Let The World See. (I missed the 1st week of the documentary, because I wasn't aware of it until afterward.) Hopefully the ABC series will be successful and they'll be able to do other Black women in later seasons. Meanwhile, The CW has a new Black superhero series called Naomi, which is also premiering. I watched the first episode but am not sure about its slow pace, and how many characters speak in riddles. I want to see Naomi discover her powers.

Also, because Sidney Poitier died recently, various TV networks are running marathons, and I see a showing of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner scheduled at my local movie theatre this weekend. There's apparently also a documentary called Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism, which I'll try to see too. I remember that in school one of my teachers showed Poitier in Lilies of the Field, (I don't remember why) and I liked it, but I don't remember seeing any of his other movies. Nevertheless he has a reputation of dignity and grace. I know that some people did criticize Poitier for playing too-perfect characters who were too respectable... safe and nonthreatening to whites. In fact you can see a brief argument about Poitier in Lee Daniel's movie The Butler, where the parents are trying to relate to their activist son, who instead mocks his parents for making a hero out of Poitier. Those criticisms aside, Poitier was groundbreaking and opened a door for other Black actors later who could play more realistic characters with flaws.

This Monday will be MLK's birthday, but I'll be working that day, as I often work holidays. My company did make Juneteenth a holiday as well. My hope is this will be a better year, with more justice.