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Just Mercy
Reproductive justice. Climate justice. Food justice. Social justice. Append the word “justice” to any other word and you’ve got a ready-made brand platform for niche activism. As cultural forces shape the meaning of words over time, they risk losing their specificity and sharpness. The word “justice” risks dissipating into a partisan nebula. Depending which side…
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Take a Giant Step
“The truth is the truth and should be spoken at all times,” proclaims Grandma Martin (Estelle Hemsley), from the top of a stairwell, no less. It’s a bold mandate, especially arriving near the beginning, even for a script that boldly chooses some volatile subjects. But Hemsley, who also starred in the Broadway production of the…
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Black Panther
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Paris Is Burning
Paris is Burning struck its match when director Jennie Livingston was walking through Washington Square and stopped to watch a group of young men voguing. They invited her to a drag ball. At the time Livingston was “sniffing around” for a documentary subject, but once she got a noseful of the ball, she got addicted.…
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Exodus: Gods and Kings
If you are anything like me, you’ve seen a variety of big screen portrayals of the Exodus story but the most compelling is still Cecil B DeMille’s The Ten Commandments. Even though I am very well versed in the biblical narrative and culture of this incredible event, my mental image of Moses is still a…
