La Chinoise on theater and by extension, film.

To start this off, I wish to clarify the title. No I am not suggesting that the Black Liberation Struggle can be understood just by watching a bunch of films. Obviously only constant study and investigation can bring one to really understand what is like for my people, after all, as Mao said, (and I am of course paraphrasing here) correct ideas do not fall from the sky, but instead come from social practice. That said, if one wishes to deepen their understanding about various aspects of the Black Liberation Struggle in their free time, (and have fun doing it too because these are not by any means boring films), then this Study Guide is a good list of movies to both enjoy and learn from.

It is important to note that this list is composed only of movies I, myself have seen. Because of this, there are sure to be fantastic films out there that are relevant to the subject of black liberation that I have not seen, and therefore have not made it onto this list. It is important for readers of this list to also do their own search for other movies that may be of interest and can be learned from.

With all that out of the way, on with the list.

Part 1: Slavery, The Middle Passage, and Slave Rebellion.

Preface: Slavery is a phenomena that, (obviously) occurred in the United States a long time ago. This fact is the reason behind the ability of the Settler-Colonial mainstream social discourse to ignore and attempt to forget the pure barbarity and horrors of the genocidal crimes committed against black people by our oppressors. These movies help both to illustrate the severity of these crimes, but also depict some of the creative ways that black people resisted slavery, this resistance being an embryonic form of a black liberation struggle that continues to this day.

Why is it important?: Amistad is a movie that features the horrors of the transport of kidnapped african slaves across the Atlantic. In this film, which is based on a true story, both the genocidal nature of the trans-atlantic slave trade and struggle against slavery through both legal (the court case), and illegal means (the initial revolt), are depicted. One could say that Cinque, the protagonist of this film, was part of the very beginning of the Black liberation struggle, as the slave revolt he led, which is depicted in this film, was one of the early examples of black people rising up in struggle against oppression.

2. 12 Years a Slave

Why is it important?: This film also depicts the brutality of slavery very well, but the most important aspect of the film is its focus on the unfairness of the Fugitive Slave Laws, which ultimately served only as a method by which more black people could be roped into the hardships of slavery. In many ways, this film shows that laws in bourgeois capitalist society do not exist to protect anyone, but are in fact in place only to satisfy the twisted desires of the exploiter class.

3. Roots (2016)

Why is it important?: Roots is a very important miniseries to watch if one wants to understand slavery in full. Roots may just be the most important of these three films. Like Amistad and 12 Years a Slave, Roots depicts the horrors of the middle passage, resistance to slavery, and the brutality of slavery itself, but it also manages to add certain elements that make it unique. Because Roots depicts the life of Kunta Kente up until his capture by white slavers, it illustrates the complex culture of the Africans prior to their transfer to the United States. This proves the fallacious nature of the racist belief held by most Americans today that Africa is a barbarian continent without “history”. Roots also depicts aspects of reconstruction, and shows how white terrorism paved the way for the restoration of legally sanctioned white supremacy after the end of the Civil War.

Part 2: Civil Rights, Socialism, Black Power, and the rise of Black Nationalism.

Preface: The rise of black nationalist leaders and the black power movement was a significant leap forward in the movement for black liberation. One of the most important aspects of this new revolutionary sentiment, is the fact that many of the organizations that played a significant part within the movement adopted Marxist-Leninist worldviews that allowed black revolutionaries to understand racism, national, and economic oppression in a scientific manner, and showed them that only socialism could guarantee the freedom of the black masses from the shackles of white supremacist capitalism-imperialism. In the curriculum related to the black power movement taught in American schools today, the fact that many of these black radicals were empowered by communist theory is largely ignored. This is part of the white supremacist bourgeoisie’s attempts to co-opt the legacies of iconic black leaders and render them toothless by erasing their dangerous (to the ruling class of course) views from history. In this way, Lenin’s quote about such revolutionary heroes rings true:

“During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes constantly hounded them, received their theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. After their death, attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonize them, so to say…”

1. Malcolm X

Why is it important?: This biopic depicts the life of one of the greatest influences on the black nationalist movement there ever was. Malcolm X. The white supremacist mainstream discourse often tries to paint Malcolm as a “reverse-racist” who called for “senseless violence”, but this movie allows the viewers to understand his ideology in a more realistic light, and shows the legitimacy of his calls for self-defense and black separatism. This movie also implies that the United States government may have been involved in Malcolm’s assassination, something that evidence suggests may very well be true.

2. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Why is it important?: In this collection of footage from the period written in the movie’s title, the views and aims of various black revolutionaries are depicted clearly and in their own words. This collection is a fantastic representation of the entirety of that period, featuring all sorts of black revolutionaries including Stokely Carmichael, George Jackson and Angela Davis.

3. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

Why is it important?: The Black Panthers, like Malcolm X are often erroneously equated to white supremacists. They are often labeled “the Black Ku Klux Klan” or “violent terrorists” by those who wish to perpetuate the white supremacist bourgeois narrative regarding the BPP. This movie shows the real Black Panther party, and honestly depicts their Serve the People programs, and internationalist, anti-imperialist ties, ultimately proving that the Black Panther Party was actually a Marxist Leninist Party that fought for the liberation of black people and against all forms of racism. This film also explains the various methods employed by the white supremacist United States government to destroy and discredit the Panthers, because they threatened the racist, capitalist, and imperialist status quo.

Part 3: Black poverty, crime, and life in “The Ghetto”.

Preface: It is easy for racism to persist when people outside of impoverished, predominantly black areas look inside. All such people see is violence and death, which to them, confirms their racist view that blacks are inherently barbaric, which was the same view that justified our kidnapping from Africa and subsequent enslavement. The reality of the situation is very different from the warped viewpoint of white supremacists however. The need for basic resources for survival forces black people into a vicious cycle of crime, imprisonment and poverty. Gangs keep people alive in the hellhole that is the “ghettos”. All such areas represent are the inefficiencies of capitalism, and the cruelty of national oppression, not the so called “barbarity of black people”.

1. Boyz N The Hood

Why is it important?: This movie has several very important aspects. For the sake of brevity, I will only describe two here: The first one is the character named Furious Styles, who is the father of the protagonist of the film. Styles makes a multiplicity of illuminating comments on gentrification and the necessity of instilling national consciousness in modern black youth which are all in line with his Malcolm X style black nationalist views. The second important aspect of the film is the emphasis on the apparent ignorance of the rest of the American populace of the horrible conditions that exist in the hood. The now famous quote by Ice Cube: “Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the hood,” originates from this film.

2. Snow on Tha Bluff

Why is it important?: This movie is a very realistic depiction of modern life in the ghetto. The unique style of the film allows it to essentially depict the tragedy and violence of the hood through the eyes of one of its denizens, which makes it a must see for anyone who wishes to understand what life is like for the millions of black people fighting to survive in such horrid environments.

3. Crips and Bloods: Made in America

Why is it important?: This movie draws a direct connection between the decline of the black revolutionary movement due to the destructive efforts of the U.S. government and the rise of gang culture and violence in predominantly black communities. Much like the other films on this list, this film explores the nature of gang conflict, showing both its horrors and the reasons why many have no choice but to participate in it.

4. Straight Outta Compton

Why is it important?: A common belief held by racists and crypto-racists is that the “violent rap music” that black people often listen to is a degenerate aspect of our culture that causes crime and violence. This film shows that in reality the opposite is true. The crime and violence present in the hood is actually due to poverty, and the NWA, which is the rap group that this film is about, were one of the first groups to start the trend of depicting the reality of hood life in rap music. In Boyz n the Hood, Ice Cube suggested that it was possible that white America did not know about the goings on in the hood. As part of the NWA Ice Cube was among the first black men to use rap to make them know.

Part 4: Mass incarceration and police violence.

Preface: Mass incarceration and police violence are the two largest manifestations of the national oppression of black people in the United States today. Because of this, these two phenomena are the most discussed in mainstream political discourse, and the films below help illustrate just why that is. The most important take away from these films is that neither the police or the prison system exist to help black people. Instead they exist to oppress, injure, and re-enslave black people in order to prevent us from ever achieving true liberation.

1. 13th

Why is it important?: The main point of this documentary is the assertion that the prison system has replaced the enslavement of black people because the titular 13th amendment completely allows for the virtual enslavement of prisoners. This movie does a fantastic job depicting capitalism’s role in promoting the imprisonment and psuedo-enslavement of black people by explaining various corporations’ roles in ensuring that mass incarceration persists.

2. Fruitvale Station

Why is it important?: Fruitvale Station is simply the story of a black man who, while going about his normal life and doing normal things, has his life ended quickly and unexpectedly by the police. This film is a stellar depiction of the following harsh reality faced by black people in the United States: We can be executed by any police officer at any time for no reason other than the fact that we are black.

3. 15 to Life: Kenneth’s Story

Why is it important?: This documentary explains the cruelty of the U.S. judicial system when dealing with black youth who commit crime. There is no sympathy for black youth in the prison system, and this film shows that through its depiction of the story of a 15 year old black boy sentenced to life in prison simply for a robbery.

Part 5: The Black LGBTQ+ movement.

Preface: Among white people, the LGBTQ+ movement has made great progress by leaps and bounds, but even among many “progressive” black people LGBTQ+ people are pariahs. This is what makes it so important for LGBTQ+ black people to have our stories illustrated in a way that will make our struggle understandable. The movies below attempt to do just that.

1. Moonlight

Why is it important?: The central conflict in this movie is the contradiction between the main character, who is a gay individual, and the masculine gender roles to which black males are expected to conform. The inner turmoil experienced by the protagonist due to this internal struggle is beautifully illustrated by this film.

2. Pariah

Why is it important?: The Christian church plays a large stabilizing role in the black community, which is beneficial to us, but it also forces repressive mores and restrictions stemming from biblical dogma onto black individuals, which hurts our communities. This film provides a look into the dark side of the role of the Christian church in the black community, as it depicts the conflict between a religious black family and their lesbian child and the painful emotional strife it generates in the girl.

3. Naaz & Maalik

Why is it important?: Despite the fact that many black people turn to Islam as an alternative to Christianity, (which such people perceive as the “white man’s religion”) for LGBTQ+ youth the effects of the religiosity of the family remain virtually the same. That said, contrary to the main character of Pariah, Naaz and Maalik are both still very religious, which goes to show that religion is not necessarily the enemy of black LGBTQ+ people.

And that’s the end of this cinema study guide! Feel free to comment and tell me what you’ve learned!