A Little Black Panther History

Baadasssss Cinema discussed the birth of Blaxploitation in the early 1970's, however the documentary assumes the viewer understands the context of the genre and even the people commenting. Without understanding the importance of the Black Panthers it could be hard to realize how much of an impact the genre had.

One of the first people we see in the film is Afeni Shakur. Most people quickly identify her with her son Tupac, but she should be known for her own actions. Afeni was recruited into the Black Panthers by Bobby Seale in the late 1960's and was quickly targeted by the U.S. government for her involvement. She was jailed on conspiracy to murder policemen in 1969 when she was pregnant with Tupac. She was released, but had to stand trial (she was later acquitted). During the trial Shakur appeared in Philadelphia where the Panthers called for a "Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention" where a new constitution would be written. At that time Bobby Seale was being tried for murder and Shakur urged, "When the fascist pigs get ready to murder Bobby, I want you in the streets." At the same event, another Panther addressed the problem of informants, infiltrators, and agent provocateurs saying, "if they want to kick off a war tonight, we're ready for them." (New York Times, June 20, 1970)

The Black Panthers weren't paranoid. The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover engaged in every day criminal activity and actively attempted to destroy political movements in the United States as a part of COINTELPRO (look it up, you'll be enlightened on the true character of the U.S. government). A prime example of political repression and state sponsored murder in the United States can be found 90 miles South in Chicago, IL. December 4th, 1969, Fred Hampton was asleep with his pregnant wife. He had been drugged earlier that night to ensure he would be asleep. A Chicago police raid began with police opening fire into Hampton's apartment. When they found Hampton wounded in bed, they dragged him into the hallway and executed him by firing two rounds point blank into his head.



You can watch the 1971 documentary, The Murder of Fred Hampton to learn more about the man and the murder.

If you want to see Bobby Seale speak, watch for information on his tentative Spring visit at http://www.sdsmilwaukee.org/

Week #4--Challenging the Conventions of Hollywood Cinema

In Ousmane Sembene’s Black Girl, as important as it is to identify the oppressive treatment Diouana received from the family she served in a domestic setting, it is also important to identify the relationships that this particular situation in the narrative has with both the colonial situation between Africa and Europe. Diouana’s suicide resulted from her disillusionment with Western perceptions of beauty and leisure, as well as how naïve and oblivious she was to how she was perceived by the family she worked for. This can be directly paralleled to the situation that Sembene and other filmmakers throughout Africa had faced. Last week’s class I had mentioned that Sembene was not able to screen this or any of his films in Senegal for many years, largely because European colonialism had a stranglehold on all resources regarding production (the making of the film), distribution (circulation of the film), and exhibition (screening of the film) that denied these filmmakers complete access. Government propaganda filmmaking was the only opportunity these filmmakers could be part of the industry, as their original projects would not be supported by organization responsible for enabling access to such resources. This rejection would inspire African filmmakers to unify and establish organizations (i.e. FEPACI) and film festivals (i.e. FESPACO) so that they would not only challenge these gatekeepers, but also establish film-related events that they could control.

Also mentioned last week were the different approaches to African filmmaking: semi-documentary (films that depict and denounce European colonialism); didactic-fictional (narratives that reflect African moral tales that focus on good and evil); and research (films that are more analytical about the subject matter). This is something to keep in mind as we transition from African films of the early ‘60s to African-American films of the early ‘70s. I’m sure that you observed that there was roughly a thirty-year difference between when Black Girl was released (1965) and when the previous film we saw, Murder in Harlem (1935), was initially screened. As you can recall from Classified X, Melvin Van Peebles mentioned that after the ‘40s, there went a good two decades where not a single film was released directed by an African-American. As more African-Americans took the reins behind the camera, it was during a moment in which there was correspondence amongst people throughout the African Diaspora. Many people of African descent throughout the world were challenging the governmental establishment and were using forceful action to fight against systems of privilege that unjustifiably subjugated these populations. One level of correspondence amongst people of African descent was through artistic expression, particularly through music, literature and film. It is important to consider throughout the semester how African-American filmmakers and others throughout the Diaspora approach their projects in a similar fashion as African filmmakers regarding the three approaches to filmmaking they utilized.

Reflecting on the activities of African filmmakers to control their own production, distribution and exhibition, it is important to consider how African-American filmmakers faced similar challenges and utilized similar strategies and objectives. This week, we will discuss how, at least regarding production, African-Americans used film as a tool to magnify their situations that had not been shown in commercial film. During the ‘60s, Hollywood had experienced a financial slump because studio executives failed repeatedly to effectively respond to challenges brought upon by television, which not only had shown classic films, but had also become a reliable source to learn what turmoil the country was facing at the time. Slowly realizing that churning out westerns, musicals, and other irrelevant genre films would not make Hollywood competitive, studios began to slowly respond to the counterculture, primarily by lifting what had once been stringent censorship regarding language and the depiction of violence and sexuality. Films that reflected the American counterculture of the late ‘60s (i.e. Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, The Wild Bunch) would become a reliable economic boost for the movie industry.

Another reliable source was what would become known as “Black Exploitation” (or blaxploitation) films. The formula for many of these films is often attributed to the film Sweet Sweetback’s Baaadasssss Song, Melvin Van Peebles’ project about a sex laborer who transforms from his passive state to becoming someone who becomes deeply concerned about his community and is not hesitant to fight on its behalf. Along with its depiction of sex and violence, Sweetback is also known for reflecting the social, cultural, and political sentiments of Black communities throughout the ‘60s through both its form (i.e. its visual display and approach to editing) and content (i.e. what certain characters represent). As we watch an excerpt from Sweetback, think of why Van Peebles’ approach to form and content would be considered as radical, and why others would consider it (particularly the content) to be exploitative. Think of how the film itself is a departure from a film like Murder in Harlem. As we transition to the documentary Baadassss Cinema, we learn more about the blaxploitation era, directly from the filmmakers and performers. Pay close attention to what marked the transition from a film like Sweetback to something like Shaft. Also, consider why Hollywood produced so many of these films (and why they would ultimately abandon them afterwards), and why they received so much criticism from Black social organizations. Also, why would it be considered a double-edged sword for Black actors to take upon these roles? As you read the offerings from Yearwood (from a conference panel amongst Black filmmakers and critics in 1980) and Massood, think of the issues Black filmmakers raise amongst themselves regarding how to effectively reach a Black audience, as well as what an urban landscape meant for offering a different portrayal of Blacks onscreen.

Week #3--Films from Continental Africa

Hi all,
I was supposed to have posted this immediately after class last week, so I apologize for the delay.

Also, I will be posting these writings on the blog from now on instead of distributing them in class. You will still receive the questions to consider while watching the film in class.

DONTE

Week #3—Films from Continental Africa

As we watched a couple of films last week from Oscar Micheaux, we saw an example of a Black filmmaker attempting to present Black people in a more dignified manner. His presentation of Black middle-class life, more so than anything as a model for other Black people to follow, was also designed to attack the caricatures that convinced dominant audiences that Black people were void of any humanity or responsibility. Moreover, it further justified people’s reasons for enabling a climate of racial terror. While Micheaux may present a diversity of Black people onscreen in terms of class stratification, it nevertheless is impacted by an internalization of White supremacy, as the lighter-skinned characters demand more identification and empathy throughout the film.
As important as the topics addressed by Locke, Green, and Bernstein are, something that is also important in relation to class is how filmmakers overall fit in class stratification. Green argues that Black filmmakers were denied access into mainstream bourgeois society because their films didn’t circulate as widely with those audiences as they did with Black audiences, magnifying the different class scale that exists within these disparate racial communities. What contributed to this limited circulation was the fact that Black filmmakers such as Micheaux had to take on so many responsibilities in order to get their films made, working outside the margins of the Hollywood system while it was in its infancy. In addition to writing, producing and directing, Micheaux also had to court studios and theatres in order to garner an audience for his films, even if it was just a predominately Black one. Until the boom of Blaxploitation films (which we will begin to discuss next week), Black filmmakers were limited to this path to gain an audience.
The readings that pertain to today’s film (by Pfaff, Diawara, and Vieyra) discuss issues concerning distribution, solidarity amongst filmmakers, and transferring ancient African traditions to cinema within a colonial context. Today’s film, Black Girl, directed by Ousmane Sembene, provides a commentary on colonialism and its legacy as it focuses on Diouana, a Senegalese woman deceptively hired to be a domestic as opposed to being a child care giver, her initial reason for taking the job. As the French family she works for position her in condescending situations, Diouana silently resists their demands in spite of how vulnerable it makes her. While it is important to think about the historical moment in which this film is set, especially given the fact that it was made during a time where African countries were gaining independence from European colonialism (note the reference to Patrice Lumumba, the president of Congo who was brutally murdered after being forcefully removed from office), it is also important to think of this film in the context of the other topics mentioned above. Once you have watched the film, think of how the oral tradition of storytelling is reconfigured through cinema, especially in particular to Sembene. What do his characters represent, and how does this narrative reflect what is common in African storytelling? Also, given the transitional period of African liberation, why was it considered important for African filmmakers throughout the continent to unify in terms of production, distribution, and exhibition? Plus, consider what barriers were placed to keep African filmmakers from showing films in their own country.