Black Excellence within the Black Experience of TV and Film
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again? brings the beloved friend group back together, nineteen years after the original Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and sixteen years after its 2010 sequel, for a destination wedding in Italy. Marcus (Michael Jai White) and Angela’s (Tasha Smith) daughter Jasmine (Armani Greer) is marrying Wesley (Everett […]
Tommy Davidson is stepping back into the spotlight, this time as the lead of his own show. The Varnell Hill Show, a long-in-the-works spinoff of Martin Lawrence’s beloved ’90s sitcom Martin, premieres September 1 on Paramount+ with two episodes, followed by new installments weekly through October 13. Davidson stars as Varnell Hill, a late-night talk […]
Food for the Soul is an enjoyable watch, warm and occasionally funny without ever making light of the cultural tensions at its center. Screened at MVAAFF, Chisom Chieke’s 18-minute short follows Ada (Karen Obilom), a Nigerian-American artist and medical school dropout, and Trey (Marcus Scribner), her Black-American fiancé and game creator, as their relationship brings […]
Love Song is a film where I understand exactly what the writer-director is trying to do, but unfortunately, it never quite landed for me. The premise is compelling: a married music producer runs into a former flame during his morning commute, forcing him to confront family, creative ambition and a love he left behind. There […]
Please Return Your Carts, which screened at the 2026 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival is the kind of short that makes you appreciate how much can be said through one really smart creative choice. Directed by Kendra Jo, the 2025 short follows Benson Cross (Russell Hornsby), an Army veteran who has settled into a solitary […]
Au Gratin opens the way a lot of real family gatherings do: chaotically. Ericka (Tiffany Daniels), the youngest of the siblings, gets to her mother’s house first. She goes to wake her mom up and realizes something’s wrong, maybe seriously wrong. And before she can even get a full sentence out about it, the rest […]
Joy Sunday just landed her first Emmy nomination. Her performance as Agent Jodie Plumb in HBO’s DTF St. Louis put her in scenes opposite Jason Bateman and Richard Jenkins, and she didn’t just keep pace, she commanded them. That’s 13 nominations for the show total, and one that belongs solely to her. She’s been a […]
There are people who go viral and there are people who go viral with a purpose. Lynae Vanee has always been the latter. The Atlanta-born poet, educator and cultural voice — a Spelman College graduate with a master’s in African American Studies from Boston University — built her platform through the viral Instagram series Parking […]
Nobody saw this coming. Not even them. Since landing on Netflix on June 12, The Polygamist has quietly become one of the streamer’s most explosive global hits, reaching No. 2 worldwide and No. 1 in 16 countries, with top 10 placement in 63 countries including the United States. Based on Zimbabwean author Sue Nyathi’s novel, […]
As an EP and director, DeMane Davis has spent her career building shows and stories that mean something, and Brilliant Minds was exactly that. A network show that tackled mental health with care, nuance, and a cast that gave everything. When the cancellation came, she still showed up for the finale, for the fans, and […]