Opinion: Why I study Black cinema
Black History Month was removed from Google Calendars. The U.S. already recognizes African American culture, heritage and history in the shortest month of the year, and now it isn’t listed at all. Google said removing this and other markers of cultural celebrations and non-federally recognized holidays was for apolitical reasons, as reported by the New York Times, but that’s hard for me to believe considering the anti-DEI legislation and general hostile attitude the country is fostering around marginalized communities.
For those who didn’t know, February is Black History Month, a month to honor African American people and cultural and heritage events. In light of House Bill 261, previously reported on by The Utah Statesman, Utah State University hasn’t, as an institution, done anything to recognize this month that is so important to a significant portion of the student body. The bill claims this is to make everything “equal,” but there are systems in place both statewide and nationally that don’t make things equal for everyone, especially not for African American people. I’m of the opinion more protection for marginalized communities is an effort to make things more equal, and pretending everyone has the same advantages furthers the problem: There is still systemic racism in the U.S. today.
This is why I decided to take ENGL 4365 — Studies in Film: Black American Cinema.
I want to recognize that, as a white person, I am in no way speaking as part of or on behalf of the African American community. I also acknowledge my speaking in favor of Black History Month and education in Black cinema is done as a person who is not subjected to the same discrimination. It’s important to me the voices of African Americans can tell their own stories, and in speaking now, my aim is not to tell these stories through a white lens but rather to offer my personal explanation for why studying Black cinema is an important piece of my educational journey.
Taught by English professor Adena Rivera-Dundas, the class focuses on modern American cinema directed by, written by and starring Black people. The oldest movie we examined was “Foxy Brown,” released in 1974 and directed by Jack Hill, the only white director we study. The Blaxploitation film was problematic in many ways, and it began our discourse on Black voices and who should be involved in their representation.
As an English major, many of the courses surrounding subjects of race are focused on the literature seen in older time periods. While these periods still need to be studied — history repeats itself, and the only way to mitigate this is by learning how to prevent it — a modern approach is really what makes this class soar. Maybe it’s because we’re taught everyone who can vote is treated equally. Maybe it’s because there are more people of color in positions of power, so we believe everyone has an equal chance of success. Whatever the case, many people don’t believe racism is still prevalent, but it is.
Police brutality, as seen in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” 1989, and Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station,” 2013, which tells the true story of Oscar Grant’s murder, is still a horror of modern-day America.
This is what my classmate Yasamin Osqueezadeh touched on when I asked her why she took the class.
“For historical African literature, that was before a police force even existed, so it hasn’t been touched on, but it’s important,” Osqueezadeh said. “To be able to analyze what people are now viewing as the Black lens — it’s important.”
Spike Lee visited USU in 2003 as part of the Arts and Lecture series the university held, as reported by the Statesman. During this speech, he addressed the inequalities Black people still face today, both in real life and in their representation on the screen.
“We don’t really get the diversity of the African-American experience on screen,” Lee said. He spoke on the importance of cinema as a means of shaping the way society views certain subjects. “It really depends on who’s telling the story, so that’s why film is so important.”
Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” 2017, uncovers the horror of the fascination with and hatred toward Black bodies. The protagonist Chris leads what we’d consider to be a normal life until he visits his girlfriend’s parents, who try to use his body as a vessel for a white person’s brain, thereby solidifying their ideology that the experience of whiteness is more important than Blackness.
“We’re really sheltered in Logan, Utah,” classmate Chloe Scheve said. “It’s important to have resources available no matter what background you come from, and it’s important to still be educating ourselves on stuff outside of our little bubble. We need more representation in our classes.”
Ava DuVernay’s Sundance Film Festival award-winning piece “Middle of Nowhere,” 2012, highlighted through a relationship between an incarcerated man and his free wife the carceral logics that apply to Black people to this day. While technically free, the wife Ruby is faced with poverty, inability to follow her dreams of being a doctor and blame when she puts herself before her husband. This mirrors the husband Derek’s experience of being in prison — both can’t be free in a system that imprisons proportionally around five times more African American people than white people, according to the Prison Policy Initiative and CNN.
Classmate Brooklyn Hibshman took the class because Rivera-Dundas’ scholarly focus on Black literature allows for students to understand the gravity of the subject and the importance of sensitivity.
“She really talks about things in a way that helps you understand the impact of what’s going on,” Hibshman said. “This isn’t a world I grew up in, and it’s important to be learning about things that are not dead white guys in our classes.”
At a university that can’t fund race-specific initiatives, presentations, awards, etc., it’s crucial we take it upon ourselves to learn about the injustices of the world and continue trying to progress and make the world better for every inhabitant.
“It’s really important to be taking these kinds of classes and to be taking them because we want to,” Hibshman said. “I feel like I am becoming a better person because of this class and the things we read and the things we watch.”
Watching Julie Dash’s “Daughters of the Dust,” 1991 and learning about Igbo Landing, history that isn’t discussed in American history classes but that contributes to the story of our nation, opened my eyes to the way Black stories are often swept under the rug in both historic conversations and modern mass media.
Classmate Eden Marroquín pointed out the power behind viewing and listening to Black voices instead of just reading them.
“Film is a very powerful vessel to educate people, especially people who maybe aren’t super interested,” Marroquín said. “In classes, there’s African lit, but it’s always post-colonial. It’s relatively modern but not pertaining to modern America in the same way the film class is.”
I recognize this opinion article is published with just a few days left in Black History Month. However, I believe Black history, culture and current influence is important to learn about year-round. This Black History Month, and in all following months, I implore you to learn more about the history and modern-day issues facing African Americans. There is power in listening to the voices of everyone and in recognizing where our country fails to deliver on its promise of equality. Marginalized groups, including African American people, are just as much a part of this university as anyone else, and I’m disappointed in the legislative decisions that make it less equal, despite claims it does the opposite.
If there’s one thing I know, even if Google removes Black History Month from its calendar, it will still be celebrated. It still has every importance, and it won’t be forgotten.