Film

A reflection on ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’

ROLLINGOUT — Amazing and awestruck are the feelings that came through as my eyes took in the latest indie flick, The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

Jimmy Fails works masterfully to expose the constant thoughts of the gentrifier and their continued foot on the neck of the Black community occupying the city of San Francisco. The circumstances that he faces, along with the city’s other Black and poor residents in general, is made poignant through his gaze and experiences. It is here that the character Jimmie and his best friend navigate the beautiful Alice in Wonderland maze of oppressors while consciousness keeps the dreamy truth about growing into manhood and brotherhood frightening, dangerous, and segregated.

Published

6 years ago

August 1, 2019

Munson Steed

By Munson Steed

Amazing and awestruck are the feelings that came through as my eyes took in the latest indie flick, The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

It is clear from the start that the circumstances of Jimmie’s ancestral family home that doesn’t belong to the family anymore, yet his strong ties to hold onto the warm memories and his only true family tie might breed contempt for the transformation of cultural identity for the Black community and ownership in San Francisco.

The external attacks on brothers of both unemployment, environmental dumps, and drugs illuminate the lack of possibility of any sense of normalcy and development by African-American communities families and their legacy.

As James Baldwin said in his seminal work “I am not your Negro,” Jimmie highlights why the principal feeling of being alienated from society systemically clouds and brutalizes the future faith of young Black men.

For those who will never wear the skin that Jimmie does in the film, each White character seeks to really minimize the impact of a system of gentrification and application of responsibilities by liberals and politicians who its constituencies are not the individuals that bear their skin or their vote at the box.

In one scene, Jimmie showcases the rationale that all societal pressures, and those who have privilege in this country, explain their bloody sinful behavior for economic gain based on “If it wasn’t me, it would’ve been somebody else.” The starkest example being the while real estate agent who after learning about the perilous house’s status decides to list it himself to get the commission while Jimmie is trying his best to reclaim the property with no resources.

The film also showcases the feeling of Jimmie’s friend who is writing Jimmie’s memoir while he is living in the same world, but metaphorically being a Langston Hughes-like character who explains the pain that is omitted from the 5 o’clock news but sometimes highlighted in a very liberal voice by NPR without resolution.

Brotherhood could be felt on so many layers that this might be a movie to use as a healing tool to bring gangland murders to a minimum. We see the brotherhood that has often started within young black men beginning in their unfortunate circumstances like group homes and lonely nights on the corner gaining poor examples of masculine maturity as a death results from the corner training of gang-like confrontation principal rights of passage.

Black male toughness constitution leads to the death of Jimmie’s group home friend. Each man suffers from getting the shackle of their oppressed history and memories to remove the fog of lies and hope from their approach to a new day.

There is a poetic use of blindness in the film where our favorite actor and black community benefactor Danny Glover plays the blind grandfather of Jimmie’s best friend, Montgomery Allen. He sees everything on another realm but can change why and what his grandson chooses to be. He does appear to know life has given Jimmie a depressed mind, which does not let black men forget their oppressed station.

Glover’s grandfather character is an elder who is praying for his grandson and his community and urges the two men to stick together against the dangers of the world both seen and unseen.

Emotional tears and anger showcase the need for psychological and mental therapy for many black men. Their fathers have failed to create a legacy of emotional intelligence. Instead of lies breed lies and pain rains on all emotional levels.

Heartbreak, dissatisfaction, and disappointment are served by all of San Francisco, which seems to benefit from all tragic losses of the black community and especially black men.

Jimmie Fails writes the life in the land of Flint, Michigan’s black cousin of San Francisco.

The honest depiction of new age colonizers in this movie might have gotten Jimmie’s project left on an editor’s desk. Demonstrating how a liberal and tolerant white society still benefits from black oppression as white actors always explain away part of the constant injustice San Francisco offers as a gift.

Lastly, Jimmie asks Black fathers why don’t we see the cycle of abuse they administer like free cheese. “You didn’t die from so it was not so bad” philosophy that begs for a pass is a lie that expired decades ago.

Brothers cry, scream and accept that their bond as black men must be protected with honesty; but the pain is going to be part of process and practice.

Jimmie Fails work appears to free black men from the lie that the colonizer has defined you and demand a Black redefinition of their future outside the boxed circumstances of their birth.

Jimmie Fails is not your negro either with the masterpiece The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

This article originally appeared in Rollingout.com.

Munson Steed

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Arts and Culture

Paul Robeson: A Voice for the Ages, A Champion for Justice

Robeson first gained widespread recognition on stage and screen, delivering commanding performances that captivated audiences. Yet, it was his voice in concert halls that sealed his legacy. His repertoire was vast, spanning spirituals, classical compositions, global folk traditions, and songs of struggle — music that carried the weight of the oppressed and the hopes of the marginalized.

Published

4 weeks ago

February 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Paul Robeson. Public domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

Paul Robeson was born April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey. At 6’ 3”, he was a towering man of intellect, talent, and conviction. Before he became an international icon, he earned his law degree from Columbia University in 1923, supporting himself by teaching Latin and playing professional football on the weekends. But the law would not hold him for long. His voice had other plans.

In 1921, he married Eslanda Goode, a fellow Columbia student and a journalist with her own remarkable intellect and ambition. Their marriage, which lasted over four decades, was a partnership in every sense. Goode became his manager, encouraging him to leave law behind and fully embrace his calling. In 1927, they welcomed their son, Paul Robeson Jr.

By the mid-1920s, Robeson was making waves in theater. He starred in All God’s Chillun Got Wings (1924) and The Emperor Jones (1925). That same year, he made his film debut in Body and Soul, directed by pioneering Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. In 1928, he mesmerized London audiences in Show Boat, where his rendition of Ol’ Man River transformed the song into a powerful anthem of resilience.

Robeson and his family moved to Europe in the late 1920s, and over the next decade, he built an impressive career in both film and music. He starred in Borderline (1930) and later again in the 1933 film adaptation of The Emperor Jones. Over the next few years, he appeared in six British films, including Jericho and Big Fella (both released in 1937). He also starred in the second screen adaptation of Show Boat (1936), alongside Hattie McDaniel and Irene Dunne. However, his final film, Tales of Manhattan (1942), left him deeply disillusioned. He openly criticized its degrading depiction of Black life, signaling his growing commitment to using his platform for activism.

In 1963, after years of political persecution and declining health, Robeson returned to the United States. Following Goode’s death in 1965, he lived quietly with his sister. On January 23, 1976, Robeson passed away from a stroke at the age of 77 in Philadelphia.

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Arts and Culture

‘Giants Rising’ Film Screening in Marin City Library

A journey into the heart of America’s most iconic forests, “Giants Rising” tells the epic tale of the coast redwoods — the tallest and among the oldest living beings on Earth. Living links to the past, redwoods hold powers that may play a role in our future, including their ability to withstand fire and capture carbon, to offer clues about longevity, and to enhance our own well-being.

Published

2 months ago

January 5, 2025

Oakland Post

A woman stands amid towering redwood trees in a forest. Photo courtesy of Marin County Free Library.

By Godfrey Lee

The film “Giants Rising” will be screened on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 3-6 p.m. at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, located 100 Donahue St. in Marin City.

Through the voices of scientists, artists, Native communities, and others, we discover the many connections that sustain these forests and the promise of solutions that will help us all rise up to face the challenges that lay ahead.

The film’s website is www.giantsrising.com. The “Giants Rising” trailer is at https://player.vimeo.com/video/904153467. The registration link to the event is https://marinlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/673de7abb41279410057889e

This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Marin City Library and hosted in conjunction with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and St. Andrew Presbyterian Church.

All library events are free. For more information, contact Etienne Douglas at (415) 332-6158 or email etienne.douglas@marincounty.gov. For event-specific information, contact Zaira Sierra at zsierra@parksconservancy.org.

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#NNPA BlackPress

FILM REVIEW: The Six Triple Eight: Tyler Perry Salutes WWII Black Women Soldiers

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The film features an all-star cast including Susan Sarandon as Eleanor Roosevelt, Sam Waterston as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Oprah Winfrey as Mary McLeod Bethune and Ebony Obsidian (Sistas, If Beale Street Could Talk)) who shows her acting chops by holding her own playing Lena, a bereaved private, opposite Washington.

Published

3 months ago

December 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Six Triple Eight is now playing on Netflix.

By Nsenga K. Burton
NNPA Newswire Culture and Entertainment Editor

The Six Triple Eight tells the important yet often overlooked story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-Black, all-woman unit in World War II. The film chronicles the battalion’s efforts to clear a massive backlog of undelivered mail meant for U.S. troops, a task that was both vital and challenging. In a show-stopping speech atop a mountain of mail, Major Charity Adams, played fiercely by Kerry Washington, explains the importance of mail during wartime and its relationship to soldier morale. Adams, who is continuously denied promotions despite her impeccable professional performance, leads 855 Black women through 17 million pieces of mail in an abandoned, cold and drafty school rife with “vermin” to raise the morale of soldiers and bring closure to families who haven’t heard from loved ones in nearly a year.

The film features an all-star cast, including Susan Sarandon as Eleanor Roosevelt, Sam Waterston as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Oprah Winfrey as Mary McLeod Bethune, and Ebony Obsidian (Sistas, If Beale Street Could Talk), who shows her acting chops by holding her own playing Lena, a bereaved private, opposite Washington.

Lena is a highly sensitive and intelligent young woman who is distraught over the death of her Jewish “boyfriend,” Abram David (Gregg Sulkin), who is killed in the war. Instead of attending college, Lena enlists in the army to “fight Hitler.” En route to basic training in Georgia, Lena is joined with a group of women in the segregated battalion, all of whom are running away from a traumatic past and running towards a brighter future. What emerges is a strong sisterhood that bonds the women, whether in their barracks or crossing the big pond, which is one of the highlights of the film.

The Six Triple Eight has all of the tropes of a film set during the 1940s, including de facto segregation here and abroad, the mistreatment of Black women in and out of the service by any and everybody, aggressive white men using the N-word with the hard “R,” and older Black women whose hearts are free, but minds are shackled to fear that living in segregation and being subjected to impromptu violence, ridicule, jail or scorn brings to bear.

While the film elevates the untold story of the dynamic, pioneering, and committed Black servicewomen of the Six Triple Eight, the narrative falls prey to Perry’s signature style — heavy-handed dialogue, uneven performances and a redundant script that keeps beating viewers over the head with what many already know as opposed to what we need to know. For example, a short montage of the women working with the mail is usurped by abusive treatment from white, male leaders. A film like this would benefit more from seeing and understanding the dynamism, intelligence and dedication it took for these women to develop and implement a strategy to get this volume of mail to the soldiers and their families.

In another scene, the 6888 soldiers yell out their prior professions, which would prove helpful to keeping their assignment when they come under attack again from the white military men. Visually seeing the Black women demonstrate their talents would be far more satisfying than hearing them ticked off like a grocery list, which undermines the significance of their work and preparation for war as Black women during this harrowing time in history. The lack of emphasis on their skills and capabilities diminishes the overall impact of their story, leaving viewers wanting more depth and insight into their achievements.

While the film highlights the struggles these women faced against institutional racism and sexism, it ultimately falls short in delivering a nuanced portrayal of their significant contributions to the war effort. This is a must-see film because of the subject matter and strong performances by Washington and Obsidian, but the story’s execution makes it difficult to get through.

Tyler Perry is beloved as a filmmaker because he sometimes makes films that people need to see at a particular moment in time (For Colored Girls), resuscitates or helps to keep the careers of super accomplished actors alive (Debi Morgan, Alfre Woodward, Cicely Tyson) and gives young, talented actors like Obsidian, Taylor Polidore Williams (Beauty in Black, Snowfall, All-American HBCU) and Crystal Renee Hayslett (Zatima) a chance to play a lead role when mainstream Hollywood is taking too long. One thing Perry hasn’t done is extend that generosity of spirit to the same extent to the writing and directing categories. Debbie Allen choreographed the march scene for Six Triple Eight. What might this film have been had she directed the film?

This much-anticipated film is a love letter to Black servicewomen and a movie that audiences need to see now that would benefit immensely from stronger writing and direction. Six Triple Eight is a commendable effort to elevate an untold story, but it ultimately leaves viewers craving a more nuanced exploration of the remarkable women at its center.

Six Triple Eight is now playing on Netflix.

This review was written by media critic Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., editor-at-large for NNPA/Black Press USA and editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow her on IG @TheBurtonWire.