Entertainment

Kingdom Came: Notes on ‘Empire’ and the State of Black Television Drama

Published

10 years ago

March 26, 2015

The cast of Fox’s hit show, “Empire,” from L to R: Trai Byers, Taraji P. Henson, Jussie Smollett, Bryshere Gray and Terrence Howard. (Courtesy Photo)

(Grantland) – It’s not quite true that I’ve never seen anything like Empire. The centuries are plump with art and popular culture driven by tales of crime and power. Even on network television, not too long ago, there were lurid stories set within the music industry brought to us, in part, by the man who made The Godfather. But I’ve never seen anything that gets away with everything Empire gets away with — murder, basically. I’ve never seen anything on network television this shameless; this overwritten yet perfectly plotted; this ludicrously costumed, art-decorated, choreographed, soundtracked, acted, and directed; this hormonal, this …black. Believe me, at the moment, that’s an achievement against some competition: Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots on the Oprah Winfrey Network; BET’s Being Mary Jane and The Game; Single Ladies on VH1; and, arguably, ABC’s Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder. Empire is different.

The show is a soap saga about a thriving record company: Empire records! It’s under siege from the inside and out. Its founder and CEO, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), was a thug who rose from the streets of Philadelphia to the top of the charts, then to the top of a skyscraper. Howard — like the show — operates within some alternate prefab universe of lubricious glamour and lugubrious plotting: It’s Aaron Spelling’s The Godfather. Lucious is newly diagnosed with ALS. He’s also engaged to Empire’s head of A&R, a haughty biracial Swedish speaker named Anika (Grace Gealey). His ascent has come at the expense of his ex-wife, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), who took the rap for Lucious on a drug-dealing charge and served 17 years in prison. She’s just been released, wants to better know her three adult sons, and demands a share in a business she helped create. The sons — bipolar Empire CFO Andre (Trai Byers), gay singer-songwriter Jamal (Jussie Smollett), hotheaded horndog rapper Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) — resent Cookie, until they come to resent Lucious. But no child’s parental loyalty lasts. The tide turning among them can induce seasickness.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

1 day ago

November 1, 2024

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Bay Area

Love Life Organization Shows Love

As part of Love Life Week, the Love Life Foundation was honored to produce the 1974-75 World Champion Golden State Warrior Day. It’s a shame that our first Bay Area World Championship team’s unique accolades had been lost in the pre social media era and the cultural revolution of the 1970s.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

Members of the 1975 NBA championship team, Charles Dudley (left) and Clifford Ray (right) embrace Love Life Foundation leader Donald Lacy for his antiviolence mission. Courtesy photo.

City of Oakland Celebrates 1975 NBA World Championship Team

By Donald Lacy

Special to The Post

As part of Love Life Week, the Love Life Foundation was honored to produce the 1974-75 World Champion Golden State Warrior Day.

It’s a shame that our first Bay Area World Championship team’s unique accolades had been lost in the pre social media era and the cultural revolution of the 1970s.

The 1975 NBA World Championship team were invited back to the City of Oakland last Friday, to be properly celebrated for their ground-breaking performance in 1975.

The heartwarming ceremony highlighted the recent passing of the legendary coach of that team, Al Attlles, and his former players Clifford Ray and Charles Dudley were on hand to represent the “Cardiac Kids” as they were called back then for their ability to make great comeback victories during their run for the title.

Warriors great Chris Mullin and former spiritual advisor Gary Reeves gave heartfelt testimonies of their experiences under Attles’ leadership and their relationship with the inspiration they received from the NBA 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors.

The City of Oakland provided proclamations to all parties with speeches made by city leadership including Mayor Sheng Thao and Deputy Mayor Dr. Kimberly Mayfield and activity host Love Life non-profit founder and Executive Director Donald E. Lacy Jr..

There will be a celebration of life event Nov. 9 honoring Attles’ legacy at Alameda College.