Recommendation: "The Other Black Girl" by Zakiya Dalila Harris

The novel The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris has deservedly garnered commercial success, and a Google search will deliver many reviews. So let's just start with a few quotes, and, after the page break, some of my comments with ****SPOILERS****.

"[Hazel had] moved from channeling her inner Baraka to her inner Barack--from confrontational to compassionate--in less than 60 seconds." @zakiya_harris, "The Other Black Girl," p 56

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) February 10, 2022

In this fictional discussion about the decision to cast Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi & the hypothetical casting of Billy Dee Williams as Mozart, @zakiya_harris in "The Other Black Girl" lands on this week's leader in institutionalized gender & racial hierarchy, #Harvard pic.twitter.com/oYmCdJo2BU

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) February 10, 2022

Since this is a horror novel, I recommend that, if you think you might read it, stop here. ******SPOILERS ***** 

Film: Americanish, Directed by Iman Zawahry

Americanish is the first feature-length film directed by Iman Zawahry. She and Aizzah Fatima co-wrote this romantic comedy. Were I not the last human on the planet who should say anything about romantic comedies, I would have written a review. So some brief remarks suffice:

Americanish: A Case Study in American-Muslim Representation

Iman Zawahry, Aizzah Fatima and Sabeen Sadiq participated in a panel discussion entitled Americanish: A Case Study in American-Muslim Representation on August 12, 2021 as part of the Asian American International Film Festival.

I wrote a few comments on the film.

Hind Makki Reviews Nida Manzoor's "We Are Lady Parts" on PeacockTV

I enjoyed Nida Manzoor's We Are Lady Parts on Peacock TV, but I didn't have the words to explain to readers of this blog why I did. Thankfully, Hind Makki did find the words!

If you mute the electric guitar, most of us will recognize these women from our own lives. But why would you want to lower the volume?

--- read more ---

The songs by @weareladyparts are available in #USA on @Spotify https://t.co/B6TtonUezp

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) June 19, 2021

We Are Lady Parts season TWO out on May 30! pic.twitter.com/bR6uItbxFS

— We Are Lady Parts (@weareladyparts) May 25, 2024

Documentary: The Problem with Apu by Hari Kondabolu

I've liked Hari Kondabolu since seeing a YouTube clip (profanity warning) of why he doesn't use an accent in his comedy acts. When Roku and HBO Max finally resolved their differences, the first movie I watched was his 2017 documentary The Problem with Apu. The documentary is an excellent walk-through about the importance of representation in popular culture, a topic which I've covered in this blog's entries on TV shows, movies and documentaries. There were several points the movie made which stand out for me.

The writers on The Simpsons never considered the impact the character Apu had on actual people. When Hari was interviewing a former producer who pointed out that the show's portrayal of the evil oligarch Mr. Burns was stereotypical and Hari pointed out that one couldn't compare the positions of oligarchs and convenience store operators in society, the producer said that the only consideration in the writers' room was whether dialog was funny. Hari then points out that the only reason Apu and his accent are funny is because society is racist.

Film: "Zahra and the Oil Man" by Yucef Mayes

My local NBC affiliate substituted "African American Short Films" by BamadiTV for the repeatedly postponed Baltimore Ravens versus Pittsburgh Steelers football game. Among the features was the short film Zahra and the Oil Man, directed by Yucef Mayes.

It's refreshing to see a depiction of USA Muslims without violence and with loving family relationships. Yet the film has a twist which I didn't see coming and a satisfying resolution, so I can recommend it for more than just its representational value.

The film is available for streaming from Alchemiya & Kweli TV.

The film has a Facebook Page. Here's the IMDB entry.

You can subscribe to be notified if a BamadiTV program airs in your locale.

"Even with good intentions, Hollywood still struggles to portray Muslims accurately or fairly, much less positively"

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations - Georgia, describes his involvement in the production of the 2019 remake of Shaft and his reaction after watching the movie.

As a civil rights activist with the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, most of the emails I receive involve deadly serious topics: hate speech…hate crimes…discrimination…Donald Trump’s latest tweet. So you can perhaps imagine my surprise when I received an email last year from a casting director for the latest sequel to the classic blaxploitation film Shaft, which was filming in Atlanta. --- read more ---

And of course I have to include the Isaac Hayes theme song to the original Shaft.

 

P.S. (April 8, 2020) - I watched Shaft (2019) on HBO today. The plot, as Brother Edward described, is a barely adequate veneer for the real story: the emergence of a third generation Shaft as portrayed by Jessie T. Usher, who like his grandfather Richard Roundtree (Shaft, 1971) & his father Samuel Jackson (Shaft, 2000), decides to stop "working for the man." Jessie begins the movie as an awkward hipster & ends it as another "man with the plan."

Law & Order: SVU S20E23 "Assumptions" Was Thoroughly Anti-Muslim

NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 20, Episode 23 "Assumptions" poorly handled recent controversies and promoted anti-Muslim stereotypes.