This A Beautiful Newsletter, expanding the community of “A Beautiful Resistance,” created by columnist Jeneé Osterheldt to carry on the tradition of Black artists and Black journalists in reclaiming the truth of Black folk. If you’d like to receive it via email on Wednesdays, sign up here.
“Sinners” is a seven-layer cake of cinematic excellence. Ryan Coogler did more than give us a Jim Crow-era vampire scary movie. He tip-toed on the lines of life and death, in between American horror and the reality of our history and present, in harmony with song and dance.
More than monsters, the power of music is paramount in “Sinners.” An homage to Coogler’s uncle, who was a blues lover from Mississippi, music is almost a character in this film. From Sammie and his otherworldly voice and guitar that might have the power to pierce the veil between the living and the dead to Delta Slim’s happy harmonica and bittersweet bluesy hum – sound carries story.
So does movement, touch, the way we dance together. One scene in particular is so special, and so big, you almost wish you could rewind it and repeat it and just sit in it once more. (And it’s not the sexy scenes of Stack and Smoke, or the best pair of Jordans you could ever score.) In the heart of the juke joint, as the blues take over and Sammie’s voice ascends not just from his soul but from a long line of ancestors, Coogler draws the through lines between the blues and ancient song rituals and prayer circles and rock and hip-hop and African drums and Asian dance and the musical expressions across the world.
There’s a prickling that perks up the hairs on your skin as the sound deepens and the dancing moves closer, eyes closed, bodies melting together.
You are in the masterful Sugar Shack that Ernie Barnes painted, the Sugar Shack of Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You,” the Sugar Shack of “Good Times,” the Sugar Shack my college called the sweat box. Barnes painted us long-bodied, shades of rich browns, arms often stretched and features emphasized with love. And he always painted us with our eyes closed because he believed we were blind to one another’s humanity. His painting called on us to know ourselves so we could see each other.
Coogler is doing the same. Within this film there is a call to know who we are, to choose who and what we let in and whether we want to work together to shut danger out, to recognize that supremacy hurts every single person in its wake, to choose love and one another, and to dream even bigger, even when no one can see it but you. Our dreams are just that: ours.
Coogler didn’t just show us that on-screen. He affirmed that with the deal he made with Warner Bros. In 25 years, it is Coogler who will retain the rights to his film that he created from his own imagination.
When you go after your dreams and own your power, it allows others to dare to dance to their own drums, too. It shows them they can sing their own songs. Freedom requires that kind of unshakeable determination and steadfast belief.
Black joy and boots: Fanning a cultural connection
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If you’re on social media, you may have seen the viral “Boots on the Ground” fan-popping, line-dancing viral videos. CNN’s Lisa Respers France digs deeper into the Black Joy of it all and why this is more than a good time dance. It is a form of both escape and resistance.
And while line dancing extends beyond African American communities, Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. reflected on the special place it holds during tumultuous times.
“With line dancing, it doesn’t matter what political party you are. It doesn’t matter where you grew up, if you went to private school, public, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “You just come together and you create. You express yourself in a way that is pleasing, that is fun and that gives you a sense of community. We love to come together because there’s so many ways in which people try to tear us apart.”
Oompa is one of Boston’s favorite lyricists and she’s also an undeniably good time. Her latest video, part of her Girls like Girls series, is a satirical take on reality TV dating shows, and we’re watching it on repeat for the music and the laughs.
Click here to watch the video.
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Seeing the Ailey dancers is an annual tradition, but this year the stirring ballet seems urgently needed. Let the rich colors, the spiritual song and dance, and collective release carry you into a softer place. See them live April 24-April 27 at the Boch Center. Showtimes and tickets here.
- Jazz & Flowers Brunch, live music, and a pop-up shop? Let’s go to Puro to celebrate community, culture, and pay homage to the Harlem’s “Jazz in the Park,” with Gangsters Buy Flowers. It all blooms from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 27, at 264 Newbury St.
- Pack a bag The Black Boy Art Show, celebrating Black male artists, hits Atlanta this weekend and will continue throughout the summer with stops in Chicago and Brooklyn, too. Get tickets here.
Sixty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the 1965 Freedom Rally in a march from Roxbury to Boston Common. The fight against racism, poverty, and injustice continues. This week, we celebrate King, Ruth Batson, Alan Gartner, Reverend Virgil Wood, Dr. Ralph Abernathy, and all of our freedom fighters of that rally as pushas of joy and justice. We celebrate Embrace Boston and the hundreds of partners who have come together to celebrate progress made and empower our collective community to continue to fight for equality.
On Saturday, April 26, we will gather together as the City of Boston and Everyone250 name the Charles Street entrance to the Common “1965 Freedom Rally Square.” Once again, we will march. We will affirm our humanity and the personhood of everyone. Register here.
This week, we aren’t pushing products. We’re inviting you to give back. As our museums, arts, health, and academic institutions are under attack, it is on us to help as we can. The Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket needs us. Donate here.
What makes your life a beautiful resistance? Share with us here or @abeautifulresistance.
Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @sincerelyjenee and on Instagram @abeautifulresistance.
