Sinners, the Sugar Shack, and love songs
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.
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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.
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You are in the masterful
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.
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The Read
Black joy and boots: Fanning a cultural connection
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.'
The Watch
BOSTON, MA - 8/12/2023 Boston Rapper Oompa performs at the GLD FSTVL held at City Hall Plaza in Boston. The festival was put on to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop. 14HIPHOPFEST
Vincent Alban For The Boston Globe
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.
Black parade
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Joy pushas
1965 Freedom Rally
Charles Dixon/ Globe staff
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.
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On Saturday, April 26, we will gather together as the City of Boston and
Fresh finds
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
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.
What makes your life a beautiful resistance?
Jeneé Osterheldt can be reached at
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