The late Aaliyah Haughton was ahead of her time when she sang the 2000 hit, “Try Again.” Not only did she look fly as hell in the music video, but the lyric that still sticks out today is “dust yourself off and try again.” Why? Because that’s what we’re going to have to do whenever outside opens the hell up again!
*breathes*
Anyway, self-isolation savior Netflix is back with their Strong Black Leading content for May (speaking of which, the months are going to start running together just as the days have been, aren’t they?) and there’s some good stuff!
First up, Romeo Must Die. Not only was this a huge deal because of Aaliyah’s burgeoning acting career, but this was a big action movie starring a black woman and Asian man as love interests.
“I didn’t realize [then], but I did know a lot of African-American and African people love me [and my] action [films],” movie co-star Jet Li told HelloBeautiful reporter Sade Spence while discussing the impact the film had on the black community during his promotion for the upcoming live-action Mulan. “I’m so glad I’ve had a chance to work with Aaliyah, I’ll always remember her. She was charming, beautiful [and] it was a great experience in my life.”
Other notable titles that are already kicking off the month right on the streaming platform are Above The Rim, For Colored Girls, All Day and a Night, Hollywood and She Hate Me. And since that list ends off on a Spike Lee joint…
Lee has several iconic “joints” such as Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X, but one of his lesser-known films is 1996’s Get on the Bus. It is about a group of men who take a trip to the Million Man March. Since I went to a black-ass elementary school, I saw this film right in the classroom with my peers (shout-out to the A/V department who used to cart in the televisions with VCRs). I still randomly perform the Shabooya Roll Call chant to this day because of that film. It’s now available to stream!
Michelle Obama’s documentary Becoming will be dropping on May 6 and Netflix will also be debuting a new series Sweet Magnolias (based on the Sherryl Woods novel series of the same name) on May 19.
‘Til next month! I love me some binge-worthy series, but let’s hope our next Strong Black Lead content will be consumed in between some much-needed regular outside time (safely, of course).