The Politics of Race in American Film: Episode 4, Hollywood Representations of Blackness

In this episode of The Politics of Race in American Film, Dr. Clive James Nwonka hosts a conversation with Cheryl Bedford (Women of Color Unite), Lanre Bakare (The Guardian), and Sam Mejias (The New School) which looks at films which engage with questions of blackness and race in America during the Obama and Trump eras. These films include Moonlight, Get Out, Us, Queen and Slim, Waves, Harriet, and more recently, Judas and the Black Messiah. What do these films tell us about the politics of race, both within the industry and more broadly in American society, and how we see African American films (or African Americans within film) shaping and influencing the racial politics of the US? What might be next for African American cinema in the era of Joe Biden?

Contributors: Cheryl Bedford, Women of Color Unite; Lanre Bakare, Arts and Culture Correspondent, The Guardian; Sam Mejias, The New School; Dr. Clive James Nwonka, Fellow International Inequalities Institute, LSE