Black as Night

Beware of the dark. Well, maybe not if you are highly melanated.

Last month a horror/comedy film in the vampire genre called Black as Night was released. It takes place in New Orleans, 15 years after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Our protagonist, an insecure 15-year old named Shawna is navigating through the ninth ward while dealing with Jamal, her antagonizing brother, Steven, her stern father, and Denise, her drug addicted mother who is currently living in the housing project known as the Ombreaux.

Her sidekick, and best friend Pedro attempts to lift her spirits as her forlorn eyes gaze upon Chris, a local hunk who is seemingly attracted exclusively to the fair skinned female teens. At a party that Shawna reluctantly attends, Pedro pushes her to finally talk to him. She approaches Chris and his small entourage and awkwardly engages in conversation before excusing herself in embarrassment.

This sort of urban romantic comedy is interwoven with the main story of a master vampire named Babineaux played by legendary actor Keith David who is methodically transforming the homeless population into his vampire legions to overthrow the oppressive regime that is displacing local folk of color, particularly by development tactics such as tearing down the Ombreaux.

We learn that Babineaux was once a slave who was bitten by a vampire, and turned on his master and the entire plantation, liberating his fellow slaves in the process. Throughout the years he has participated in liberation tactics, but has grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress. This is when he decides to create an army built from the bottom, as he declares no one will notice because they are the forgotten.

Shawna, Chris, Pedro investigates, targets and invades Babineaux’s lair, a hotel that was the very same plantation where the master vampire was enslaved. The trio escape and take refuge in Shawna’s home, only to be invaded by a few homeless vampires.

Contrary to the myth, these vampires can enter homes without being invited. However, a small team of vampires turned vampire slayers rescue them. They have a meeting with the young vampire slayers in training. The plan is constructed, and the final confrontation is about to commence.

Tunde, the leader of the vampire slayers, tells the story of an African princess who was very dark and beautiful, so much so that all the women turned to the sun to be as dark as her. For the first time it seems that Shawna believes in her beauty. Then Chris turns to her and confirms she is beautiful, thus guaranteeing that their romance will blossom.

What has been refreshing in this new wave of black horror is the inclusion of darker skinned characters. For many years lighter skinned blacks dominated the screen, reinforcing the notion that lighter skin was not only preferred and accepted, but revered.

This phenomenon is known as colorism, which dates back to the time of slavery, where the field slaves were dark, and the house slaves, the product of the master’s rape of the female slave, were lighter skinned, effectively light or lighter than a paper bag, which was used for decades post slavery, both by whites and other blacks to determine which blacks were acceptable in social, business, entertainment and other aspects of life.

It is not just an American phenomenon, but a global one. All over the world black women are bleaching their skin in order to look fairer so that they would be viewed as acceptable. In India for example, dark skinned women and girls are called dusky, and effectively shoved to the side for opportunities. It is true, this practice is occurring right now in the 21st century

This is why color diversity in American entertainment is not just a good business decision but a moral imperative, as the rest of the world looks to America for social consciousness.

With more actors getting commanding roles like Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Lupita Nyong'o (Black Panther, Us), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen – TV Mini Series, Candyman) and Mahershala Ali (House of Cards, Green Book), the complexion of cinema has a chance of becoming what it needs to be, and more importantly little dark-skinned boys and girls can believe that they too can one day grace the screen.

Also featured is the dynamic of class, the idea that those from the bottom can rise up and take power with the right leadership, that finally the ones who have suffered the most and who have been grossly ignored can not only fundamentally upset the apple cart, but take ownership of the cart itself.

The poor and downtrodden has always played a part in the political game, the stump speeches and campaign visits to homeless shelters and soup kitchen subject to well-manicured, polished hopefuls with their rolled up white starched shirt sleeves learning about the inner workings of said establishments, telling everyone that we must reach out to the least of us, so that we can realize the promise of America.

And then, they mysteriously vanish for four years.

It is conveyed in Black as Night, which takes place in 2020, that after 15 years black poor and working-class are still suffering from the effects of the levees breaking in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, that we in the larger society with our rapid-fire lens at the latest news event have long since forgotten about our New Orleans citizens of the ninth ward.

Our nationwide crumbling infrastructure, as our elected officials so wax poetically about, is not the result of our lack of technological knowledge, or the commitment of good souls across this nation who are ready, willing and able to complete the work. It is the lack of political will to deliver effective dollars – dollars that will go directly to the projects themselves – and allow the citizens to do what we have always done – get the job done.

It is the sweat and dirt on the faces of the workers, not the clean faces under the pristine domes of legislatures, that symbolize the best of us.

I was a light skinned middle class kid in Washington, DC full of hopes and dreams, to hug the world and one day become a leader of love and conscience. My idealized visions would soon come crashing into the harsh and brutal realities that civilizations have created.

It may sound corny, but it is still my forever dream that the world equally celebrates the light as day and the black as night and everything in between, and to ensure that no one who breathes and walks on this earth is ever forgotten.