Our Favorite Blackity Black Quotes In Black Cinema
By: Cody Charles
I love film. I love Black film. The medium has influenced my life in ways I can’t begin to unpack. At its best, Black cinema pushes me to dream of impossible futures.
I remember when I first heard the words You don’t even know spoken in the brilliant film, Moonlight- I was shook. This line lingered for many purple moons after my first viewing. Actually, it’s still lingering.
You don’t even know is what I want to say when I’m too tired to share my trauma, and too tired to process the violence that continues to land on my Black fat queer body- willfully choosing to hide my pain in the depths of my medial temporal lobe.
Principal Williams: “Chiron, listen: you’re not in trouble. You’re not being punished, okay? You did nothing wrong, we know that, okay?”
Still nothing, Chiron has completely shut down.
Principal Williams: “Look, if you don’t tell us who did this we can’t press charges, understand? (and) All them damn kids standing around, all of y’all out there and don’t nobody got the heart to say who did it?”
That getting Chiron’s attention, head snapping to meet Williams’ gaze:
CHIRON: You don’t even know.
Fully knowing that you can’t really hide that type of pain or violence, as it infiltrates every part of your being- relationship to family and friends, relationship to romantic partners, relationship to food, relationship to success, to love, and to radical self prioritization. I’m tricking no one as I attempt to de-center the hurt, the guilt, and the rage I must eventually work through.
As a 34 year old human, I’m still reckoning with truth(s).
This line could not be any more real and unsettling, aided by Ashton Sander’s haunting delivery.
Black film has a way of capturing the most raw emotions in very little words- anger, fear, sadness, joy, disgust, surprise, kindness, envy, shame, and love.
I’ve gathered a few of my friends to share their favorite quotes in Black film. Enjoy!
Charlesia McKinney- Pop Culture Enthusiast, PhD Student & Fat Studies Scholar
Daniel Johnson- Writer, poet, and music lover
Jameelah Tamira Jones- Writer, #SlateSpeak Contributor
Darren Canady- Prolific Playwright, Professor in English
Cody Charles- Writer, creator of Reclaiming Anger
Charlesia (Lele) McKinney- Brown Sugar (2002)
What are we celebrating? *clink, clink* My divooooorce!
Brown Sugar came out when I was 12 years old and I love this movie; it’s a common reference for me and my best friend, and this scene in particular still makes us laugh all these years later.
When I was younger I always imagined myself as Syd — the friend trying to avoid a scene. But now? Oh, I’m Dre — we’re going to get in this restaurant, cause a scene, get the most expensive bottle of champagne to celebrate my divorce and new found freedom- blessings for growth.
Daniel Johnson- Do The Right Thing (1989)
Mother Sister: Hey, you old drunk, what did I tell you about drinking in front of my stoop? Move on; you’re blocking my view. You are ugly enough; don’t stare at me. The evil eye doesn’t work on me.
I’ve always loved this exchange between Da Mayor and Mother Sister, particularly because they were portrayed by the late great Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. Their real lives, as freedom fighters, bleed into these roles for me. They, like their characters have seen and been through a lot in their lives, from the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s to the crack epidemic of the 1980’s to the election of Bill Clinton, largely on the backs of the Black community.
I think about Da Mayor and Mother Sister as a microcosm of the sometimes contentious relationship between Black men and Black women, even in this teasing exchange where Da Mayor pleads with Mother Sister to respect him.
Jameelah Tamira Jones- B*A*P*S (1997)
B*A*P*S is a cinematic masterpiece and I will NOT hear any arguments to the contrary. This is one of Halle Berry’s first leading roles, and the first movie I ever saw set in my hometown. It holds a very special place in my heart. Since I can’t choose EVERY quote from this movie, I will just pick my favorites.
Now when they say how are you, we say —
LIVING LARGE AND TAKING CHARGE BIG BOIII
In this film, Denise (Nisi) and Tamika (Mickey) are trying to navigate bougie white rich spaces. Nisi buys a book to help them fit-in, The Beverly Hills Book of Etiquette, that Mickey writes off as a joke. Why cant she be herself? Why must they code switch?
You know how rich folks is. They gotta feel like they got a choice, in everythang they do
Nisi attempts to explain why there are two toilets in the bathroom of the mansion they’ve been invited (one of these toilets is actually a bidet) to. She's right about the absurdity of whiteness and the class privilege that grants rich white people so many choices.
Darren Canady- The Color Purple (1985) & Paris is Burning (1990)
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it.
There is something so perfect about the setting sun, and the vibrant greens and purples flanking Celie and Shug. The field of flowers, the relaxed pace — I remember as a child hearing that line and realizing Shug wanted us to marvel at the everyday magic and miracles in the world. Every time I hear it, I think how many miraculous, rich things we wander past without a passing thought. The field the women walk through reminds me of the fields surrounding the farm my grandmother grew up on in Vernon, Oklahoma. As a child, we went for a visit every year. Back then I use to be fitful about the five hour drive knowing there was nothing but fields and horses and pigs and a shotgun farmhouse on the other end. But the more I think about Shug’s admonition to Celie, I see that red Oklahoma clay and the freestyling purple field flowers as proof that miracles are not in fairy dust and potions, they happen in delicate summer evenings walking through fields with your soulmate — quiet, thoughtful, *alive*.
And then reading became a developed form where it became shade. Shade is…I don’t tell you you’re ugly, but…I don’t have to tell you because you KNOW you’re ugly. And that’s shade.
Look here. In the grand legends and lore of the worst cases of appropriation, the COMPLETE misuse of reading and shade reigns supreme. Since we love to steal things from black folx, PARTICULARLY black queer folx, I probably shouldn’t be surprised the number of times I see people in the club or on tv be “all SHADE.” I’m sittin’ here like “no trick, that was barely a read and it for damn sure ain’t had the finesse of shade.” There is art to shade, there is form, there is wit, there is subtlety — you not gon just toss off some crude, vulgar insult and think I’m gonna raise that horseshit to the level of shade, I shall not have it! And that is where Mother Dorian saves us all with her primer: what I love about her definition and distinction of reading and shade is her way of making form follow function. She not only defines shade, she utilizes shady ways while doing it. Chile, I LIVE! This is a classic moment of American counter culture and y’all better recognize the gospel that issued forth from Dorian Corey’s lips.
Cody Charles- Poetic Justice (1993)
I was 10 years old when Poetic Justice came out, and I had no earthly business watching this movie at the time. One of my older siblings owned the movie on VHS (of course a dubbed version- with New Jack City following), and since I was a latchkey kid, there was no one present to stop me. I was enamored with Justice- I think I wanted to be like her- witty, artsy, bothered, unbothered, and beautiful. And I had many nights considering the ways I wanted to practice enthusiastic consent with Lucky. Ahem, let’s just get to the quote.
You wanna smell my punani?
Y’all, I had no idea what punani meant at the time, it wasn’t until I had a discussion over Poetic Justice in grad school that the meaning was revealed. Blame it on my youth, blame it on my naivety, or blame it on my particular brand of queerness- I had no clue. I thought Justice was talking about her shea-buttered neck…again, I was 10.
Hope you enjoyed the piece. Please comment with your favorite quotes in Black cinema in the comment section below- additionally, when you share the piece on social media, add your favorite quote there too.
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This is the work of Cody Charles; claiming my work does not make me selfish or ego-driven, instead radical and in solidarity with the folk who came before me and have been betrayed by history books and storytellers. Historically, their words have been stolen and reworked without consent. This is the work of Cody Charles. Please discuss, share, and cite properly.
Bio:
Cody Charles is the author of Engaging My Black Fat Body, Black Up The Cast: Re-imagining Iconic Horror Films, I’m Fearful of White People and Whiteness, It Be A Black Reckoning, Re-Imagining Black Love, You Can’t Outdo Black People, Black Joy, We Deserve It, The Night The Moonlight Caught My Eye: Not a Review but a Testimony on the Film Moonlight, 5 Tips For White Folks, As They Engage Jordan Peele’s Get Out. (No Spoilers), and What Growing Up Black And Poor Taught Me About Resiliency. Join him for more conversation on Twitter (@_codykeith_) and Facebook (Follow Cody Charles). Please visit his blog, Reclaiming Anger, to learn more about him.
