Blackest Movie Scenes

How do you measure “blackest”?  Well, it’s up to me because I’m making the list.  But it’s that prefect combination of funk, pride and overall cultural specificity that can manifest itself in comedy, drama, romance, music and more.  This is the first stab at the list.  Some scenes were not available on YouTube to illustrate the point so they were not included. But I’m sure this list will have a sequel later.

1. Nicholas Brothers and Cab Calloway in STORMY WEATHER

Black performance at its pinnacle.  The lush swing of the Cab Calloway Orchestra provides the setting for the most fantastic dance number of all time.  The Nicholas Brothers epitomize swag, charm, brotherly love, style, inventiveness and near impossible athleticism.

2. Billy Dee Williams in LADY SINGS THE BLUES

Billy Dee Williams is the ultimate ladies man, and this scene made it so.

3. Adolph Caesar in A SOLDIER’S STORY

This speech from Sgt. Waters in A Soldier Story is one of the most profound, terrifying and brilliant monologues in literature.

4. Eddie Murphy in COMING TO AMERICA

I make a top ten list entirely with clips from Eddie Murphy movies.  His comedic brilliance at capturing the nuances of black culture is untouchable.

5. Sidney Poitier IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

When a proud elegant black man from up north goes down south and slaps the shit out of a rich white cracker, it was the payback heard around the world.

6. Jamie Foxx in DJANGO UNCHAINED

If Mr. Tibbs delivering that slap was the alpha of black revolt against white supremacy, Django very publicly and deliberately getting revenge on the slave overseers is the omega.  He doesn’t just kill them; he talks smack, tortures and embarrasses them, then makes sure the entire plantation witnesses his act of freedom.

7. Robin Harris in DO THE RIGHT THING

Robin Harris’ old school humor was so LA-by-way-of-Chicago Black he repped to the fullest no matter what he did.  But his response to the jealousy and frustration of black residents to Korean vendors in the neighborhood was so brilliant and complex it must be singled out.

8. Denzel Washington and Nicole Carson in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS

Sex with the crazy, conflicted beauty is a tender trap and perfectly captured in the clip from Devil in a Blue Dress.  There are so many more great scenes from this film I need for sequels to this list.

9. Tyrese Gibson, and AJ Johnson in BABY BOY

I could make a ten blackest moments list out of this film alone, but this gnarly family conflict between the protective son, evolved but still dangerous boyfriend and a mother caught in the middle is classic ghetto drama.

10. Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Tiny Lister and DJ Pooh in Friday

The punch line at the end of this scene is one of the all time catch phrases, but DJ Pooh’s set up is underrated funny.