Harlem Nights (1989) Directed by Eddie Murphy
“See, they’re McDonald’s… I’m McDowell’s. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds.” - Cleo McDowell, Coming to America
Coming to America (1988) Directed by John Landis
Good Times “Black Jesus”
(can’t embed, linked to video)
Roots (1977) Based on the novel by Alex Haley
Yaphet Kotto
Blue Collar (1978) Directed by Paul Schrader
Just Us by Richard Pryor
Papercuts by Broadcast
RIP Trish Keenan
Bustin’ Loose (1981) Directed by Oz Scott
Cicely Tyson and Miles Davis
John McLaughlin by Miles Davis
Alex Haley interview with Miles Davis, Playboy Magazine, September 1962
“I don’t pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got, and the only one I worry about, is myself. My music has got to get past me and I’m too vain to play anything I think is bad.”
Illustration by Tran Nguyen