Black Cookout Must Haves

The weather's nice, days are longer, the reasons for being outside are endless, and Memorial Day is this weekend. Which means it's the unofficial start of summer, which translates to its time for cookouts, like every weekend someone should be having a cookout.

Since we love cookouts, the food, the atmosphere, the weather. Here's some must have items every Black cookout should have.

Good Playlist

If you have a live DJ at your cookout, then you know how to throw a party.  Get ready to jam until the wee hours of the morning. If you dont have a DJ, make sure your playlist is equipped with all the songs that give summer feels. No summer playlist is complete unless  Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff "Summertime" and Frankie Beverly and Maze "Before I let you go" is on there. Throw Beyoncé's updated version on there to get a line dance going. If you're in Baltimore, you have to play some B-More Club Music somewhere in the mix.

Card Games

Once the sun starts setting and everyone is suffering from the itis, somebody is bound to pull out a deck of cards and ask "Ya'll tryna play spades?". Thus the door opens for some hilarious banter throughout the rest of the night until someone gets mad enough and quits playing.

If no one has some spades cards around, UNO is the next best option and that also will get some chatter and banter going. Especially if the participants have a little liquor in them. On the West Coast Domino is a popular alternative to Spades, and get's the job done of entertaining the spectators.  

Liquor

One thing for sure about Black People if the mood is festive, or hell maybe not so festive liquor is gon be around.

 Beer...coolers...bourbon...whiskey....tequila you need something to wash down the plate packed to the heap. Someone probably gon bring a bottle of white henny they bought overseas for everyone to drink in two minutes. Shots, mixed drinks, trash bags (or hopefully recycle bins) filled with bottles. Let's not forget the plastic red cups splattered around. 

Sometime's you have to kick back in the summer heat and enjoy the moment, some good liquor helps make that happen.

Good Side Dishes 

Everyone knows when you come to the cookout you can't wait to dig into the ribs, the hot dogs, and the hamburgers. Throw some chicken in there fried, bbq'd or grilled and the main course of a plate is complete, but good side dishes make the cookout. You have to have the side dishes everyone mouth been watering over or the cookout may just be considered an epic fail.

I'm talking when the pans are lined up and you open the cover you see, potato salad, seafood salad, some mac and cheese, baked beans, a regular salad, and some devil eggs. If any of these are missing but the rest are there, the cookout about to be right. If none of them are there go ahead and sneak out before people even noticed you stopped by. 

Good Company

The food is the usually the main attraction to any cookout, but no cookout is complete without good company. Family and Friends you've known for years or only for a short time to get together decompress, talk mad shit, laugh and just enjoy one another's company. It's the best part of any cookout and honestly makes a cookout more than any of the food.

Bonus Must Have

Extra Paper Plates & Alumnium Foil

This must need's no real explaination, just know when the cookout winding down and folks getting ready to go. Some plates to go gon be made, so make sure there's extra paper plates and foil to go around. Don't worry we're resourceful, if there's not enough alumnium foil we'll just use another plate to cover our plate to go. 

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Teams That Could Have Their Own Winning Time

 Season 1 of HBO's newest show "Winning Time" just finished it's first season. The series follows the behind the scenes goings on, politics, and business moves that were made to craft the "showtime" era L.A. Lakers of the 1980's. It has already been renewed for a 2nd season which should dig deeper into the team and the 80's lifestyle.

In my opinion HBO has a potential hit of a franchise on their hand with Winning Time. Think about it! People love sports, big personalities, business, and drama which every professional sports league has. So it got me thinking about which other pro teams would be good subjects for additional Winning Time seasons.

'96 New York Yankees

Love them or hate them, The Yankees are probably theee most popular team in professional sports. After years of mediocrity, they returned to dominance in 1996 winning their first Division title since 1981, and first World Series since 1978.

George Steinbrenner is one owner who probably matched Jerry Buss's flair, maybe even exceeding it. He was very competitive and an sore loser. Some even say he ruled in fear, irrational at times and surly. Some of his smartest moves as a owner however, came into play in '96 and would be an interesting subject.

Joe Torre being hired before the season and the New York Media shitting on him because of his previous manager record. A young rookie by the name of Derek Jeter being called up and starting his path to being a franchise player. Along with other highly talented young cornerstones like Bernie Williams and Andy Pettitte. Shrewd moves like bringing  vets in such as Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry both who had addictions that derailed their careers. Tino Martinez, David Cone and Luis Sojo before and throughout the season.

Of course their postseason run, including the famous Jeffery Mahier incident (As a Orioles fan, still a little salty about that). Torre's brother being hospitalized during their playoff run and them winning the World Series sparking a dynasty heading into the new millennium.

On the surface sounds like a good ol' feel good story but I'm sure there was a lot of shit going down behind the scenes.

'80's Edmonton Oilers

With Wayne Gretzky on any team, they are sure to be perennial winners. The Edmonton Oiler's of the 1980's were thee personification of a dynasty. Winning five Stanley Cup Championship's in the 1980's.

With the greatest hockey player ever on their team, and surrounded by players like Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Jari Karri and Glenn Anderson. The Oilers had all the pieces in place to win championships for a very long time.

The success didn't come without issues, including Mark Messier and Dave Hunter legal troubles. As well as the behind the scenes decisions that led to the bombshell trade of Wayne Gretzky to the L.A. Kings in 1988. For pretty much the entire decade the Edmonton Oilers were on the mountaintop of the NHL, that story should be told. 

'90's Dallas Cowboys

America's Team! You say that and everyone knows your talking about the Dallas Cowboys. In the early and mid-90's there was no more loved and successful team in America. Everyone loved the iconic blue star. Much like the Lakers they also believed in showmanship alongside winning.

They had a colorful cast of characters fit for TV. With an outspoken and controlling team owner in Jerry Jones. That in itself would be a major plot point, his buying of the team in '89 choosing to become the General Manager, and the choices he made good or bad to get the Cowboy's to where they are today.

A shrewd head coach known more for his impeccable hair on the sidelines in Jimmy Johnson. Who led the Cowboy's to two super bowls before leaving because he couldnt get along with Jerry. Followed by Barry Switzer. On the field strong personalities like Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson, Larry Allen, Charles Haley and "Prime Time" Deion Sanders.

The Cowboys of the 90's didn't have many off the field troubles during the teams championship 3 titles in 4 years run. After that time period was a different story, but it would be interesting to see how all those personalities were managed, paid well and kept happy to be so successful.

Any of these three teams would be perfect topics to cover. Let's hope HBO sees potential in the franchise and moves forward with these teams or other teams.

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Netflix Needs More "Events"

Netflix recently announced that they have lost a significant amount of subscribers. Their plan to battle it? Crackdown on password sharing. Since then Netflix shares have dropped and online forums and columns have been blowing up with many reasons why Netflix is suffering.

These reasons range from the frequent price increases (very valid point, six in eight years is aggressive and excessive), to frequent cancelations of good shows before they find their footing (a major Netflix problem). To the complete lack of quality content (Seems like they greenlight anything). 

Netflix has done a masterful job of producing quality TV series, but when it comes to original films an awful lot is left to be desired. They fell into a trap of trying to create as much original content as possible as film studios created their own streaming services. The problem was they chose quantity over quality in the situation. Some original films are downright horrible.

Look at their recent Netflix is a Joke Festival and what they promoted the most. Stranger Things, Cobra Kai, Grace & Frankie, and Umbrella Academy. All highly successful TV shows that have built the brand.

Reading the different threads, and recently  watching Fear Street something occurred to me. One of Netflixs biggest problems when releasing original films and some of their landmark series, is that they have no "Big event" feel to them.

When the three part Fear Street series released last summer, there was a "epic" feel to it so to speak. People were excited to watch part 1 over July 4th weekend, the movie was good and drew anticipation for the next two parts released in subsequent weeks.

Most of Netflixs movies releases are sandwiched in between other Netflix releases that same day or weekend. As a way to help bring subscribers back, the company should invest in giving viewers that FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) feeling.

Have follow up program after a big movie almost like a behind the scenes series. For example Project Adam (which was very good and 80ish in it's tone). There should have been a BTS series on the influences of the movie. A brief program on the world of the series and how time travel works in the movie universe. Maybe a bigger ad campaign before it released.

When the latest season of Cobra Kai was released. Have the three orignal films werent enough. There should have been even a 10 minute special on what bought creators back to the Karate Kid world. Or better yet a brief special on how Cobra Kai has given the franchise new life, since debuting in 2018.

The second half of the final season of Ozark just debuted. Where is the big hoopla for it? Fans are excited yes, but Netflix seems to just let it fly under the radar. 

Something like that, hell anything to draw excitement for programs would help them out. Even with the Fandom and lore already built in, think about how excited people get when a new Marvel or Star Wars show debuts on Disney plus. It may cost Netflix more to produce these brief blurbs, but the fan loyalty and support I think would outweigh it.

The opportunity is there for Netflix to turn things around. It's in their hands to come up with original content and think outside the box. That big event feel for Netflix original content could go a long way in bringing subscribers back.

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Baltimore The Movie Character

You may have seen the trailer for HBO's latest mini-series "We Own This City" debuting later this month and starring Jon Bernthal (The Punisher), Wunmi Mosaku (Lovecraft Country), Jamie Hector (Marlo, "The Wire") and Baltimore native Josh Charles (Sports Night). The series produced by David Simon focuses on the true story of a corrupt Baltimore city PD task force.  

The series was very active filming around the city last summer. Shoot, they filmed a block up from my street and parked a big ass trailer right in front of my house. 

Seeing the trailer (the actual promo trailer) got me thinking about movies that were actually filmed in Baltimore.

The city of Baltimore is known for alot of things, some positive most of it unfairly negative. One often overlooked positive is how it is a great backdrop for films. 

It's often an overlooked aspect of filmmaking unless the plot is dependent on it, but what city a film is set in is a important component of making movies. It sets a tone and can assist in driving home the message of a movie. Now Baltimore may not be in the conversation with LA, New York, or Atlanta when it comes to movies being filmed here. 

However, the city is no slouch with Hollywood depictions, there are several films out there you may not realize were filmed in Baltimore. Oftentimes it's a stand in for D.C. since filmmakers don't have to deal with the challenges of filming in the nation's capital. Other times it's a stand in for other cities (Major League II, The Replacements). The best times though,  are when a film is actually set here. Hollywood get's the most bang for it's buck when it accurately depicts the city for it's beauty,, quirkiness nd grim.

I've compiled a list of five films I think really exemplify and made the city it's own character. Note, this list is strictly about movies so The Wire and Homicide: Life On The Street two great TV series, where the city was a major character just as much if not more than the actors of the shows are omitted.

5. Liberty Heights

Released in 1999, Liberty Heights is one of Baltimore native Barry Levinson's "Baltimore films". This film follows a Jewish teenager Ben (Ben Foster) observing and living life in the 1950's as his father has a role with the mob and under close watch by the feds, his school has recently integrated, and he falls for a fellow student Sylvia who is Black.

Baltimore neighborhoods particularly the Liberty Heights area are highlighted in the film. Druid Hill Park was a filming location. Pennsylvania Ave and the famed Royal Theater which was the Black mecca in Baltimore during the 50's and 60's is depicted. Famed Baltimore gangster Lil' Melvin is even portrayed in the film by Orlando Jones. My family lived in the Liberty Heights area for years spanning multiple generations, and as a kid it was very cool to see an area I was familiar with in a Hollywood movie.

4. He's Just Not That Into You

This 2009 film bought alot of star power to Baltimore. Starring Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johannson, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, Jennifer Connolly, Kevin Connolly and Jennifer Aniston. They came together for a romantic comedy above love and life and is actually a decent rom-com movie.

The movie follows different characters in different stages of relationships. More importantly it shows quite a few areas of Baltimore. Fells Point, Brewer's Hill, Mount Vernon, water taxis around the Harbor, Canton, and the famous Domino Sugar sign. Local beer Natty Boh is heavily shown in many bar scenes. This movie maybe almost 13 years old but its actually a great advertisement for Baltimore and it's charm.

3. Diner

Diner is basically Barry Levinson's love letter to his youth and the city that made him. Released in 1982 and set in the 1950's the film covers a group of friends who love to frequent a Fells Point diner. It's at the diner where they love french fries and gravy and debating over roast beef sandwiches on rye. 

Local TV station WBAL is name dropped. The main characters stan the Baltimore Colts, which a humorous subplot involving a marriage is dependent on the Colts is included. Fells Point, overview shots of a pre Inner Harbor harbor, Camden Station and other Baltimore landmarks are prominent. The movie is very Seinfeldish in that it really has no plot, it just follows a group of friends experiencing different situations in life. If you've ever hung out with your friends agitated one another simply to debate, and done some wild and random shit in your youth, you'll appreciate the movie. 

2. Charm City Kings

Starring Meek Mill, Ja'hani Wiston, and Baltimore dirt bike legend Chino Braxton. The movie highlights the dirt bike culture of Baltimore. How much work goes into building dirt bikes and learning the craft of riding one. It also provides clues on why dirt bike riders are considered Superheroes to inner city kids.

It has little nuances like the Baltimore accent where we say "doug" or "dug" instead of dog.  Beloved UTZ crab chips are displayed a few times and two characters eating not quite a 4 wings and fries chicken box but almost there. It also showed everyday Baltimore neighborhoods, dipilated housing and all that natives would recognize or snap their fingers and be like damn I know that area.

1. Hairspray 

John Waters has set all of his films in Baltimore, and made all efforts to show the quirks of the city. From Pink Flamingo to Serial Mom, and Pecker, John Waters will show just how off many residents in different phases and demographics of life.  The 2007 musical film of Hairspray does a wonderful job of making Baltimore it's own character in the film. It's opening song is even a catchy ode of a song to Baltimore 

As great as that movie is, it mainly was filmed in Toronto, Canada. The nod here however goes to the original 1988 film starring Ricki Lake. For actually being filmed in the city, and showing many landmarks,quirks and Baltimore slang of the 1960s. Love or hate the film or the director, you cant hate his love for his hometown. 

If your curious about the various movies and TV shows filmed in Baltimore click here

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Will, Chris, The Slap It's All Complicated

 

Sunday Night things got a little uneasy at the Academy Awards. After Chris Rock performed a joke on Jada Pinkett Smith, her husband Will calmly walked on stage slapped Chris and walked back to his seat. By now you've seen the footage, the aftermath, the memes and the numerous viewpoints of everyone around the world on this situation.

From people are too soft to it comes with the territory. Will was right, Will was wrong. What they would have done if they were Will or Chris. Here's my very brief two cents on it, the whole situation is complicated. It's also very easy to say what you would have done when you're not in that exact moment.

Based on Will's speech after he won an Oscar for Best Actor his emotions were high. He spoke of the need at this point in his life to be a protector of those around him. Which alludes to why he did what he did. As a husband he was right in defending his wife, could it have been handled differently? Of course and that's what makes it wrong.

However things also point to emotional baggage, feeling like enough and enough. And overall just being tired of being the butt of jokes. Which points to something we are still fighting in the Black community. The proper outlet and space for Black people, especially Black males to let their feelings out and handle it properly.

Maybe we'll get more light on the situation, maybe we won't. Hopefully the complexities of the situation allows for more open dialogue about mental health and emotions among Black men.

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Give Us A Meteor Man Cartoon!

 My brother and I are huge fans of the 1993 film Meteor Man. We were recently discussing is it time for a remake of the movie and I instantly shot it down, Hell No leave the movie as it was!! Is exactly what I said lol. Then for some random reason a thought popped in my head. Meteor Man is owned and was released by MGM Studios, MGM is currently in the process of being bought by Amazon. Amazon needs fresh content to convince people to use prime video and compete with more popular streaming services. Lastly studios love digging in the archives for the next big property they can introduce to a new generation.

Meteor Man is the perfect property for that to happen....by way of a cartoon series. A Meteor Man cartoon that maintains the same comedic tone as the film with maybe a small dash of the violence depicted in Invincible would be a hit in my opinion. Since its an cartoon, it could be set in the same timeline of the original in the 90's or be moved up to present day with a slightly new take on Meteor Man.

Jefferson Reed could still be a teacher trying to maintain the balance of being a superhero, being a positive influence for his students and include his desire to make sure Meteor Man is portrayed as a positive Black role model through the media. 

The neighborhood and the wacky character's Jefferson knew and loved would have to be highlighted in the show as well. Such as old school music loving but trying to remain young Earnest (James Earl Jones). We can't forget his inner circle of his parents (Played by Robert Guillaume and Marla Gibbs in the film). His best friend Michael played by Eddie Griffin, who wanted to be Meteor Man for his own dating gain. They all could be developed more and have bigger roles,  in supporting Jefferson's mission as Meteor Man.

It's so many avenues they could go with the character's with more time to flesh the story out over 10 or so episodes. It'd also be interesting if the the subplot from the movie, of Jefferson frequently losing his powers if he doesn't touch the meteorite was added to the series and how he goes about maintaining his powers during his day to day life. Does he drink energy drinks non-stop since using his powers drains him?

The cartoon and Meteor Man's journey would not be complete without The Golden Lords being involved in the story. The Golden Lords are a underrated group of villains where every member hair is dyed gold and their attire included gold of some sort. The leader of the group Simon and the group themselves could be fleshed out a bit more regarding what their exact goal was. Was it just to run D.C.? or world domination? Simon's boss Anthony played by Frank Gorshin (The Riddler in the 60's Batman series) and his organization could be portrayed as well, maybe as the overarching villain. The cartoon would get hella bonus points if Roy Fegan is able to return and voice Simon. 

Of course if this were to come to fruition, Robert Townsend has to be involved in the development of the series. If not, maybe some like me who loves the movie 1,000 times over could do the series justice (just throwing it out in the universe). Meteor Man deserves some love and we the fans deserve some sort of continution of the property to enjoy time and time again.

When the movie was released, Marvel released a limited edition comic book series of Meteor Man. Let's get some corporate syngery going and bring that back as well.

Amazon make it happen, We need a Meteor Man cartoon series. 

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Black Museums You May Not Know About

Black History Month is about educating others on how much we've contributed to the world, and celebrating the culture and the things we do that make us, US! Black influence and history is in every facet of society and there are many museums that celebrate that. The Great Blacks and Wax Museum and Reginald F.Lewis Museum both in Baltimore, National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Motown Museum in Detroit, fun cultural museums like the Trap Museum and Culture Experience in Atlanta, Black Hair Experience in D.C. and of course the National Museum of African American History And Culture In D.C.

These are some of the more well known museums, this article will cover 5 museums that explore our rich history you may not be aware of .

Black Writers museum

Located in Philadelphia, this museum displays writings and contributions of many Black writers throughout history. Highlighting the perseverance of Black people to learn to read and write, then create our own stories and testimonies to share with the world. The stated goal of the museum is to inspire the next generation of literary greatness within our community. More Information about this museum can be found on the website https://www.blackwritersmuseum.com/

National Museum of African American music

Nestled in Nashville, TN this museum is fairly new opening in 2020. It showcases Black peoples various contributions to the music industry. All of the genres created, influenced, or inspired by us, and how our contributions to music intertwine with history. This museum is one I definitely plan to visit one day, more details about the museum's long history and it's mission can be foud on the website https://nmaam.org/ 

Apex Museum

Located in the Black mecca Atlanta, the African-American Panoramic Museum explores Black life and  contributions in every avenue possible. One thing that makes this museum stand out is that exhibits are rotated out every quarter, so repeat visitors learn something new each time. The museum's website displays a brief but powerful message, "Whatever you do, never let them begin our history with slavery." The museum's website is https://www.apexmuseum.org/

National Voting Rights Museum and Institute

Located in Selma, Alabama not far from the Edmund Pettus Bridge where "Bloody Sunday" occured. This museum highlights the struggles and battles many African-Americans went through to obtai the basic right to vote. The sacrifices made, the persistent activitst who continued to push forward and even the continued fight to this day for voting rights. More Information can be found on the website http://nvrmi.com/ 

Negro League Hall of Fame

Located in Kansas City is a musuem I have been clamoring to get to for years, the Negro League Hall of Fame. Everyone knows about Jackie Robinson who broke the color barrier in the major leagues, but what about Larry Doby the man who followed in Jackie's footsteps? Or Negro League legends like Satchiel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, and Buck O'neil? This musuem tell's their stories and the story of the leage overall. With so much history packed into the exhibit it is a must visit for any baseball fan. The musuems website is https://www.nlbm.com/

While this is just a handful of musuems highlighting Black History, there are many more throughout the country covering all that we bring to the table. For more information on Black museums

visit https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-museums-united-states-and-canada/

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