My gosh. Viola Davis was amaaaazing in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. I think it’s one of her best movies and is definitely Oscars worthy. Glad she was nominated for it.

As a black woman, I see so much flack from this movie in so many ways. I see white reviewers complaining that it is not historically accurate. I get frustrated. When have white people ever been this enthusiastic about the history of the slave trade? Were you all this enthusiastic about Titantic? Forrest Gump? Gladiator?

I respect criticism from the black community about the movie's historical accuracy, even if I do not agree with it. We are not a monolith of people who must agree on everything. With that said, I do not appreciate the criticism I see for this movie from people complaining about the violence against black men.

This movie is the healing I needed as a black woman, and unfortunately I believe some of the metaphors and symbolisms that makes this a movie a healing moment for black women, are the same things that make white people and black men uncomfortable. How it was difficult for black women to get a role 20 years ago outside of being a video vixen, but now we have a dynamic story that shows how complex and different we are.

For instance, when Nanisca killed Oba and said "You do not remember me, now you will never forget," I thought about all of the trauma I endured as a black woman by black men. In church, on the bus, and through past relationships and dynamics. All the things I felt I had to be silent about because we protect black men in our community.... sometimes longer than they deserve. ( Kanye anyone? Cosby....anyone?) Anyway, when Nanisca cried at the end of the movie, I thought about all the times I felt like I had to kill my tears as a black woman, as a warrior.

When I see Nanisca with Nawi, I think of how difficult mother and daughter dynamics are in the black community, in a place where we are told we are not allowed to cry and both of our battles are already difficult.

When I see Igozie braiding Nawi's hair, I think about all the times I sat on my sister's bed after for advice. The person I looked up to because of her unapologetic confidence as a black woman.

When I see Nawi with Malik, I'm reminded about how I deserved to be seen as a warrior in the eyes of a man who wants to be with me. He needs to understand my heart has many scars. I am a warrior, but you must be gentle because I want to learn to be vulnerable with you.

Nanisca and Amenza are my mom and her sister, being vulnerable and sharing their dreams.

Amenza smacking that white man to death was representative of all the times I have been punished for existing in white spaces. And I was reminded how it is not a silent journey I am on, as black women around me must navigate these same spaces as myself.

I understand that seeing a black woman kill a black man is hard to look at. I understand the visual is a lot. However, for the first time, I saw my story played out on screen. An attempt to address our pain , on screen. I saw sisterhood dynamics, motherhood dynamics, and the difficult dynamics that come with being black in white spaces that we never can describe. Such as the way Malik had to understand his white friend will never see black people in the way Malik does. I felt that. How his white friend, at the end of the day, is white.

I finally saw myself and my family dynamics in all its complex ways played out on screen. A story for us on screen. It was beautiful. I saw it 5 times in theaters and bought it on Youtube the minute I could stream it. This movie without question, changed my life. I wish this was an understatement.

At first, I didn't want to tell people how much I loved this movie, it felt "precious" to me. However, I thought more about it. Why is it we celebrate Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump to this day as culturally relevant icon for representing American history 30 years later? Why can we not celebrate Viola Davis as Nanisca in a movie that made me feel things that only a black woman can understand? This movie deserves all the Oscars. It needs to be cemented in history as that best thing that came out after the last few years. It was the healing we needed after seeing countless images of our brothers and sisters being beaten and killed by police during lock down. This was the movie I needed to help me move forward and not hold onto my past.

https://youtu.be/IEcUuxy3E_s