the basiks.
  • Homepage
  • About Me
  • Blog Posts
  • Experience
  • Contact

It be your own people | Queen and slim movie review

12/2/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
Those simple, yet poignant five words were the culmination of my immediate reaction after watching the film “Queen & Slim."

It be your own people.

The tragic love story of "Queen & Slim", written by Lena Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas, chronicled six days in the life of a young Black man and Black woman, who met over dinner for the first time after connecting on Tinder. The story escalates when a police stop goes awry when Slim, played by British actor Daniel Kaluuya, shoots and kills the officer after Queen, played Jodie Turner-Smith, was shot by the officer without cause. The two had a critical decision to make. Stay and see how the justice system plays out or run. They chose to run. 

From here, a number of events transpired over the course of the 2+ hour film, but it all culminated in the couple reaching an airstrip to board a small plane to escape Cuba, which they saw as freedom. They had planned to live in asylum just as the famed civil rights leader Assata Shakur had done decades before. But Queen and Slim never made it.

The two were gunned down by police in a sad end to an exciting journey. Their deaths were thanks in large part to the Black Man, as he's known, played by actor Bertrand Boyd II (pictured above) and known on Twitter as "the most hated man right now."

Black Man had a chance to help Queen & Slim when he discovered them along the side of the road asleep and in need of assistance. Instead, he turned them over to the police and collected the reward of $250,000 each. It was a calming reminder of the age-old phrase that "all skinfolk ain't kinfolk". In other words, just because we all look the same does not mean we have the same values no moral compass. For no other group is this a thing, but for Black America, we have had this sense that we have to look out for one another. Such was not the case for Black Man however, as he was fine with seeing two people die for his own monetary gain. It begs the question, are Black people just collateral damage to America with a dollar sign attached to us in 2019?

The film showed so many examples of dependence. Time and time again Slim and Queen had to depend on others for help, especially other Black people. It got me thinking about how this theme and storyline plays into regular life in both positive and negative ways. For instance, I ride for all Black America and the betterment of our Black and Brown people. Yet, too often we are sometimes our own downfall. I watched the film and was so proud at moments. At other times I was hurt to see us not prevail.

​When it comes to Black-owned businesses we need to support of one another, but as owners, we need to make sure we are also taking care of the business. When we make deals with others, we need to be sure to show up and follow through. When we say we can make something happen, we need to make it happen. I enjoyed "Queen & Slim" because for me, it was all about happiness, freedom, love, safety, honor, loyalty, legacy and pride. Ultimately, it was the lack of all these things that became the downfall of Queen and Slim. 
2 Comments

    Marquise Francis

    lives by one word: achievement. in anything and everything, achieve.

    Archives

    August 2021
    February 2021
    July 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    August 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All
    2014 Forest Hills Drive
    2015
    2016
    2016 GOP
    2017
    2018
    Accomplish
    Activism
    Adrian Peterson
    A&E Networks
    Africa
    Album Sales
    Apollo Theater
    Atlanta
    Author
    Baltimore Ravens
    Ben Carson
    Birthday
    Black
    Black History Month
    Black Leaders
    Black Lives Matter
    Blackness
    Bobby Shmurda
    Book
    Brandon Bell
    Brooklyn
    Carolina Panthers
    CDC
    Celebration
    Center For Disease Control
    Charlottesville
    Child Abuse
    Civilization
    Civil Rights
    Colin Kaepernick
    Color
    Communication
    Dance
    D.C.
    Dear White People
    Death
    Deli
    Democracy
    Democrats
    Democrats 2016
    Discrimination
    Doctor
    Doer
    Domestic Violence
    Dr. Tom Frieden
    Dry Cleaning
    Earth
    Ebola
    Education
    Empire
    Evil
    Explosion
    Facebook
    Faith
    Ferguson
    Football
    Fox
    Frazier
    Freedom
    Gender
    George Floyd
    Georgia
    Goals
    GOMD
    Gop
    Greg Hardy
    Grow
    Harlem
    Heterosexual
    Hip Hop
    History
    History Channel
    History Now
    Human
    Hysteria
    Icon
    I Have A Dream
    Income
    Instagram
    Interaction
    Issues
    January 19
    J. Cole
    Job
    Jonathan Butler
    Justice
    Kavanaugh
    Killinig
    Layed Off
    Legend
    LGBTQ
    LI
    Liberia
    Love
    Love And Hip Hop
    Lunch Counter
    MAGA
    Make America Great
    Malcolm X
    Martin Luther King. Jr.
    Mature
    Men
    Million Man March
    Minneapoliis
    Minnesota Vikings
    MLK
    MLK Day
    Movie Theater
    Muhammad Ali
    Murder
    Music
    Nathan Mccall
    NBA
    Nbc
    New Jersey
    New Me
    New Year
    New Years
    New York City
    NFL
    North Carolina
    NY
    Outbreak
    Police
    Politics
    Power
    President
    Pulitzer Prize-winning
    Puppy Love
    Queens
    Race
    Racism
    Ray J
    Ray Rice
    Republicans
    Rights
    ROOTS
    Samantha
    Selling Out
    Shmoney Dance
    Silence
    Social Justice
    Society
    Soulja Boy
    Sports
    St. Johns University
    Super Bowl
    Supreme Court
    Surgeon
    Syracuse University
    Teraji B Henson
    Terrance Howard
    Tierra Marie
    Tim Wolfe
    Tragedy
    Trump
    Twitter
    United States Of America
    University
    University Of Missouri
    University Of Missouri Football
    Vh1
    Vimeo
    Vine
    Violence
    Virginia
    Vision Board
    Vlog
    Washigton
    Washington
    White Man
    White Priveledge
    White University
    Wiz Khalifa
    Women
    World
    YouTube

    RSS Feed

© 2015 by Marquise Francis | All Rights Reserved
  • Homepage
  • About Me
  • Blog Posts
  • Experience
  • Contact