John Singleton Appreciation: Pioneering Storyteller Who Anticipated the Black Lives Matter Era
It was nearly three decades ago when writer/director John Singleton’s freshman film “Boyz N the Hood” gave us a compassionate and deeply human story about growing up black and ambitious with a life that is sadly expendable — long before Black Lives Matter rewrote that narrative. He earned not one but two Academy Award nominations for helming the movie and penning the script. Though he didn’t win, “Boyz N the Hood” is still talked about as one of the best and most tragically honest films about young black men, cementing its place in cinematic history and in the hearts of audiences across the globe.
Black humanity was Singleton’s signature, as he went from a story about young black men in the hood to a moving romantic tale about the relationship between two lyrical underdogs — Justice (Janet Jackson) and Lucky (Tupac Shakur) — who come together through tragedy and a shared perseverance to rise above it in 1993’s “Poetic Justice.” Though not a perfect film, it became an instant cult classic for highlighting young black love. “Poetic Justice” also earned acclaim for its use of poems penned by the late icon Maya Angelou (who also has a role in the film) — recited and written by Justice in the film — to underscore the talent and heartbreak of a generation that had for too long been marginalized on screen.