The problem with List - Black 100 Films from the Black Movie Hall of Fame

I have said multiple times, I find labels are rarely well thought out in the USA, The list of 100 best black films by a supposed black organization [has to be financed and populated by blacks to be a black organization] includes films, not even directed or written by blacks. 

6. “Claudine” (1974)  - directed by a nonblack man, and I like Claudine
10. “Carmen Jones” (1954) - based on a nonblack theatrical play
21. “Richard Pryor: Live in Concert” (1979) How do you lump a live comedy show next to a fiction? 
22.  “Shaft” (1971) - story written by a white man
31.  “Glory” (1989)- written directed and financed by whites 
32.  “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (2018) - a black version of a white character
63.  “Black Orpheus” (1959) based on a white mythology, directed by a white man... and I like Orfeu Negro

The Oldest is 
50. “Within Our Gates” (1920) , personally happy 35.  “The Emperor Jones” (1933)  made it, fewer black people know Paul Robeson today, which is telling cause Paul Robeson more than Malcolm or Martin or many other Black men was a Black man of many talents registered by whites
But within our gates is placed 50... the thing about white movie list is white movie list go reverse, the oldest get preference on top, the youngest go to the bottom. Within Our Gates is not better than the Heat of the Night... ok. 

And for me, to see Black Girl from Ousmane Sembene is ok, but , Emitai or Ceddo alone are better than most of the movies on this list. I will be blunt, Black Girl is good but Emitai or Ceddo are top 5 based on story and quality. And then the damn princess and the damn frog made it... and I don't see any films from India, a number of Indians from India are Kalo's/Habshi/Blacks , And a film from Kemet/Egypt I recall about a cleaning woman, a Nuba and has what I call a mamluk friend, whose husband goes to jail but he kills a man who hurt his wife while in jail... nahhh this list.  I am not your negro is beneath friday ok I am glad 57.  “Sonkofa” (1993) and 29.  “Watermelon Man” (1970) and 90.  “Daughters of the Dust” (1991) made it , cause some of the films many black people haven't seen or heard of. 

  
86.  “Bamboozled” (2000) is a criminal entry for me and the The Blood of Jesus 1941 from SPencer Williams not being on is a criminal absene for me. 

They show fun facts and say Sidney poitier is in six films, well let us list them
26.  “A Raisin in the Sun” (1961)
37.  “Lilies of the Field” (1963)
43.  “In the Heat of the Night” (1967)
69.  “To Sir, With Love” (1967) for the record the black writer of the book hated this movie, anyway
85.  “Uptown Saturday Night” (1974) the first of the cosby poitier triology
95.  “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967)

this is Rich's best six sidney poitier films
A Warm December 1973
Buck and the Preacher 1972
For Love of Ivy1968
The Long Ships 1964
Paris Blues 1961

And then Denzel WAshington is in more than any other thespian. Ok, but lets look at the top three with a Denzel Washington movie up there
1. “Malcolm X” (1992)
2. “Black Panther” (2018)
3. “Do The Right Thing” (1989)

And as a writer, who mostly writes original stories,  inspired from a wide swatch of Black fiction, including before the 1900s, I see these three films as indicative of the commercial problem for a black writer like me. 
The first film is a biopic, I despise biographies ninety nine percent fo the time. Do I love Brother Malcolm, son of a Garveyite, best male black leader in the 1900s ... 100% do I think he's biopic from spike lee should be higher than fifty ? no.  But it makes sense, black people in the usa in particular are a boring peoples. We like soap operas/telenovelas/cheap drama... biopics are that, cheap dramas. Malcolm's life can be read and important points known, seeing the dramatized version is really just that. 
Black panther, written by a non black originally, produced by a non black firm to gather modern black movie going dollars which are bigger than ever before. ok... I still love Milestone better than DC or Marvel and... my favorite comic in Milestone comic is blood syndicate but ok.  Black people love black white characters either black characters that are phenotypical versions of non black characters or black characters that come from non black imaginations. I tend to write neither. 
Finally... Do the right thing... nice cast, godo scenes but what is it really? Urban Drama, when you see the power series, which is financially very profitable, you see Do the right thing. The intro to Do The Right THing has a dance sequence by a mulatta woman. The end is a neutral ending with a reconciliation amidst or within an imbalanced or uneven city, that being New York City. The idea is a neutral embrace of the usa, black pride to grow but integrated peace to live aside the non black determined. Very statian but I am not so sure how many black people in the usa in the past or now, truly believe that path, but simply abet it because of impotency.

But I have experience with these things. For me, what matters after looking at a list is how it was made. Who voted? Yeah ok, somebody made a list, that is nice, but how was it constructed, who voted?  I didn't vote, the village didn't vote. Most times in the usa list of the best are always made by a group that doesn't reflect all or even evenly. And that is whether black or non black. 
I went to the team page and see two people, so these two people made this list, that explains everything. 
https://blackmoviehalloffame.org/our-team/

And then I finally saw the following

https://blackmoviehalloffame.org/the-critic-lists/

Black Critics made this list, ok. Black Film Critics/judges like most film judges have a huge bias based on their employer or their own personal taste and all of these critics are based in the usa , applying themselves to a list of a globally existing thing like Black film so ok. I comprehend. I get the 100 and it is fine. It isn't indicative of the black populace, but should be titled, the BLACK STATIAN FILM CRITICS 100 BEST BLACK MOVIES

IN AMENDMENT

I wish they would had not made a list. That would had been better in my view. Stop making lists, stop trying to tell people what is best or what is better. Stop trying to make complex histories in the arts or away from the arts structured in some order of supposed value. I see this in AALBC all the time, people post their views and want to rank , which I sadly have done as well. But, I try to not do it, and if I owned or managed a supposed Black organization I will spend time making something that makes all black people feel welcomes, equal. For example, instead of a all time black 100 list, why not a map. 

Why not a map of films involving Black people, not black films, films involving Black people, which includes Black Films (produced by/directed by/writtenby /starring mostly black people) plus non Black Films (produced by /directed by/written by/starring mostly non black people).

In this way, it can grow and all are equal. 

If anyone is willing to make map these films  for fun, and join me, just send me a message. Let's have fun. 

I end with , I hope the renovation of the theater in misouri goes well, it will be done February 28th 2026 , but I am not a fan of Afro Americana, and I find the placement of black things away from the black geographic distribution of black people in the usa states is... saddening. 

I will be blunt, the black populace in the usa should have only three locals for all things: New York City/Los Angeles/New Orleans... New York city for the north east which includes the northern south (maryland/virginia) and the north center (detroit,chicago, cleveland)

Los Angeles for the west coast blacks as the black populace in the usa has a huge gap in its geographic distribution.

New Orleans for the confederate south and neighbors(missouri/tennessee/texas /florida/carolinas)

Kansas City come on, that isn't a black center, look at this map. Black people can live anywhere in the usa today, it doesn't mean the black populace is centered everywhere, come on. It can't be for most black people when it isn't at a central point.

Missouri doesn't even have a majority black county

I wonder how many Black children will be able to make the trip to the Black Movie Hall of Fame outside Kansas City?

REFERRAL
https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/11758-the-100-best-black-movies-ever/

COMMENTARY

https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/11758-the-100-best-black-movies-ever/#findComment-75435