UPCOMING: Blaxploitation Book to be Self-Published

Ron O'Neal and Sheila Frazier as Youngblood Priest and Georgia (respectively) in Super Fly (1972)

Happy almost 2019, folks! As 2018 winds down, I have been planning and thinking heavily about 2019 and beyond. Things such as going into the fields of nonprofit management and/or government, focusing more on building lasting relationships, and most importantly - continuing on my spiritual path. Another thing that I am working on is my creative brand, which comprises of doing photography, making designs, dancing, writing and being a historian, which brings me to my major announcement on this blog. As of November 2018, I have been working on a book that focuses on the Blaxploitaiton film genre of the 1970s. Here is an outline of what is to be featured in the book along with some updates on the project as a whole:

Working Title: The Duality and Complexity of Blaxploitation Films: Notions of Empowerment, Consciousness,
and the Preservation of African-Americans From 1970-1979

Drafting

• Intro
• Prologue
• Movies to Watch (Chronological)
• Superfly (1972)
• Shaft (1971)
• Black Caesar (1973)
• Hell Up in Harlem (1973)
• Bucktown (1975)
• Coffy (1973)
• Black Belt Jones (1974)
• Foxy Brown (1974)
• Sheba, Baby (1975)
• Enter the Dragon (1973)
• Hit Man (1972)
• Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
• Three the Hard Way (1974)
• Cleopatra Jones (1973)
• Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
• Car Wash (1976)
• Friday Foster (1975)
• Trouble Man (1972)
• Black Shampoo (1976)
• Mahogany (1975)
• Books Based on the Films/Blaxploitation Research Books (Place an asterisk mark beside the books that were purchased)  
• Harlem Detective series by Chester Himes
• For Love of Imabelle, a.k.a. A Rage in Harlem
• The Real Cool Killers
• The Crazy Kill
• The Big Gold Dream
• All Shot Up
• The Heat's On
• Cotton Comes to Harlem
• Blind Man With A Pistol
• Plan B (unfinished)
• Jack’s Return Home aka Get Carter by Ted Lewis - adapted into Hit Man (1972)
• The "Blaxploitation" Transformation:: Case Studies of 1970’s Popular Culture and How It Changed Us by Dr. Matthew C. Stelly
• Pros and Cons
• Positive and negative aspects of blaxploitation films
• Characters that present negative stereotypes of African-Americans
• Black protagonists - overcoming “The Man”, Blacks vs. Whites
• Social consciousness
• Presenting Blacks as vulnerable to drugs and crime
• Soundtracks
• Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly - outgrossed the film itself.
• James Brown and the J.B.s - Black Caesar
• Edwin Starr - Hell Up in Harlem
• ? - Bucktown
• Isaac Hayes - Shaft
• Melvin Van Peebles and Earth, Wind, & Fire - Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
• Willie Hutch - Foxy Brown
• The Impressions - Three the Hard Way
• Ron Ayers - Coffy
• Lalo Schifrin - Enter the Dragon
• Qualities
• Stereotypes
• Significant topics and features in the films
• Drug culture, Black/White relations, crime, sex, etc.
• Subgenre within a subgenre
• Crime, prison, musical, western, comedies, horror
• Other themes
• Masculinity, gender-typical roles, violence, appeal to Marxist ideology
• Notable Actors (gender neutral)
• Jim Kelly
• Pam Grier
• Fred Williamston
• Antonio “Huggybear” Fargas
• Ron O’Neal
• Jim Brown
• Richard Roundtree
• Tamara Dobson
• Rudy Ray Moore
• Bernie Casey
• Sheila Frazier
• In the Words of the actors (gender neutral), directors, musicians
• Find quotes from actors, directors, musicians (musical scores) about their experiences filming the blaxploitation genre and candid thoughts about the film genre
• Cultural Impact/Origins
• Origins from the Black Power movement - Afeni Shakur
• Black empowerment or exploitation?
• Coalition Against Blaxploitation (NAACP, Southern Coalition Leadership Conference, National Urban League)
• Impact on hip-hop culture (music!)
• post-Civil Rights era - Did blaxploitation films contradict the purpose(s) of the Civil Rights movement?
• Legacy
• Major awards and recognitions
• Influence on modern (Black) films
• Spike Lee, John Singleton, 1980s/90s Black cinema, Quentin Tarantino (Jackie Brown, 1997)
• Pertaining to Blackness… my opinion
• Conclusion
• Epilogue

Updates

-Got a good lead on watching the films. Almost halfway through watching. The twenty films mentioned in the outline above will serve as case studies for the book.
-Began finding sources to incorporate into my book, which includes documentaries, books based on the film, and other RELIABLE articles-Lastly, I divided the process into five parts. I did not place 'due dates' on them, because I want the inspiration to hit me. More info to come in my next blog post! <3



I will continue to update you all as time goes on. Since this book will be self-published, I feel no pressure in getting the job done. However, I will keep tabs on myself so I do not slack off on doing the work. Until next time, and enjoy this classic version of "Dear Prudence" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.