Strong Island

In this 2017 documentary, filmmaker Yance Ford focuses on the murder of a young black man in 1992, his brother.

Does the name William Ford Jr. ring any bells? Does it sound familiar in any way? I imagine it doesn’t and why? Because William Ford Jr’s death in 1992 didn’t receive a trial, neither did it receive any real news coverage of the senseless murder.

In April 1992, white mechanic Mark Reilly shot William in Suffolk County, Long Island after engaging in a dispute. Failing to sentence Reilly, the grand jury allowed him to walk away free.

It is in the new documentary, Strong Island, by William’s brother Yance that we are see the pervasive and deeply ingrained societal racism that has penetrated the justice system.

Commenting on his film, Ford noted:

“Black lives are too easy to take in America because we don’t want to question why people are so afraid of black and brown people to begin with,” says Yance Ford, bluntly. “And that’s what I want Strong Island to do.”

 

 

Def Comedy Jam 25

Many would argue that the golden era of American black comedy has left the building and that the height of its popularity was in the 90s during the days of Def Comedy Jam, when the kings and queens of US comedy reigned. Today, Martin Lawrence, Dave Chapelle, Monique, Sheryl Underwood, Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey and many more are household names and they owe much of their success to the long-running comedy series.

We were so excited to learn that the good folks at Netflix are bringing us Def Comedy Jam 25 to celebrate the series rich legacy and many of our favourites are showing up in a can’t-miss evening of unbelievably funny and raw moments!

If you don’t know about DCJ, then Ced breaks it down for you. “All you millennials may be asking, what the hell is Def Comedy Jam?” Cedric the Entertainer asked. “That’s why we hate you little motherf—rs. Y’all don’t know sh-t.”

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