Entertainment

Black Dynamite: A Comic Book Dripping with Racial Indecency

Published

11 years ago

March 12, 2015

He’s a powder keg of ass-kicking fury that’s about to explode

By Cory Alexander Haywood
Special to the NNPA from Our Weekly

Although Hollywood has become saturated with a preponderance of superhero films—namely those licensed by the Marvel Comics franchise—these projects rarely, if ever, feature an African American lead. In the comic-book realm, a sweeping wave of cultural diversity has inspired the “browning” of numerous, formerly European characters, including the ever-popular Spiderman, Captain America, and others. This infusion of minority participation is a complete turnaround from yesteryear’s rare inclusion of Black action heroes. A relative newcomer to the animation world is now famously known as “Black Dynamite.”

Joining the lineage of fictional Black “lawmen” including John Shaft and Undercover Brother, the 70’s inspired Dynamite is a hyper-masculine cross between rugged actors Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly. Armed with lethal combat skills, and motivated by a desire to defend his community from the forces of evil—White oppression in particular—the militant Dynamite willfully shoulders the immense burden of neutralizing crime and corruption throughout the inner-city. Operating as a protector of justice and consummate ladies man, his strapping physique intimidates foes and weakens the knees of numerous female admirers. On the cover of his self-titled comic book, the hulking detective is shown delivering knuckle sandwiches to the snout of a great white shark.

Originally a comedy starring co-creator, and martial-arts specialist, Michael Jai White (Why Did I Get Married, Universal Soldier, Never Back Down 2), the comic book adaptation of Black Dynamite pushes the racism envelope into another gear. It starts with him journeying to a secluded locale aptly named Slave Island, where visitors pay top-dollar to observe the interactions of Black captives in a controlled, Jim Crowe-esque environment. Dynamite intercedes by galvanizing his enslaved brethren to rage against their White counterparts, causing an uprising and subsequent blood-bath.

Dynamite attempts to initiate a mass exodus from the island, but his exorbitantly flattering description of American democracy fails to convince his new comrades that such a place exists. They watch in disbelief as he sails into the sunset, partnered with a female character reminiscent of the iconic movie siren Pam Grier. “This fool’s gotta be from the future,” declares one of the onlookers.

Another case Dynamite is called upon to solve involves the violent assassination of a professional basketball player wryly named Paul “The Pole” Monroe (clearly a fictional doppelganger of former New York Knickerbocker Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, also known as “Black Jesus”). In front of a packed stadium—featuring boxing legends Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and Joe Frazier, as well as the volatile husband-and-wife music duo Ike and Tina Turner—Monroe smoothly executes a slam dunk requiring him to leap over a row of three stationary automobiles.

As he’s hanging from the rim, soaking in the roaring applause delivered by the crowd, one of the vehicles explodes and Monroe dies instantaneously. It’s eventually revealed that his demise was caused to prevent the production of his signature shoe line. According to Dynamite’s logic, the CIA intentionally stepped in the way of a Black man owning a pair of sneakers, thereby preventing him from having the bootstraps necessary for economic prosperity. The term “Boot Strapper” is designated to those who succeed by their own efforts.

Dynamite’s remaining excursions are linked together in a saga that ushers the hero from one part of the world to the next, in search of his arch-nemesis: “The Man.”

Racism has become more American than apple pie. Considering its intended purpose—poking fun at the senselessness of cultural bigotry, the satirical “Black Dynamite” hits the nail on the head. It’s everything writer Brian Ash presumably wanted it to be: offensive, insightful, daring, and more importantly, funny.

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

2 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Prescott Circus Theatre Presents Free Summer Performance Series

Now in its 41st year, the Prescott Circus Theatre is a nationally recognized performing arts education program for Oakland youth. The circus offers safe environments that challenge Oakland youth, through circus arts training, to develop the skills and confidence to thrive on stage, in school, and in life.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

Prescott Circus showcase pathways pyramid. Photo courtesy of Prescott Circus.

By Post Staff

The Prescott Circus, Oakland’s longest-running youth circus, is returning this summer with its free shows. Join the Prescott Circus’s young stars as they share their joys and talents through stilt-dancing, tumbling, juggling, and more.

At the heart of this one-hour show, which demonstrates teamwork, pride, and joy, are Oakland Unified School District students ages 8 – 17 from more than 10 different schools

This is accomplished through no-cost school and community programs for more than 300 Oakland youth each year. Performing company members from Prescott, where the program began, perform and make appearances at as many as 40 Bay Area events each year.

The summer program is funded in part by Oakland Fund for Children and Youth, California Arts Council, Port of Oakland, and the West Davis & Bergard Foundation.

Performances will be held Tuesday, July 14, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (ASL interpreted) and Wednesday, July 15, 11 a.m., at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. For free reservations go to

https://PrescottCircusSummerShows.eventbrite.com

For group reservations for camps, childcare centers, senior centers, go to www.prescottcircus.org

A community show will be held Saturday, July 18, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., at DeFremery Park,1651 Adeline St., Oakland.

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50 Years Later, ‘Wake Up Everybody!’ Still Resonates During Black Music

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

iStockphoto.

By Hazel Trice Edney, Special to The Post

Hazel Trice Edney

“Wake up, everybody, No more sleepin’ in bed

No more backward thinkin’. Time for thinkin’ ahead

The world has changed so very much from what it used to be.

There is so much hatred, war, and poverty.

“The world won’t get no better If we just let it be.

Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw.

The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah– just you and me.”

The words of the song, “Wake Up Everybody,” debuted by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1975, still resonate today as those words are just as relevant more than a half century later.

In a rare, nearly somber moment, the group’s celebrated lead singer, Teddy Pendergrass, introduced the song on Soul Train, the weekly dance and live performance TV show that aired roughly between 1971 and 2006. Pendergrass told the attentive live audience and thousands watching by television that Wake Up Everybody, the title tune of their most recent album, was intended to inspire people to take action with a goal to change America for the better.

“I’m sure that you will all agree that there are things that need to be done in this country today,” he said. “So, what I’d like for you to do is listen very carefully to see what you can do to lend a hand.”

The song’s appeal worked.

“I played that song over and over and over again because it was a constant warning to keep ourselves prepared for the society that we were living in,” says A. Peter Bailey, then a 37-year-old former aide to Malcolm X.

When “Wake Up Everybody” hit the airwaves, Bailey was working as an associate editor of Ebony Magazine. “It was a call to be aware of what we were dealing with in the country that we lived in, the world we lived in, the neighborhood we lived in, the cities that we lived in,” Bailey said in an interview with the Trice Edney News Wire.

He concluded that during Black Music Month 2026, such songs should be recalled and celebrated as a key to changes for the good across America; especially because such songs successfully encouraged people to deal with the issues that might otherwise denigrate the promises of America, including the promise that “All men are created equal,”as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

“The rhythms and blues expressed our joys, our sorrows and our fears,” Bailey recalls. “It was those songs and the singing of those songs by our people that attracted us to the campaigns for justice.”

With his life inspired by that song and others, Bailey, now 88, went on to establish and teach a Black Press class at Virginia Commonwealth University. Also, he has since written three books, including a memoir, “Witnessing Brother Malcolm X, the Master Teacher,” in which he expounded upon successful principles of social justice, some of which are reflected in “Wake Up Everybody.”

Long before the term “woke” became associated with campaigns for justice, Pendergrass led the song that reverberated across America and still holds deep meaning.

The ‘wake up’ call exhorts teachers to ‘teach a new way,’ doctors to heal elders, and builders to ‘build a new land… we can do it if we all lend a hand.”

The song concludes:

“The world won’t get no better if we just let it be. Naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw, naw. The world won’t get no better. We gotta change it, yeah – just you and me.”

Hazel Trice Edney wrote this story as part of a four-part series powered by AARP in commemoration of Black Music Month, June 2026.