Business…here’s my look at “Akeelah and the Bee.”
Comment as you see fit.
13 thoughts on “Akeelah and Bomani”
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Business…here’s my look at “Akeelah and the Bee.”
Comment as you see fit.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Jones relaunches TRT podcast on Wave Sports + Entertainment aired on October 23, 2023
Season 1 of HBO sports series Game Theory with Bomani Jones debuts. Bomani hosted and executive produced the late night HBO series, welcoming new viewers to his nuance commentary. The weekly sports show launched Oct. 7th, 2022 in NYC.
Jones hosts the daily ESPN television studio show High Noon, alongside co-host Pablo Torre
nice article… when i first saw the preview a few months ago, i immed. said “no thanks!” glad i changed my mind. this past weekend, i found myself cheering as if Akeelah was a family member along with the rest of the audience. might (just might) go see it again. oh, and i had similar thoughts regarding Angela and Laurence together again, “glad we don’t have to see anyone gettin’ beat with a boot.”
Wow, Bo…
(speechless…in a good way).
Saw the previews, and I’ve always been a fan of Angela Bassett. Will have to check it out. Starbucks is pushing it hard too!
Angela and Larry were together in “Boyz N The Hood” as well before “WLGTDWI.” Albeit briefly.
Now if she can only reunite with that other Lawrence… (Hilton-Jacobs) from “The Jacksons.” (Haha, joking…) Although the first half of the movie when they were still kids was pretty good. Too bad the movie had to morph into D-list movie status in the second half.
OK, off on a tangent. WIll go see “Akeelah…”
Oh, and I have to do this everyone. I have to… No choice. I do it every year. The only bad joke I tell without fail…
Happy Star Wars Day!
5/4
.
.
.
.
May the fourth
.
.
.
.
May the fourth be with you!
(sorry)
Rex, you owe each of us 5 seconds of our lives back.
“…the film was inspiring without being cliché.”
Bo, your statement characterized how I felt about the whole film. It was brilliantly done and I agree with yous assessment wholeheartedly. I also applaud the way you carefully examined the role of education in black communities. Right on.
As a former spelling bee contestant (I only made it to the district level), I wondered if it would be nostalgic for me too–and it was…kind of. In another sense, it kind of frustrated me, not because of anything the film did, but because it showed me what type of support you needed to have to succeed at the more difficult levels of such sports. In my neighborhood in San Jose, CA, black kids seldom had spelling bee coaches, parents with the time to do it, or support from schools (like letting training for such bees be counted as academic credit, etc.). In that way, while watching the film, I began to wonder what other things weren’t available for us that could’ve meant the difference between success and mediocrity. As a Ph.D. student writing my dissertation, I now know how much my frustration about academic (and institutional) inequality has spurred me to succeed in different ways, but that nagging question always remains in the back of my head–what if I had more support? What if my teachers weren’t afraid of me and supported me as opposed to ignoring my potential early on? What could I have acheived with the right kind of support? And, it makes me wonder how many brothers and sisters (with no mentorship or support) didn’t even get to figure out what they wanted to do before they got caught up? So, in essence, for me, the film was tight but sobering.
“Being the smart kid in grade school isn’t cool anywhere.”
You hit the nail on the head with that one. Also, emphasizes the fact that kids, regardless of their race or background, will always find ways to distinguish amongst their peers. Either your hair is too short or too long, your clothes too nice or not nice enough, etc. I, like you, was never chided for being a smart kid, or for doing well. My problems centered more around the perception that I was a spoiled little rich girl. For the record, I wasn’t. An issue of class, and people’s notions regarding it’s expression, that again isn’t an affliction peculiar to black folks.
Nice read Bo!
You know what my problem was? When I was in sixth grade, I was singled out of my class to take an I.Q. test to see if I qualified for advanced placement. I did very well. When I was told my score (by my mother who showed me the reported test scores–the testers said I shouldn’t know so I wouldn’t spread it around), I wanted to tell everyone because immediately the rumor was that I was testing for special ed. You know how kids are and how cruel rumors spread—why weren’t THEY picked, it must be something bad, etc. But, I didn’t say anything. I figured the next year when I jumped a year ahead, they’d figure it out… Well, we moved to Oklahoma two months later in a whirlwind of events.
To this day it has ALWAYS bothered me. Would I go back 30 years and change everything if I could? I’d like to say I wouldn’t, because it doesn’t really matter. But to this day I wonder how much of my personality has been molded by that. I can be a bit “boastful” at times, and I hate that about myself.
So, good piece on Akeelah. It really makes you think.
this is actually a movie i’ve considered seeing hearing about it. i’m glad to see such a positive message given to our young ones.
maybe i wasn’t paying attention, but i never had problems because i was considered “smart”. most of my friends were like me anyway.
I had the same reactions to the commercials, but based on your review, I’ll check it out.
I also did very well in school and was voted Most Likely to Succeed. Not once did I hear anything negative about my academic achievement (or any one else’s for that matter. And not only did I never hear anyone say that I was “acting white” by doing well in school, the very idea would have been ridiculous to the people I knew. Over the years, I’ve come across a number of smart black people and they had similar experiences. I’ve heard of black kids being accused of “acting white” when they dress a certain way, listen to certain types of music, are square, and/or hang around with white people. This is also stupid and narrow-minded, but doesn’t have the same kind of negative impact as the idea that black people believe academic achievement is “white.”
“In my neighborhood in San Jose, CA, black kids seldom had spelling bee coaches, parents with the time to do it, or support from schools (like letting training for such bees be counted as academic credit, etc.). In that way, while watching the film, I began to wonder what other things weren’t available for us that could’ve meant the difference between success and mediocrity.”
Truer words… I’m from San Jose, also, and while I was one of the lucky kids included in the “seldom” who had parents with time and energy to invest in my education, most of my friends didn’t.
And now, six years after I left GHS, the difference is apparent in the trajectory of our lives. The most dramatic example is that of one of my closest guy friends in high school. He was gregarious, smart, kindhearted…always kept us rollin at the lunch table…
The summer after I graduated from college, he got his third strike. Life in prison.
And as much as I wish I could, I can’t change what happened to him. What I can do is give my students the support he didn’t get. Make sure that ripple keeps going outward so that eventually, there will be no more stories like my friend’s.
Hey San Jose, CA is REPRESENTIN’ today! I am also from San Jose (East Side)and also participated in the spelling bees and the speech contests. I got teased, but not so much about “acting white” (I don’t think enough of us knew enough white folks to even make that comparison; East Side is Latin) but just for being an egghead. Once I figured out that label was going to follow me, I became determined to be the best egghead ever. My parents did what they could to support me, and I did run across a few teachers who saw something in me. I think it also depends on how hard you’re willing to dig to get help. I was blessed to encounter people who wanted to help me shine. I know there are others that were in the same boat with me that didn’t get that and that’s sad. I do sometimes wonder what my life would be like now, though, if I could have spent my energy with a spelling coach or something instead of trying to do it without any of the extra assistance some others had.