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Black Movie
“These harrowing poems make montage, make mirrors, make elegiac biopic, make “dope ass trailer with a hundred black children / smiling into the camera & the last shot is the wide mouth of a pistol.” That’s no spoiler alert, but rather, Smith’s way–saying & laying it beautifully bare. A way of desensitizing the reader from his own defenses each time this long, Black Movie repeats.”
– Marcus Wicker, author of Silencer
– Marcus Wicker, author of Silencer
40 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
20 people are currently reading
2634 people want to read
About the author
Danez Smith
28 books1,150 followersDanez Smith is the author of [insert] boy (2014, YesYes Books), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America. Their 2nd collection will be published by Graywolf Press in 2017. Their work has published & featured widely including in Poetry Magazine, Beloit Poetry Journal, Buzzfeed, Blavity, & Ploughshares. They are a 2014 Ruth Lilly - Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, a Cave Canem and VONA alum, and a recipient of a McKnight Foundation Fellowship. They are a 2-time Individual World Poetry Slam finalist, placing 2nd in 2014. They edit for The Offing & are a founding member of 2 collectives, Dark Noise and Sad Boy Supper Club. They live in the midwest most of the time.
Danez was featured in American Academy of Poet's Emerging Writers Series by National Book Award Finalist Patricia Smith. Like her, Danez bridges the poetics of the stage to that of the page. Danez's work transcends arbitrary boundaries to present work that is gripping, dismantling of oppression constructs, and striking on the human heart. Often centered around intersections of race, class, sexuality, faith, and social justice, Danez uses rhythm, fierce raw power, and image to re-imagine the world as takes it apart in their work.
Danez was featured in American Academy of Poet's Emerging Writers Series by National Book Award Finalist Patricia Smith. Like her, Danez bridges the poetics of the stage to that of the page. Danez's work transcends arbitrary boundaries to present work that is gripping, dismantling of oppression constructs, and striking on the human heart. Often centered around intersections of race, class, sexuality, faith, and social justice, Danez uses rhythm, fierce raw power, and image to re-imagine the world as takes it apart in their work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 223 reviews
October 4, 2022
Reread (November 2020): I didn't think it was possible but I think Black Movie has usurped Don't Call Us Dead as my favorite poetry collection of Danez??? What?? I reread both this year and maybe it's just because 2020 is shit and I am angry and frustrated (...and I look for somebody to blame) that the harsher, more cut-throat approach of Black Movie appealed to me more. Needless to say, I upgraded the rating to a solid 5 stars (maybe 4.5 but shhhh!).
This time around what stood out to me the most is not just how Danez Smith played with the antithesis between Black and white but also how much they warped and played with gender norms and gender expectations. The whole idea behind Black Movie is to take traditional works from the white American/ Western canon (like Disney movies, fairytales by the Brothers Grimm, classic novels like The Secret Garden or musicals) and place them "in the hood", so basically reimagine them with a Black cast.
And so, for example, "Sleeping Beauty in the Hood" is not about a pretty white girl who gets kissed awake by a prince but rather it is about the wake of the Black boy Jamal who was shot by police and whose friends and family members desperately want to kiss alive again — with no result, because this is not a fucking fairy tale, this is real life. It's one of my favorite poems in this collection because not only is it incredibly raw and honest ("You mad? This ain't no kid flick. There is no magic here. / The fairies get killed too. The kingdom has no king. / All the red in this cartoon is painted with blood: / the apples, the velvet robes, Jamal's cold mouth.") but also because it inverts gender roles by having sleeping beauty be a boy but still "all the princes / press a kiss to Jamal's way-dipped lips."
Other favorite poems include: "Scene: Portrait of a Black boy with flowers" ("& he is not in a casket" => still probably one the best opening lines to any poem ever; "& he does not bring flowers / to his best friend's wake / nor does he give them / to a woman who will / grieve him one day"; Danez Smith often reinforces the imagery of soft Black boys who are just happy, innocent, just alive and minding their own damn business ... I love that so much because that imagery is needed so much and it makes me soft as well), multiple chapters from "Lion King in the Hood" were favorites, among which were "Song: Be Prepared" (don't have to explain that since I already did that in my original review, see below), "ix: closing credits" (this one stood out to me the second time around because it reminded me so much of the last poem of Don't Call Us Dead where Danez envisions Emmett Till crawling back to shore, in closing credits they envision "the first boy / you love / who died", by speaking their names they speak power back to them "& watch / the fire come. / say it / & watch the son rise.") and lastly, "Short Film", a remarkable poem consisting of many so-called "not-elegies", my favorites being "iii. not an elegy for Renisha McBride" (I loved this section in particular because Renisha was a 19-year-old Black woman who was shot dead on November 2, 2013 by a white home owner after her car broke down and she banged at his door for help, and it infuriates me that her story is often forgotten and overlooked, therefore I love that Danez dedicated a while "non-elegy" for her; the whole sections gives me goosebumps tbh: "if I must call this her fate, I know the color of God's face.") and "viii. not an elegy for ..." ("& this one / nor this one / nor this one / nor this one / ... / or this one either / no more elegies / bring the fire" — this is such a powerful ending to this fantastic poem and I loved that Danez Smith, yet again, evoked the imagery of James Baldwin: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time."). POWERFUL STUFF ACROSS THE BOARD!
Original review (October 2018): Danez Smith is my new favorite poet. I am so happy that I discovered their work. I cannot wait to see how they learn and grow in future years to come. Just by comparing Black Movie (2015) to Don't Call Us Dead (2017), I noticed such a shift and jump in craftsmanship. I am in awe. Danez grew from being angry and angry and angry and loud and frustrated and angry to still being all of those things, yet using their poetry as a vehicle for healing, for hope, for re-imagining a future in which Black boys and girls are not shot dead in the streets.
The vision had definitely already been there in Black Movie but their execution was definitely a lot messier back in 2015. To understand this collection in particular, you need to know the political and social climate in which it was conceived. For Danez Smith, being Black and having been born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, questions of race (and their queer identity) have almost been part of their daily bread. You cannot escape who you are. Nonetheless, 2014 was a pretty significant year in Black America's struggle for equality and justice.
In 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Black Lives Matter became nationally recognized for its street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans: Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson—and Eric Garner in New York City. All of the cases of injustice that have been unearthed in that year. All the discussions about racial profiling and police brutality.
It is crystal clear that Danez wrote from a place of anger, and of fear. They don't want your attention or your pity or your praise. They want change. Watching Danez perform their poetry on YouTube made me realize that even more. Powerful doesn't begin to describe it. They're loud. They're yelling. They want to be heard because they want change. If you have it in you, watch Danez perform Dear White America and Dinosaurs in the Hood, two of their most powerful and visceral poems, both of which are included in Black Movie and Don't Call Us Dead, too.
Black Movie is a poetry collection with an incredibly original concepts, I've never heard of anything similar. Danez took it upon himself to reimagine iconic films (such as Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, Jeus Christ, Superstar) in a Black context. What would those movies have looked liked had they been about the Black experiences, about Black boys and girls? How many of its protagonists would be allowed to grow old?
I genuinely think that Black Movie made their new reflections possible. Danez had to get all of their anger out, all of the screams and cries that had swelled up inside of them for years. This collection includes some of the most chilling lines I've ever encountered in modern poetry. Lines that will make your stomach turn. Danez imagines a scene of a "portrait of a Black boy with flowers / & he is not in a casket", not does he "bring flowers / to his best friend's wake, / nor does he give them / to a woman who will / grieve him one day", because sometimes Black boys are just chilling in their aunts garden, and are not dying on the streets. Danez Smith challenges the media outlets and films that devalue and misrepresent the Black community in the US.
Danez Smith is one of the most gifted writers that I've ever read from. I need to read their first collection ASAP.
This time around what stood out to me the most is not just how Danez Smith played with the antithesis between Black and white but also how much they warped and played with gender norms and gender expectations. The whole idea behind Black Movie is to take traditional works from the white American/ Western canon (like Disney movies, fairytales by the Brothers Grimm, classic novels like The Secret Garden or musicals) and place them "in the hood", so basically reimagine them with a Black cast.
And so, for example, "Sleeping Beauty in the Hood" is not about a pretty white girl who gets kissed awake by a prince but rather it is about the wake of the Black boy Jamal who was shot by police and whose friends and family members desperately want to kiss alive again — with no result, because this is not a fucking fairy tale, this is real life. It's one of my favorite poems in this collection because not only is it incredibly raw and honest ("You mad? This ain't no kid flick. There is no magic here. / The fairies get killed too. The kingdom has no king. / All the red in this cartoon is painted with blood: / the apples, the velvet robes, Jamal's cold mouth.") but also because it inverts gender roles by having sleeping beauty be a boy but still "all the princes / press a kiss to Jamal's way-dipped lips."
Other favorite poems include: "Scene: Portrait of a Black boy with flowers" ("& he is not in a casket" => still probably one the best opening lines to any poem ever; "& he does not bring flowers / to his best friend's wake / nor does he give them / to a woman who will / grieve him one day"; Danez Smith often reinforces the imagery of soft Black boys who are just happy, innocent, just alive and minding their own damn business ... I love that so much because that imagery is needed so much and it makes me soft as well), multiple chapters from "Lion King in the Hood" were favorites, among which were "Song: Be Prepared" (don't have to explain that since I already did that in my original review, see below), "ix: closing credits" (this one stood out to me the second time around because it reminded me so much of the last poem of Don't Call Us Dead where Danez envisions Emmett Till crawling back to shore, in closing credits they envision "the first boy / you love / who died", by speaking their names they speak power back to them "& watch / the fire come. / say it / & watch the son rise.") and lastly, "Short Film", a remarkable poem consisting of many so-called "not-elegies", my favorites being "iii. not an elegy for Renisha McBride" (I loved this section in particular because Renisha was a 19-year-old Black woman who was shot dead on November 2, 2013 by a white home owner after her car broke down and she banged at his door for help, and it infuriates me that her story is often forgotten and overlooked, therefore I love that Danez dedicated a while "non-elegy" for her; the whole sections gives me goosebumps tbh: "if I must call this her fate, I know the color of God's face.") and "viii. not an elegy for ..." ("& this one / nor this one / nor this one / nor this one / ... / or this one either / no more elegies / bring the fire" — this is such a powerful ending to this fantastic poem and I loved that Danez Smith, yet again, evoked the imagery of James Baldwin: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time."). POWERFUL STUFF ACROSS THE BOARD!
Original review (October 2018): Danez Smith is my new favorite poet. I am so happy that I discovered their work. I cannot wait to see how they learn and grow in future years to come. Just by comparing Black Movie (2015) to Don't Call Us Dead (2017), I noticed such a shift and jump in craftsmanship. I am in awe. Danez grew from being angry and angry and angry and loud and frustrated and angry to still being all of those things, yet using their poetry as a vehicle for healing, for hope, for re-imagining a future in which Black boys and girls are not shot dead in the streets.
The vision had definitely already been there in Black Movie but their execution was definitely a lot messier back in 2015. To understand this collection in particular, you need to know the political and social climate in which it was conceived. For Danez Smith, being Black and having been born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, questions of race (and their queer identity) have almost been part of their daily bread. You cannot escape who you are. Nonetheless, 2014 was a pretty significant year in Black America's struggle for equality and justice.
In 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Black Lives Matter became nationally recognized for its street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans: Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson—and Eric Garner in New York City. All of the cases of injustice that have been unearthed in that year. All the discussions about racial profiling and police brutality.
It is crystal clear that Danez wrote from a place of anger, and of fear. They don't want your attention or your pity or your praise. They want change. Watching Danez perform their poetry on YouTube made me realize that even more. Powerful doesn't begin to describe it. They're loud. They're yelling. They want to be heard because they want change. If you have it in you, watch Danez perform Dear White America and Dinosaurs in the Hood, two of their most powerful and visceral poems, both of which are included in Black Movie and Don't Call Us Dead, too.
Black Movie is a poetry collection with an incredibly original concepts, I've never heard of anything similar. Danez took it upon himself to reimagine iconic films (such as Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, Jeus Christ, Superstar) in a Black context. What would those movies have looked liked had they been about the Black experiences, about Black boys and girls? How many of its protagonists would be allowed to grow old?
5. Song: Be PreparedI did not expect expect Black Movie to pull as much of a punch as it did. This collection gave me goosebumps, it made me cry, it made me angry, it made me want to throw up (because of course I couldn't help myself but look up every single case of injustice that they references in their work...) and overall left me feeling defeated. I alluded to at the beginning of my review, I am beyond happy to see how Danez has somewhat grown out of this dark and depressing state, and that they allowed to let a bit more of light into their life and their work, the titular poem of their new collection Don't Call Us Dead is the most haunting yet hopeful poem I've read in a while. The perfect blend between acknowledging the trauma and still finding the strength to carry on.
for the stampede of tiny lead beast
for the jury not to flinch
for the hands, wild in your wildless hair
for the darkest toll, your double down to get half
for the man, ecstatic with triggers
to spread your legs while they search for drugs there
for the drug there, for their mouths to ask that big question
to hear your history told to you over & over & over
for it never to change.
I genuinely think that Black Movie made their new reflections possible. Danez had to get all of their anger out, all of the screams and cries that had swelled up inside of them for years. This collection includes some of the most chilling lines I've ever encountered in modern poetry. Lines that will make your stomach turn. Danez imagines a scene of a "portrait of a Black boy with flowers / & he is not in a casket", not does he "bring flowers / to his best friend's wake, / nor does he give them / to a woman who will / grieve him one day", because sometimes Black boys are just chilling in their aunts garden, and are not dying on the streets. Danez Smith challenges the media outlets and films that devalue and misrepresent the Black community in the US.
Danez Smith is one of the most gifted writers that I've ever read from. I need to read their first collection ASAP.
Read
December 29, 2022“look closely / & you’ll find a funeral / frothing in the corners of my mouth, my mouth / hungry for a prayer / to make it all a lie. / reader, what does it / feel like to be safe, white?”
wow… so good. I loved the longer poems. poignantly beautiful collection on Blackness and Black pain
“I write about black boys / dying & this woman said / she enjoys my work—what? / failed resurrection? burial? / unsolicited eulogy? / sometimes the boy dying / is me so maybe she means / I'm putting on a good show / so far”
wow… so good. I loved the longer poems. poignantly beautiful collection on Blackness and Black pain
“I write about black boys / dying & this woman said / she enjoys my work—what? / failed resurrection? burial? / unsolicited eulogy? / sometimes the boy dying / is me so maybe she means / I'm putting on a good show / so far”
January 13, 2022
"My mouth is an unmarked grave / above which flowers bloom / to sing the dead / or is it just my mouth?"
March 13, 2023
"THE SECRET GARDEN IN THE HOOD
or what happens to dead kids when the dirt does its work
Jonathan, 17, is a blue azalea
sitting in Mary’s office.
She waters him every other day.
Devon, 15, sits on the corner
dressed in baby’s breath.
His new arms bloom & toes
tangle with cigarette butts.
Kevin, 19, doesn’t hang
out far from his headstone.
He is the greenest grass
in a graveyard that reads
like an attendance sheet.
Sharlenne, 11, was planted
yesterday, will be heirloom
tomatoes by summer.
Mason, 13, was run over
by a 4 year old
barely a bulb himself.
Kim, 14, went to prom
pinned to a pinstripe suit.
George, 18, never comes off the porch.
LaShawn, 9, was rolled up
& smoked by the busted
victorious lips of a newly
crowned Crip.
Kyle, 10, is brown again, dead again.
Precious, 11 months
was blown into a wish.
Chucky, 20, made it
to his brother’s funeral
laid himself across the casket. "
Danez Smith uses popular media, often with white creators, and recasts them with a black cast and subverts them by placing them in 'the hood'. Powerful imagery was created from this concept and his masterful exploration of language. Pain exuded from each page and I dare anybody to read these poems and not be moved to tears by what they contain. Nothing about this anthology is easy but neither, too, is living through what they explore.
"LION KING IN THE HOOD
i. cast list
Mufasa & his absence played by every father ever
Simba played by the first boy you know who died too young
Sarabi played by the woman in church who forgot the taste
of praise once the ground took her son captive
Nala played by the girl crying on the swing for her valentine who
now dates the dirt
Timon & Pumbaa played by Ray-Ray & Man-Man, the joy of
not-dead friends
Zazu played by the ghost of James Baldwin
Rafiki played by a good uncle with a bad habit, his lust for rocks &
stones
Scar played anyone’s Uncle June, his ways & his sins & his good
good laugh
The endless rows of hyenas played by a gustchoked tight with bullet shells
the bullets now dressed in a boy"
or what happens to dead kids when the dirt does its work
Jonathan, 17, is a blue azalea
sitting in Mary’s office.
She waters him every other day.
Devon, 15, sits on the corner
dressed in baby’s breath.
His new arms bloom & toes
tangle with cigarette butts.
Kevin, 19, doesn’t hang
out far from his headstone.
He is the greenest grass
in a graveyard that reads
like an attendance sheet.
Sharlenne, 11, was planted
yesterday, will be heirloom
tomatoes by summer.
Mason, 13, was run over
by a 4 year old
barely a bulb himself.
Kim, 14, went to prom
pinned to a pinstripe suit.
George, 18, never comes off the porch.
LaShawn, 9, was rolled up
& smoked by the busted
victorious lips of a newly
crowned Crip.
Kyle, 10, is brown again, dead again.
Precious, 11 months
was blown into a wish.
Chucky, 20, made it
to his brother’s funeral
laid himself across the casket. "
Danez Smith uses popular media, often with white creators, and recasts them with a black cast and subverts them by placing them in 'the hood'. Powerful imagery was created from this concept and his masterful exploration of language. Pain exuded from each page and I dare anybody to read these poems and not be moved to tears by what they contain. Nothing about this anthology is easy but neither, too, is living through what they explore.
"LION KING IN THE HOOD
i. cast list
Mufasa & his absence played by every father ever
Simba played by the first boy you know who died too young
Sarabi played by the woman in church who forgot the taste
of praise once the ground took her son captive
Nala played by the girl crying on the swing for her valentine who
now dates the dirt
Timon & Pumbaa played by Ray-Ray & Man-Man, the joy of
not-dead friends
Zazu played by the ghost of James Baldwin
Rafiki played by a good uncle with a bad habit, his lust for rocks &
stones
Scar played anyone’s Uncle June, his ways & his sins & his good
good laugh
The endless rows of hyenas played by a gustchoked tight with bullet shells
the bullets now dressed in a boy"
March 25, 2017
"Besides, the only reason I want to make this is for that first scene anyway:
little black boy on the bus with a toy dinosaur,
his eyes wide & endless
his dreams possible, pulsing, & right there."
This collection destroyed me. Utter perfection. So looking forward to Danez Smith's new collection in September.
little black boy on the bus with a toy dinosaur,
his eyes wide & endless
his dreams possible, pulsing, & right there."
This collection destroyed me. Utter perfection. So looking forward to Danez Smith's new collection in September.
February 5, 2019
Perfect perfect perfect. Tragic and lovely and imaginative. My favorites are the Lion King poems, Dear White America, and Secret Garden.
March 29, 2021
Another incredible collection from Danez Smith. So many quality poems and the shared themes (cinema and Black community) were so cohesive and complex, explored from several angles. This was a smaller collection than the others I've read by them, but no less powerful.
March 3, 2019
Difficult to read; thought provoking.
POLITICS OF ELEGY
... if I write
the name of this new not here
is that the line? what if I write it
with quill & wound? I’ve trapped
so many boys in poems.
My mouth is an unmarked grave
above which flowers bloom
to sing the dead
or it is just my mouth.
POLITICS OF ELEGY
... if I write
the name of this new not here
is that the line? what if I write it
with quill & wound? I’ve trapped
so many boys in poems.
My mouth is an unmarked grave
above which flowers bloom
to sing the dead
or it is just my mouth.
February 25, 2018
“in the film, townsfolk
name themselves Prince Charming,
queue up to wake the sleeping beauty.
let’s name her jamal.
let’s make her everyone’s brother
or play cousin. all the princes
press a kiss to jamal’s wax-dipped lips.
all the princes sing songs & kill dragons
but jamal won’t wake up.
you mad? this ain’t no kid flick. there is no magic here. the fairies get killed too. the kingdom has no king. all the red in this cartoon is painted with blood: the apples, the velvet robes, jamal’s cold mouth”.
name themselves Prince Charming,
queue up to wake the sleeping beauty.
let’s name her jamal.
let’s make her everyone’s brother
or play cousin. all the princes
press a kiss to jamal’s wax-dipped lips.
all the princes sing songs & kill dragons
but jamal won’t wake up.
you mad? this ain’t no kid flick. there is no magic here. the fairies get killed too. the kingdom has no king. all the red in this cartoon is painted with blood: the apples, the velvet robes, jamal’s cold mouth”.
October 11, 2015
This book is devastating. It shattered me and then filled me with light.
February 21, 2017
Danez Smith's poetry made me cry. It's the type of writing that makes me want to read it over and over again, until I have it memorized, until I can recite it on demand. He has beautiful, sad, powerful imagery. Everyone should read this collection.
May 8, 2021
this was intense and black as all hell. (can you curse on this site!?).
my favorites were lion king in the hood and dinosaurs in the hood
you can feel the intensity and the realness
danez smith is the best
my favorites were lion king in the hood and dinosaurs in the hood
you can feel the intensity and the realness
danez smith is the best
December 27, 2022
what
do your people do
with their ghosts? if I write
the name of this new not here
is that the line? what if I write it
with quill & wound? I’ve trapped
so many boys in poems.
My mouth is an unmarked grave
above which flowers bloom
to sing the dead
or it is just my mouth.
I write about black boys
dying & this woman said
she enjoys my work — what?
failed resurrection? burial?
unsolicited eulogy?
sometimes the boy dying
is me so maybe she means
I’m putting on a good show
so far.
do your people do
with their ghosts? if I write
the name of this new not here
is that the line? what if I write it
with quill & wound? I’ve trapped
so many boys in poems.
My mouth is an unmarked grave
above which flowers bloom
to sing the dead
or it is just my mouth.
I write about black boys
dying & this woman said
she enjoys my work — what?
failed resurrection? burial?
unsolicited eulogy?
sometimes the boy dying
is me so maybe she means
I’m putting on a good show
so far.
January 28, 2022
Without a doubt one of the most unique and creatively excellent collections I have ever read. Danez writes about black rage, police brutality and collective trauma through the lens of film, and in just 52 pages manages to rip your heart out.
Favourites:
-sleeping beauty in the hood
-the secret garden in the hood
-lion king in the hood
Will definitely be following Danez’ work from here on!
Favourites:
-sleeping beauty in the hood
-the secret garden in the hood
-lion king in the hood
Will definitely be following Danez’ work from here on!
April 3, 2023
I honestly didn’t want it to end. Which is why I took forever to finish this.
Read
September 20, 2021⚜ poetry review ⚜
‘why does it always have to be about race?’ Because you made it that way! Because you put an asterisk on my sister’s gorgeous face! Because you call her pretty (for a black girl)! Because black girls go missing without so much as a whisper of where?! Because there is no Amber Alert for the Amber Skinned Girls! Because we didn’t invent the bullet! Because crack was not our recipe! Because Jordan boomed. Because Emmitt whistled. Because Huey P. spoke. Because Martin preached. Because black boys can always be too loud to live. Because it’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time, my brother’s & my sister’s time, my niece’s & my nephew’s time… how much time do you want for your progress?
If I could quote this whole collection of poetry and prose, I would. Each one tugged at my heart and filled me with emotion. I read it pretty much start to finish, only pausing once. The words in here are achingly raw, poignant and beautiful. The prose is exquisite and painful and brutal. A must read for sure.
I thoroughly recommend everyone give this their time.
‘why does it always have to be about race?’ Because you made it that way! Because you put an asterisk on my sister’s gorgeous face! Because you call her pretty (for a black girl)! Because black girls go missing without so much as a whisper of where?! Because there is no Amber Alert for the Amber Skinned Girls! Because we didn’t invent the bullet! Because crack was not our recipe! Because Jordan boomed. Because Emmitt whistled. Because Huey P. spoke. Because Martin preached. Because black boys can always be too loud to live. Because it’s taken my father’s time, my mother’s time, my uncle’s time, my brother’s & my sister’s time, my niece’s & my nephew’s time… how much time do you want for your progress?
If I could quote this whole collection of poetry and prose, I would. Each one tugged at my heart and filled me with emotion. I read it pretty much start to finish, only pausing once. The words in here are achingly raw, poignant and beautiful. The prose is exquisite and painful and brutal. A must read for sure.
I thoroughly recommend everyone give this their time.
February 25, 2022
After reading the absolutely remarkable 'Don't Call Us Dead,' this chapbook left me wanting. That said, I want to highlight the concluding poem, "Dinosaurs in the Hood" –– a gorgeous, funny, and wrenching poem that I assume is in dialogue with Tracy K Smith's The Universe: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, a brilliant poem from one of my favorite poetry collections of all time.
People more interested in film/film theory will likely get more from this than I did, your mileage may vary. If nothing else, be sure to read "Dinosaurs"!
People more interested in film/film theory will likely get more from this than I did, your mileage may vary. If nothing else, be sure to read "Dinosaurs"!
February 1, 2017
Tight and strong and kept running smooth and jagged by the metaphors of film and repetition -- Smith plays with style and structure to produce a huge range of work in a slender volume. "Why does Disney remind us / what we have learned: / - one black light swallows another so easy / - killing is unavoidable as death / - the king's throne is wet with his brother's blood / - the queen suffers too but gets no name"
February 11, 2017
Stunning, in the sense of beauty and its ability to make you pause, make your breath catch. I love that nothing is held back, the poems are raw and painful and direct, but also refined and purposeful. Each word is intentional, each poem necessary, and they all build on and talk to one another all the way through. Required reading, especially for white people.
February 7, 2019
This chapbook has thirteen poems, thirteen poems that rip your throat out with harrowing realism and brilliant control of language. This was the easiest five stars I’ve ever slapped on a book. It’s a tiny book but it’s a tiny masterpiece. A tiny book with colossal impact.
June 24, 2017
one of the most beautiful & important things i've ever read.
December 14, 2017
I really liked the message and the concept of the poetry, but the formatting didn’t sit well with me
January 10, 2018
A must read in modern English poetry.
December 14, 2020
4.5 stars
December 13, 2020
"No more elegies / bring the fire."
Reading Danez Smith's debut collection *[insert] boy* five years was revelatory. It took everything I loved about slam poetry and showed me more clearly than anyone else before them how that could exist on the page.
So honestly I don't know why I never read this 2015 chapbook until now. A few of these stunning poems are widely available online ("Dear America"; "Dinosaurs in the Hood"; "not an elegy for Mike Brown"), but reading them together here is truly art on a new level.
At just 40 pages, *Black Movie* is just as satisfying as a full collection. It is a painful read, one full of rage and love. Do not overlook Danez Smith as one of our age's most visceral and talent poets, and if you are already a fan and have read their three full widely respected collections, do not overlook this slim volume. It's every bit as gut-wrenching.
Reading Danez Smith's debut collection *[insert] boy* five years was revelatory. It took everything I loved about slam poetry and showed me more clearly than anyone else before them how that could exist on the page.
So honestly I don't know why I never read this 2015 chapbook until now. A few of these stunning poems are widely available online ("Dear America"; "Dinosaurs in the Hood"; "not an elegy for Mike Brown"), but reading them together here is truly art on a new level.
At just 40 pages, *Black Movie* is just as satisfying as a full collection. It is a painful read, one full of rage and love. Do not overlook Danez Smith as one of our age's most visceral and talent poets, and if you are already a fan and have read their three full widely respected collections, do not overlook this slim volume. It's every bit as gut-wrenching.
June 11, 2025
Danez Smith never fails to deliver poetry that affects me deeply. This collection is examining what a Black Movie could be considering the Black experience that is reflected in the media and how violence against Black people and communities is often exploited by the media. My favorites were "SCENE: PORTRAIT OF A BLACK BOY WITH FLOWERS," "SHORT FILM i. not an elegy for Trayvon Martin" and "ii. not an elegy for Mike Brown" all three of which serve as reflections on Black boyhood and the fear and frustration at society's refusal to allow so many boys to become men without fear of violence and death.
I've been reading through Smith's work (slowly over a few years now, let me savor them!) and as I read through more collections, each one feels so unique and reminds me why Smith is my favorite modern poet. Black Movie was no exception!
I've been reading through Smith's work (slowly over a few years now, let me savor them!) and as I read through more collections, each one feels so unique and reminds me why Smith is my favorite modern poet. Black Movie was no exception!
March 30, 2021
4.5*
espetacular!
espetacular!
February 15, 2023
Whew. Short, but devastating.
Read
February 10, 2022These poems were amazing and heart-breaking and beautiful. You'll laugh, you'll cry. My personal favourite was "secret garden in the hood".
March 26, 2021
AMEEEE. Amo como el autor usa técnicas y referencias cinematográficas para transmitir su mensaje. Hermoso y desgarrador.
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