Black History Month

This month we are celebrating black history by looking at iconic names across the games, tech and film industries.

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Black History Month: Game, Film & TV Characters

This week we are taking a look at game, film and TV characters that have helped bring the Black community into the mainstream spotlight. These characters have made us laugh, cry and relate to them as we follow them through their respective adventures.

Captain Raymond Holt - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) commands the 99th Precinct and is a beacon of guidance for the rest of the squad. The show uses Captain Holt to address difficult social issues head on such as the fact that despite his hard work and competence, he was held back in his career due to being a Black homosexual man trying to progress through a system geared against him. Now that he finally leads his own police squad, he strives to prove himself via the success of his precinct. Inwardly, he is a kind & empathetic man who cares deeply about those under his command. Though he is often lampooned by his colleagues for his lack of displaying emotion or facial expressions, he is held in the highest regard by them.

Okoye - Black Panther

One of Wakanda's greatest warriors, Okoye (Danai Gurira) is the General of the Dora Milaje and the head of Wakandan armed forces and intel. Her role is as the Black Panther’s personal bodyguard and protector of the nation of Wakanda as a torchbearer of tradition and virtue. Okoye is as deadly as she is wise, and stands as one of T’Challa’s most trusted allies and companions. Following the aftermath of the battle with Thanos, and with the Avengers now defunct, she returned to her role protecting Wakanda. Okoye has been praised as a positive icon of female empowerment across mainstream media.

Cherry Hunter - Streets of Rage

A brand new addition to Streets of Rage 4, Cherry is Adam Hunter's daughter. While she inherited her father's fighting skills, she didn't wish to follow him in his steps of becoming a police officer, instead, deciding to pursue a musical career, becoming a guitarist and performing at the city's night clubs. When Blaze Fielding calls upon her dad to assist with taking on the new Syndicate, Cherry goes in her father's place! Cherry is a badass on stage and on the streets and a welcome addition to the Streets of Rage franchise.

Miles Morales - Spider-Man

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is a Brooklyn-based 14 year old born to an African-American father and a Puerto Rican mother. He takes up the mantle of Spider-Man after the death of his dimension’s Peter Parker. He was a regular teenager until he was bitten by the radioactive spider who gave him the same powers as Spider-Man. 2011 saw the introduction of Miles to the world. Upon his launch, Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee proclaimed, “Doing our bit to try to make our nation, and the world colour blind is definitely the right thing.”

Allison Hargreeves - The Umbrella Academy

Allison Hargreeves (Emmy Raver-Lampman), also known as Number Three and the Rumor, is one of the seven adoptive children of Sir Reginald Hargreeves who were raised and trained to save the world from the apocalypse. Allison is often the voice of reason in an otherwise wildly dysfunctional but loveable family. In season two, (without spoiling too much) the family is accidentally transported back to 1960’s Dallas Texas. During this timeline Allison becomes directly involved in civil rights protest, these events prove testament to her character as a powerful female figure standing against a tide of oppression with many reviewers and fans drawing comparisons to the issues we still face today.

Black History Month: Innovators Behind The Camera

Continuing our celebration of black history, this week we look at 5 iconic names from behind the camera. Each known for their work creating powerful and entertaining films that pushed boundaries and made cinematic history.

Amma Asante MBE

Beginning her career as a child actress and appearing on shows such as Grange Hill, BAFTA award-winning Writer/Director Amma Asante went on to direct her first film in 2004; A Way of Life. The film gained critical acclaim and earned her the 2005 BAFTA Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a writer/director in a debut film (Making her the first Black Writer/Director to receive the award). Continuing to succeed, Asante then directed the 2014 release ‘Belle’. The film opened to phenomenal global success, making Amma one of CNN’s Leading Women of 2014, and earning her nominations for various awards worldwide. To this day Asante continues to write and direct hugely successful films, including ‘A United Kingdom’ in 2016 and ‘Where Hands Touch’ in 2018.

Sir Steve McQueen

A British director, screenwriter, photographer and artist, known famously for his ground-breaking films. Sir Steve McQueen was awarded the Cannes film festival’s Caméra d’Or for his debut feature film ‘Hunger’; A film that told the chilling story of Irish nationalist Bobby Sands, who went on hunger strike at Maze prison and starved himself to death there in 1981.

In 2013, McQueen’s film ‘12 Years A Slave’ told the story of Solomon Northup and his experience as an American free black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. This film went on to win a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for best picture.

For his many accomplishments, McQueen was named an OBE in 2002 and then CBE in 2011.

Jordan Peele

Jordan Peele started to make a name for himself when he was hired as a cast member on Mad TV. Following that, came the hugely successful Key and Peele show with co-Mad TV star Keegan-Michael Key. After reaching critical acclaim as a comedy actor, Peele moved from in front of the camera to behind it when he directed the Oscar-winning ‘Get Out’, a horror movie that confronts every-day racism. The feature became a breakout hit and the most profitable film of 2017. In 2019 Peele followed up with his sophomore feature film ‘Us’, and has since been involved in the production of TV shows such as The O.G. and The Twilight Zone reboot.

Ava DuVernay

Living proof that it’s never too late to follow your dreams, Ava DuVernay started directing at the age of thirty-two. She has gone on to make history as a writer, director and producer, becoming the first black woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival. DuVernay’s work has ranked her the highest-grossing Black female director in box office history. DuVernay’s films ‘Selma’ and ‘13th’ have both received critical acclaim for their portrayal of racial prejudice in the United States. In 2010 she worked with Disney and Oprah Winfrey on the live-action film ‘A Wrinkle In Time’. Also that year, DuVernay started the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, a film distribution company working to improve racial and gender inclusion in the industry. Her latest series ‘When They See Us’ that portrays the true story of five teens from Harlem who were falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park, was nominated for 16 Emmy Awards.

Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler first stepped into the film industry whilst at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he directed four short critically-acclaimed films. In 2013 Coogler wrote and directed the award-winning ‘Fruitvale Station’; A chilling retelling of the final 24 hours of Oscar Grant's life; An African-American 22-year-old man who was killed by Police on New Year’s Day in 2009. Coogler went on to direct Creed in 2015, a sequel to the beloved ‘Rocky’ franchise. In 2016 Coogler was hired to direct and co-write Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’, a film that has gone on to win a multitude of awards and accolades and is renowned as a defining moment for black cinema. Coogler is also the youngest director to direct a film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.