In the age of Obama, American film makers are creating some of the most controversial motion pictures the world has ever seen. Quentin Tarantino is taking an enormous amount of criticism for his box office hit, Django Unchained. Holding the 2nd spot at the box office, his film, which features Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, has made over $100 million so far. Some say it’s a western depiction of a slave rebellion, others put it on the “must see” list for anybody who claims to be an expert in the field of chattel slavery. Regardless of your take on the movie, it is creating discussion about the enslavement of African people and the harsh conditions that existed on American plantations. For that at least, I say let the conversation continue. Beyond just verbal chatter, hopefully it awakens people to an often misunderstood and misinterpreted time in history.

Hidden Colors 2As successful as Django Unchained is becoming, it’s not the only film that’s gaining wide prestige, resentment, and overall assessment. “Hidden Colors 2 is the follow up to the critically acclaimed 2011 documentary about the untold history of people of African and aboriginal descent.” Featuring scholars, authors, and public speakers such as KRS-One, Dr. Claud Anderson, Michelle Alexander and others, this remarkable documentary is redefining African history in an easily digestible way. It’s not like a boring lecture, where you sit in the audience and watch someone spew endless rhetoric about a topic; it’s far more exciting, narrowly focused, and historically dense.

“We left evidence of ourselves all over this planet and that’s the problem with European scientists. The deeper they dig, the blacker the planet gets,” says Dr. Phil Valentine in one of the films trailers.

Diving thoroughly into topics like the prison industrial complex, the science of melanin, the global presence of African people, black economics, and the hidden truth about Native Americans, Hidden Colors 2:The Triumph of Melanin could arguably be one the most important documentaries released that caters specifically to the African Diaspora.

It also seems to be selling quite well. Everyone’s Place, a black-owned bookstore and culture shop in Baltimore, Maryland recently sold out and had to reorder hundreds of additional copies to keep up with the steady demand.Hidden Colors 2 is also ranked fifth on the Amazon list for top-selling documentaries.

The creator of the Hidden Colors series, Tariq Nasheed, deserves all the accolades he’s getting from his masterpiece. If film makers of other nationalities can profit from films discussing black culture and history, the black community should be able to do the same, especially when the film is packed with provocative and insightful information like that found in Hidden Colors 2.

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