Rewind: WB100 Black History Month Part 1 (1923-1973)

From April 4, 2023, to April 3, 2024, I launched The #WB100 Project, a series of images and tweets celebrating the legacy of Warner Bros to mark the studio's 100th anniversary. I made over 1000 images and posts honoring the studio's collective legacy over the last century. And while Warner Bros' own celebratory efforts were limited at best, I tried to celebrate every story as much as I could. In February 2024, I did just that to celebrate Black History Month and Warner Bros' legacy with Black films and TV series, characters, performers, and creators. I did more in a day than Warner Bros did that entire month, and that was... rather depressing if we're being honest, but as we have seen lately, the need to celebrate Black history when so many are trying to whitewash it and remove it completely is more important now than ever. 

So, starting today and throughout the month, I'm presenting my original #WB100 Black History Month posts from 2024 on Thoughtnami. 

Black stories matter, folks. -jh

Today is the 1st day of February. It's also the start of #BlackHistoryMonth, and I'm going to celebrate Warner Bros' legacy with a series of #WB100 posts all month long. Every story gets told. 

With that said, I have to be honest & acknowledge some uncomfortable things that are part of the story.

For much of the so-called Golden Age of Movies, studios like Warner Bros showcased gross, racist caricatures & stereotypes of Black people. 

Warner Bros' first talkie, The Jazz Singer, had Al Jolson in blackface and other unfortunate societal norms. 

You will NOT see blackface in these posts at all. 

Warner Bros' first cartoon star, Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid  (Warner Bros Cartoons/Harman-Ising, 1929 [pilot short]/1930), was a stereotypical Black character with blackface features. Many gags in the early cartoons were filled with blackface gags as well as stereotypical elements. They were products of their time and as wrong then as they are now.

Finally, before I begin Warner Bros' story, I must acknowledge that Hattie McDaniel won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Mammy in 1939'a Gone with the Wind t(Turner [Selznick International Pictures/MGM], 1939), the first Academy Award ever won by a Black performer or creator, and that's a grand part of WB's extended legacy.

With all of that out of the way, let's begin. 

These #BlackHistoryMonth #WB100 posts in chronological order. At least as chronological as I can be. 

When they say, "Celebrating Every Story," I mean it.

The Learning Tree, 1969

Gordon Parks' semi-autobiographical story The Learning Tree was the first film made by a Black filmmaker for a major film studio and released on August 6, 1969. 

The coming-of-age film was also one of the 1st to be inducted in the National Film Registry.

Valerie Brown (Josie and the Pussycats), Hanna-Barbera/Archie Comics (Radio Comics), 1970

Valerie Brown of Josie & the Pussycats was not only the first prominent Black female character on TV cartoons but also one of the first of any gender to have a Black performer (Barbara Pariot & Patrice Holloway, who was the lead singer the theme song) voicing them on TV.

Green Lantern (John Stewart), DC Comics (National Periodicals), 1971

"My name is John Stewart. I'm an architect by trade and a defender of the universe by appointment." 

Introduced in 1971, John Stewart is DC Comics' first Black superhero & arguably one of the most recognized, if not THE most recognized, Green Lanterns to mainstream audiences today.

Shaft (Turner [MGM], 1971)

"Warms my black heart to see you so concerned about us minority folks."
Gordon Parks' follow-up to The Learning Tree was 1971's Shaft, an iconic and groundbreaking crime film that introduced the big screen's first Black action hero played by Richard Roundtree.

Super Fly, 1972
"This is a chance, and I want to take it. Now. Before I have to kill somebody. Before somebody ices me. Are you with me?"
Everybody and their mother wanted to emulate Shaft's success, and Warner Bros was no exception, even bringing in Gordon Parks, Jr., the son of that film's director Gordon Parks, onboard. Super Fly told the story of Youngblood Priest (Ron O'Neal), a drug dealer who tries to get out of the game but is pulled back in to make one big score and dealing with a corrupt cop who's really in charge. A revolutionary flick about an antihero who became a cult icon for a generation.

Queen Nubia of Themyscira (DC Comics [National Periodicals], 1973 [original]/2019 [modern])

"I come to you as a Queen who is not bound by any truths but instead one who embraces understanding." 

Nubia is historically DC Comics' first Black superheroine, debuting in 1973, and has only recently risen in prominence in the mainstream.

 All hail the Queen.

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