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Press play on A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK AND SEXY. A mixed tape of deftly arranged vignettes on Black Love, Sex, and Reciprocity. What you hear may be unrecognizable at first... Neo-realistic intimacy between black people found in rare grooves previously drowned out by the sounds of modern hook-ups and bougie preoccupations, a cacophony of mass-produced beats created with drum machine loops and software. A Good Day to be Black and Sexy is that dusty LP you find in the crates. But as soon as you put the needle to wax, all the forgotten lyrics return to your lips in this dreamy love sonnet to the beautiful and chocolate coated.
The intro track is a prelude into the heavily sensual world of expectations - the rhythm that drives the film. Erotic moments are lullabies that turn into syncopated groves without notice. This record skips, and jumps to the hook of a Millie Jackson remix. An anthem belted out by a minx who knows her limits, but can't resist testing the boundaries. It's a song a sistah can roll her neck and snap her fingers to, exuding, at least for the moment, the confidence that every Black woman wished they had underneath the facade.
When the bridge is over, a slow jam slides in- the one from prom night when curfews were extended and hotel rooms were reserved. Back when wistful notions of love were only true when written in diaries and carved on school desks. A sticky interlude eases in and out of the song, and you move a little closer and wrap your arms around to dance tighter, until growing up too fast and maturing too late, causes innocence to be lost too soon. Needle getting closer to the middles leaving the last cut a re-imagined version of masculinity, basketball, and the inability to freely love who you want to love, at the ease that non-Negroes take for granted. Time runs out and so does the tape. Eject
Witten and Directed by
Dennis Dortch
Produced by Layla Mashavu
Dennis Dortch
Co-Produced by
Adetoro Makinde
Cinematography by
Brian Harding
Film Editing by
Dennis Dortch
Tangier A. Clarke
Casting by
Adetoro Makinde
Music Composed by
Henry “Lukecage” Willis
Production Design by
Vali Tirsoaga
Music Supervisor
Brian K. Jackson
Dennis Dortch
Executive Producers
Angela Flowers-Dortch
Ben Ramsey
Jonathan Cutler
Paula Parson
Kathryn Taylor ... Jeanette (segment: "Reciprocity") Brandon Valley Jones ... Tony (segment: "Reciprocity") Chonte Harris ... Helena (segment: "Her Man")
Marcuis Harris ... D'Andre (segment: "Her Man")
LaKeisha Blackwell ... Jade (segment: "Her Man") Mylika Davis ... Tamala (segment "Tonight") Allen Maldonado ... Jabari (segment "Tonight") Jerome Anthony Hawkins ... Julian (segment "Tonight")
Natalia Morris ... Meagan (segment "Tonight") Alisa Sherrod ... Jill (segment "Tonight") Micah Marie ... Tracy (segment "Tonight") Nana Hill ... Candi (segment "Reprise") Kareem J. Grimes ... Russell (segment "Reprise") Alphonso Johnson ... Jesse (segment "American Boyfriend") Emily Liu ... Jasmine (segment "American Boyfriend") Chris Yen ... Jennie (segment "American Boyfriend")
Raymond Ma ... Mr. Li (segment "American Boyfriend")
Dana Pan ... Mrs. Li (segment "American Boyfriend")
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