We talk about everything black around here and I want to talk about Tyler Perry’s new movie on Netflix. I know we are not always fans of Tyler Perry and his movies. His best movie to me was A Family that Preys but I do try to give him the benefit of the doubt. His movies have gotten worse, but this one wasn’t as bad as his last one. When I first saw Joe’s College Road Trip, I just knew this was gonna be some bullshat, but here is what I learned….
That I cuss too much…cause the cussing didn’t even phase me lol.
Joe (Madea’s Brother) is taking his grandson BJ on a college road trip. BJ doesn’t know a lot about his culture, and his father realizes this and wants to get some black in him.
Let’s take a moment to understand both sides of this coin. I get that some black parents want their kids to have opportunities that white people seem to always get. To get these opportunities, we sometimes think we have to put our children around them by sending them to the top public schools or private schools. The mistake we make with this is that we don’t teach them at home what they need to know about their culture. It’s not the teacher’s job or the school, or their friends. It’s your job as the parent to teach them about being black. I knew my daughter was hanging around a lot of white people in elementary school (it was the school of choice at the time), so I made sure I put her in an all-black dance school to balance it out, and we watched movies and I taught her things at home.
The other side of the coin is we also need to teach our kids how to adapt in a white world because, unfortunately, it won’t always be an all-black atmosphere. We have to learn how to code-switch, what seems like racism and what isn’t, and we have to be able to stand up for ourselves in various settings. I get that we all want what’s best for our kids, and that is up to you on the school and environment you put them in, but understand that they still need to know who they are.
Getting back to the movie…I love that Joe wasn’t forceful with his teachings. It took me a min to even see that they slept in the same room as MLK, or that they took a picture where Emmett Till was killed. The lessons were subtle, but it was eye-opening. Everywhere we go, especially in the south, there is a story to be told.
No Ai
No phones
No googling
He wanted him to be human and learn how to interact with people. This is a lost art these days. Something that needs to be taught. One of the things I love about being in Atlanta (“You live in Atlanta, not Georgia. Life is completely different outside of 285” – from the movie) is that my kids get to see how successful black people can be. In order to be successful, you have to know your past so that you can know how to accept and make your future better. Charleston can sometimes feel like it’s a white world where it reeks of the past but I love my home because there is so much History there.
This movie was about the sacrifices our people made in the past so that he could have the choice to choose Morehouse or Pepperdine or any school he wanted, for that matter. We never had the choice, and now we do, thanks to all those who fought for this.
All of Tyler’s movies are a lesson, but you have to pay attention to them.
What did you think about Tyler’s Movie? Any parts that stood out to you?
