The holidays are the perfect time to upgrade your beauty products, and Black Girl Nerds has got your back. Here are five of our favorite makeup and hair companies owned by Black women.

Mented Cosmetics

Mented Cosmetics are, in a word, fantastic. My favorite item, the foundation stick, has a lovely light consistency, offers full coverage, and is vegan and cruelty-free. Mented Cosmetics’ website and app have a 60-second quiz for the foundation match that is spot on. I love the bronzer, which, when applied with a large brush, gives a lovely golden finish that makes the natural highlights of your skin just glow. The lipstick has a moisturizing quality that feels amazing and makes the lips look simply luscious. The eye shadow palettes have colors that work for everything from work to going out clubbing. This makeup line is high quality and affordable.

Mented also has lovely lovely individual blush, eyeliner, and mascara that all are light and enhance the features naturally. And best of all, Mented Cosmetics products wash off cleanly without residue. If you’re ordering online from Mentedcosmetics.com, there are free returns if you order anything that doesn’t work out. 

Mented Cosmetics was founded in 2017 by K.J. Miller and Amanda Johnson. Miller and Johnson met at Harvard Business School, clicked, and decided if they ever came up with a great retail idea, they’d work on it together. Miller and Johnson talked about how the beauty industry left out Black women, which inspired them to create Mented Cosmetics to provide a makeup line with products for all skin shades and tones. I’m happy and grateful they did because Mented Cosmetics is now my favorite makeup brand. 

Uncle Funky’s Daughter

Known by Black people with natural hair in the Houston area for years, Uncle Funky’s Daughter was created in 2009 by Tonya Goff. 

According to an interview on NaturallyCurly.com, Uncle Funky’s Daughter was acquired in 2014 by Renee Rhoten Morris. Interesting story, she had been thinking of a career change, stopped by Uncle Funky’s Daughter’s retail store to buy some butter to twist her hair, and ended up chatting to one of the co-owners, Tonya Goff’s husband. The couple was divorcing and thinking of just closing the business, but Rhoten Morris bought the brand. She brought back the original recipes of some of the brand’s most popular products, like the Original Curly Magic Curl Stimulator, and added additional products to the line. 

I discovered Uncle Funky’s Daughter when I ran out of hair products in Colorado. My hair was super dry, and when I went to a Walgreens in Denver, there was one travel size Ultimate Curly Girls Kit, which had travel sizes of Midnight Train leave-in conditioner, Curly Magic Curl stimulator, Thirsty Curls Leave in Curl revitalizer, Supercurl Miracle Moisture creme, and extra butter Brilliant shine creme. It was the only travel size of Black hair products in the drugstore, so I bought it. I was not disappointed. Every single product smells divine, and my parched hair just drank the conditioners and butters in and felt satisfied, leaving my hair feeling soft and supple.

You can find Uncle Funky’s Daughter on Amazon and in various drug stores nationally, but I love buying online directly from Unclefunkysdaughter.com. Prices are a little bit lower on the website; you can get special discounts and several travel-sized gift packs of various products from each line. Uncle Funky’s Daughter has products that work for all hair textures.

BLK/OPL & Fashion Fair

Black Opal cosmetics has been bought by Desiree Rogers and Cheryl Mayberry McKissack and has been rebranded BLK/OPL. Rogers and McKissack are co-owners of the iconic brand. 

First, let’s talk about BLK/OPL. I love that after 25 years of non-Black ownership, Black Opal was acquired by two Black female CEOs. The rebrand is fire. Not only does BLK/OPL have a full makeup line that is cruelty-free and dermatologist-approved, and it also has a skincare line. The blemish control cleansing bar, pore-refining toners, gels, and even skin-plumping products are all available for under $15. BLK/OPL’s makeup line is affordable and has a diverse palette of colors that work for the spectrum of skin types. This line is perfect for anyone who wants quality makeup and skincare for an affordable price. 

Rogers and Mayberry McKissack are brilliant co-owners with decades of combined experience in the Black beauty industry. When they bought Fashion Fair, they were compelled to bring together a team to meet the needs of consumers in the 21st century. Fashion Fair is now completely vegan and cruelty-free. Fashion Fair’s price point is slightly higher than BLK/OPL, and all of the iconic colors our mothers and grandmothers wore are back. Fashion Fair makeup has been upgraded and feels majestic, even better than the original brand, and worth the price if your budget allows it.

Nourish & Shine and Curls to Go

Nourish & Shine is the haircare line formerly known as Jane Carter Solution. This brand is worth looking for. No drying parabens and sulfate- and cruelty-free, Nourish & Shine is a natural hair and skincare line that will make your tresses look and feel amazing. 

The Curls to Go line works well with tightly coiled curls. Just a tiny amount will moisturize your entire scalp. Favorite products include Restorative butter, which smells like hair heaven, and the super-rich curl cocktail styling cream. A little bit goes a long way with these products, leaving your hair feeling silky, light, and nourished. 

This holiday season treat yourself to the gift of beauty while supporting these fab five Black female owned businesses.

The post 5 Fave Makeup and Hair Companies Owned by Black Women appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

This cookbook is an updated version of the classic original Star Trek cookbook written in the 1980s by Ethan Phillips and William J. Birnes. Monroe-Cassel has updated the cookbook with recipes that fit the diverse eating styles of today with a twenty-fourth-century flair. 

The author has a history of combining her love of fantasy with her love of food. Her popular Game of Thrones-inspired food blog, Inn at the Crossroads, inspired publishers to choose Chelsea Monroe-Cassel to write the best-selling A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook.

The Star Trek Cookbook is a delightfully clever, easy-to-follow cookbook with yummy fun to make recipes for the entire family. The cookbook is aesthetically beautiful. Not only did Chelsea Monroe-Cassel update and create new recipes, but she also photographed and food styled the book exquisitely. 

The cookbook has an easy-to-follow structure, and the recipes are broken down into seven chapters that make perfect sense. Individually, the recipes are so easy that anyone can follow them and feel like an expert in the kitchen. Each recipe comes from a different film or TV show from the Star Trek universe’s timeline and is derived from a specific culture from the Star Trek canon. 

I cooked the following recipes: Fettran Sauce, Greenbread, Plomeek Soup, Katterpod Noodle Bowl,  Denobulkan Sausages, and Ratamba Stew.

Fettran Sauce 

Source: Voyager

Culture: Risan

The Risans look like humans but have a round silver button-like ornament on their foreheads. Their planet’s focus is a pleasure. Fettran sauce is a lovely expression of flavor in a sauce that can be made to be savory or sweet. I made the savory version and used it to prepare shrimp and vegetables that were simply outstanding. Each sauce recipe consists of just three ingredients and takes fifteen minutes to prepare.

Greenbread

Source: Deep Space Nine

Culture: Yaderan 

Greenbread was hands down my favorite recipe. This cookbook is a baker’s delight. I love baking but rarely take the time to do it when I can just go to my favorite bakery when I get the urge. But Greenbread rocked my world. The bread is green, not from food coloring; no, my friend. Chelsea Monroe-Cassel uses frozen peas to create this otherworldly-looking loaf. The prep time is five minutes, and the cook time is just two minutes! The result, a light soft fluffy bread, when topped with any kind of butter, will melt in your mouth. If you have kids who aren’t fond of veggies, you can sneak in the veggies through this tasty treat. 

Plomeek Soup

Source: Star Trek: The Original Series, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise

Culture: Vulcan

Plomeek soup is a wonderful reflection of the Star Trek world come to life in the kitchen. The plomeek plant is native to Vulcan, and this recipe’s description tells a compelling story of how the fruit of the plomeek plant is harvested and its place in Vulcan cuisine. I love the fruit blend of this soup, and it’s able to be served either hot or cold. Lovely for hot or cold weather.

Makapa Bread

Source: Deep Space Nine

Culture: Bajoran

I’ve never made chocolate bread, so why have I never had this magic in my life before? Makapa bread has a crunchy crust and a soft middle. It reminds me of a softer version of biscotti, perfect for afternoon tea. This recipe isn’t for you if you’re not a fan of chocolate. But if you are, make Makapa Bread this fall to get your hygge on.

Katterpod Noodle Bowl 

Source: Deep Space Nine

Culture: Bajoran

Katterpod Noodle Bowl has a fantastic blend of full-fat coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, creamy peanut butter, soba noodles, and chickpeas that is simply delicious. From the noodles to the chickpeas, this noodle bowl is packed with protein, veggies, and flavor and takes just five minutes to prepare with a twenty-minute cook time. The dish is filling, and the flavor profile is savory and just feels nourishing. The Katterpod Noodle Bowl proves that vegan recipes don’t have to be boring and flavorless.

Denobulan Sausages

Source: Enterprise

Culture: Denobulan

Denobulan Sausages are simple. Anyone can make this recipe, which can be made with animal protein or plant-based sausages. The glaze has this heavenly blend of sweet and savory that blends perfectly. The secret to these sausages is that they are hot dogs dressed up to be otherworldly. You don’t have to break your budget to have a dinner that engages your imagination.

Ratamba Stew

Source: Deep Space Nine

Culture: Bajoran

This recipe wasn’t quite my taste but gets high points for creativity. The sauce is a spinach feta cheese pesto with veggies on noodles, but the recipe doesn’t have much flavor on its own. If you try this one, I recommend adding your own spices and adding salt because on its own, this recipe was bland.

The Star Trek Cookbook: Culinary Adventures in the Final Frontier is fantastic; even the book’s construction is convenient. It opens flat on the counter, and the pages stay open so you can easily look at the recipe as you’re cooking without having to use anything to keep the pages flat. 

In the foreword, Chelsea Monroe-Cassel describes herself as a Gastrodiplomat for the Federation. She has named herself perfectly, and she doesn’t forget to include beverages, hot and cold, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. 

If you’re having a Star Trek-themed party, the cookbook ends with a few pages of menu suggestions that make planning easy. The most surprising aspect of this cookbook is how it makes baking easy. Ktarian Chocolate Puffs, Meringue Drops, and Trixian Bubble Candy are all items that can bring some fun into the kitchen. The Delvan Fluff Pastry is a chameleon recipe for baking and was used in several recipes in the cookbook. I’ve always been a little intimidated by puff pastry, but this recipe was simple and works! This recipe is a dream. 

If you’re a caregiver of any kind, to anyone, cooking can be a slog. As I made each recipe, I read the story behind the food from the Star Trek universe, and as I cooked, it set my imagination free. The kitchen is one place where the result will be delicious if you follow the directions exactly. Connecting to worlds beyond my reality as I cook makes life a little sweeter. 

The Star Trek Cookbook: Culinary Adventures in the Final Frontier brings ease, creativity, and joy to the kitchen, allowing foodies of all ages to boldly take their culinary skills to new levels of Starfleet excellence.

The Star Trek Cookbook Culinary Adventures in the Final Frontier is on sale September 20, 2022.

The post ‘The Star Trek Cookbook’: A Delicious Culinary Delight appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Jenn Fujikawa is the lifestyle author of Star Wars: The Life Day Cookbook (Official Holiday Recipes from a Galaxy Far, Far, Away), The Goldbergs Cookbook, and The I Love Lucy Cookbook: Classic Recipes Inspired by the Iconic TV Show. Co-writer Marc Sumerak has collaborated on the Star Wars holiday cookbook with Fujikawa and The Office: The Official Party Planning Guide to Planning Parties, Cooking With Deadpool, and he’s written for video games and comic books.  

The Avengers Campus cookbook is told through the perspective of Cassie Lang (aka future Young Avenger Stinger), who starts off by telling how her father, Ant-Man, got his powers from Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym. Cassie is interested in solving world hunger and decided to experiment to see if Pym Particles could somehow be used to increase the size of food to feed more people. Cassie decides to use her idea to create an experiment. She asks Dr. Pym’s daughter Hope (the Wasp) and her research team to open up the Pym Test Kitchen to start experimenting with food particles to take “small actions on the plate that mean big impacts for a healthy planet.” Cassie spends her summer with Hope experimenting with food, and this cookbook represents the delicious fruit of their labor.  

I cooked the following recipes: Galactic Greens, Not So Little Chicken Sandwich, Harley’s Loaded Tater Tots, Peach Pym Pies, New York’s Tastiest Shawarma, Impossible Victory Falafel Shawarma, and Onome’s Outreach. Here are the highlights:

Galactic Greens: An eclectic blend of greens in a recipe shared by Taneleer Tivan, better known as the Collector, this salad is light, tasty, and unexpectedly filling. It’s all about the dressing. The combination of diced avocado, cilantro, dill, parsley, lemon juice, and other creamy ingredients make this salad sing.  

Not So Little Chicken Sandwich: The level of this sandwich is difficult, and that’s because there are several homemade components to this recipe. The result is delicious. It’s not so little because it consists of slaw, teriyaki mayonnaise, sriracha mayonnaise, and a breaded fried chicken breast, all made from scratch. The instructions are clear, and even though the prep time is an hour and the cooking time is thirty minutes, the result is a mouth-watering delight.

Harley’s Loaded Tater Tots: Harley Keener is that kid who helped Tony Stark in Iron Man 3 when Tony broke into his garage seeking a little shelter from the cold and food. Well, he’s working with Cassie at the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, conceived by Tony. Your budget will love this recipe. Tater tots are an affordable treat you can find in any grocery store frozen food aisle. Add the elements of a loaded baked potato to the mix, and you’ve got a filling snack that will leave you with a definite smile.

Peach Pym Pies: Mini peach pies make my day. The pastry element of this recipe is one of the best I’ve used in a while. Using muffin tins to create tiny pies is sheer brilliance. This treat is sweet enough to accentuate the taste of the fresh peaches, and this recipe was one of my favorites from this cookbook.

New York’s Tastiest Shawarma and Impossible Victory Falafel Shawarma: Remember after the battle of New York when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes got a bite to eat at Tony’s favorite Shawarma joint? Shawarma Palace has opened up a little food cart near the Avengers Campus and shared its recipes for this cookbook. The flavors are out of this world. I never thought of using the impossible burger for a falafel before but guess what? It works! No need to go to the Big Apple for a bite to eat; just take a little time at home to prepare these delicious dishes.

Onome’s Outreach: Onome is one of Wakanda’s brightest minds sent to the Avengers Campus by King T’Challa and Shuri to teach. Not only is she sharing technology with the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, but she’s also shared this unique drink of coconut milk, berries, vanilla, and sugar. The recipe is not too difficult to make and tastes like a dream. 

Avengers Campus: The Official Cookbook is an easy-to-use and imaginative cookbook perfect for Marvel fans of all ages. Reading through the pages and seeing all of the younger characters involved in the storylines, I wonder if this book is a preview for the introduction of the Young Avengers. Wouldn’t that be clever? Well, perhaps if you cook your way through this cookbook, you’ll discover some hidden clues. You’ll definitely love the recipes; you’ll be satisfied either way.

Avengers Campus: The Official Cookbook (Recipes from Pym’s Test Kitchen and Beyond) is available at bookstores and online booksellers.

The post ‘Avengers Campus: The Official Cookbook’ is Perfect for Marvel Fans of All Ages appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Starting with the author’s note, McCullough takes readers on a relatable journey grounded in history, self-awareness, social justice, and community care. Straight out of the gate, the author’s notes chapter is a succinct and moving recap of the losses Black communities experienced alongside the racial awareness and uprising during the pandemic. We get this recent history through the lens of the pandemic’s impact on McCullough’s career as a therapist and her personal life.

McCullough found herself bombarded on all sides and decided to step away from a practice that was not in alignment with her ethics and values, realizing that if she did not leave her job, her mental and physical health would suffer. So, with the added attention of the need for Black therapists during the pandemic, she took the brave step of leaving a soul-draining practice and stepping out on her own. The writing in this book is impressive. McCullough’s tone is like she is in the room, having a loving and informed conversation with you. 

Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within is part history lesson, part inspirational text that educates as it takes the time to work through the nuances of the challenging items discussed. A key element of this self-care resource is that before the author dives into a subject using “social-justice lingo,” she takes the time in the early chapter “A Few Key Terms and Concepts to Situate Us” to define the terms and concepts she will be using throughout the book. She describes the terms eating disorder vs. eating imbalance, colonization, capitalism, trauma, epigenetics, and what it means to be embodied in ways that are informative and engaging for people who use these terms regularly or not.

The book is a perfect example of how to engage complex topics from a trauma-informed perspective. Some chapters come with deeply thought-out content warnings at the beginning of the chapter to prepare the reader for what is to come.  One that stood out for me was Chapter 5: “Fatphobia and the Black Community.”  The content warning states, ”This chapter will discuss examples of fatphobia, anti-fat sentiments, and weight stigma. While I intend to describe these terms and experiences to offer more content and aim to discuss these things in an honest and responsible way, I understand that this topic may be triggering or activating for those who are fat or in larger bodies and for those who live with eating imbalances.” At the end of each chapter, there are questions for reflection where readers can pull out their journals and use the writing prompts to dive deeper into the material. McCollough writes in a kind and loving style that welcomes readers with clarity, deep knowing, wisdom, empathy, and compassion. 

Instead of just being a book that gives unrealistic exercises that are hard to execute and understand, Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within recognizes the challenges that Black people face every day as human beings on this planet, folds in how systems impact the Black community’s ability to nourish ourselves while we also coexist with systemic racism, and then celebrates the fact that we are still here, and does so in a relatable way. The wisdom is down-to-earth and accessible.

Eating disorders in Black communities do manifest in ways that we commonly see in other communities, but what Alisha McCullough exposes are the unique and subtle ways we see eating disorders appear in Black communities that are traditionally ignored. For example, how abstinence culture in conservative Christian Black culture defines a young Black woman’s worth by her ability to limit her calories and keep her dress size as small as possible, factoring into her worthiness and ability to attract a mate. The book also discusses the impact of a hip-hop culture that created a body image for women that negatively impacted generations of Black girls attempting to achieve an almost impossible big bust, thick thigh, small waist combination to be considered to be attractive, worthy, and dateable. It also gives a candid look at the rise of toxic veganism in Black communities as a class issue, as well as the illusion that one style of eating is the only style of eating that all humans need to achieve optimum health and wellness.

Many people in Black communities love talking about cooking and eating soul food, but beyond fat shaming, most Black folks have not had time to discuss eating disorders. Early on, when defining the terms she will be using in Reclaiming the Black Body, McCullough talks about how, in order to survive, Black people have had to be disembodied. Our ancestors were placed under such extreme physical trauma that their coping mechanisms were to be disembodied from the pain and suffering that their physical bodies were going through, without the proper nutrition to survive. These coping mechanisms have been passed down through family lines, and in some cases, this kind of disembodiment is perceived to be strength. Only recently have we begun to scratch the surface of how to process this trauma in different ways. 

After Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within lays out the history, challenges, and complexities, it gives the reader different perspectives and provides the opportunity for readers to start the process of formulating how to create individual solutions and connect to community. I’ve been practicing yoga asana since 2001 and recently completed my 500-hour yoga guide certification. I’ve always liked yoga and recognize the African roots of the practice. I always have to translate the teachings to be relevant to my experience as a Black American woman descendant of enslaved Africans from South Carolina and the West Indies.

Reading Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within did not require additional mental gymnastics; this book felt like coming home. McCullough was able to capture a knowing that has always been inside me, but no one has dared to articulate. I’m so grateful that McCullough had the knowledge, compassion, and wisdom to be the vehicle through which this powerful wisdom can enter the world, particularly now.

Black people have continuously educated one another beyond systems. Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within is like the Our Bodies, Ourselves for Black folks. A must-read, essential for any Black person who feels a gap in self-care beyond rest, plant-based diets, potions, and lotions.

The post ‘Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within’ is a Vital Resource for Self-Love appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen The Batman or Episodes 1–4 of The Penguin, please check out the film and episodes and come back to this article. Who would have thought that the most complex female character I’ve seen on television this year would be in a series about the origin story of a Batman villain?

HBO’s The Penguin is like if The Sopranos met Breaking Bad in Gotham City, and it’s been my favorite series of this season so far.

The timeline of The Penguin begins just a week after the events of The Batman. Gotham City is in disaster recovery mode after the Riddler’s terrorist attack destroyed Gotham City’s seawall. Crown Point, the lowest-income area of the city, was the hardest hit by the flood, while the wealthy regions of Gotham remain pristine. Carmine Falcone’s (Mark Strong, Kingsmen: The Secret Service) death, followed by the murder of his son Alberto (Michael Zegan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), has left the Falcone crime family in a power vacuum with Carmine’s brother Luca (Scott Cohen, Kissing Jessica Stein) as leader.

Oz, aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell, Sugar), and the entire Falcone family are unsettled as Carmine’s only daughter, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti, The Wolf of Wall Street), aka the Hangman, is released from Arkham prison for the criminally insane after ten years of incarceration. Sofia thinks Oz has something to do with the death of her brother, but Oz wiggles out of suspicion with the aid of his new driver, Victor (Rhenzy Feliz, Encanto)

Layered under the action, intrigue, and violence is a distinct commentary about people coexisting with disabilities, elder care, dementia, and the impact of living in poverty. Oz is not a traditional leading man, but as the audience learns more about him, he comes off as charming and despicable with an edge. He’s not a made man, has been looked over for decades, and seems to have a soft spot for his mother Frances (Diedre O’Connell, The Affair), his girlfriend Eve (Carmen Ejogo, I’m a Virgo), and Vic, the young man with a stutter who ends up being his driver/assistant.

Even though Oz does terrible things in the first three episodes, he comes off as a charming and despicable anti-hero. In these episodes, Sofia, a recent inmate of Arkham, is easily classified as a psychotic female villain even though she’s just trying to find out who killed her brother.  Alberto may have been an irresponsible addict, but he was the only one who visited her during the ten years she was at Arkham. It’s because of Alberto that Sofia has her freedom. She is determined to get justice for her brother.

As the Penguin and Vic get themselves in and out of several sticky situations, it’s easy to forgive these guys for their dastardly deeds because we know their backgrounds. These guys come from working-class families. Vic and Oz are criminals with hearts of gold, right? They have relatable dreams, and rooting for them feels good. Yeah, he does some questionable things, but it is satisfying witnessing this guy who has been underestimated his entire life McGuyver himself out of problem after problem as Oz deceives this unstable privileged lady, Sofia Falcone, and the rest of the demented gangsters in the Falcone crime family. 

Like Cassandra in Greek mythology, Sofia’s intuition is strong, but none of the men in her family believe her. But they don’t know how strong she is. Oz and the Falcone family do not understand what she went through at Arkham. She doesn’t trust Oz, but once she thinks he’s not responsible for her brother’s death, she gives him the benefit of the doubt because she has to prove herself to her family. Oz knows what to say to get her to do what he wants. We get slight hints of the trauma Sofia has endured at Arkham for the past ten years (and at the hands of her family before that). Still, in Episode 4, “Cent’anni” (which means “May you live a hundred years”), the entire series gets turned on its head and leaves me with a new disdain for the entire Falcone family and the Penguin.  

Initially, Sofia is as innocent as the daughter of a mob boss who turns a blind eye to where all the money comes from. Sofia is the responsible one. While Alberto is running around and drinking, Sofia is the chairwoman of the Isabella Falcone Foundation. Her dad respects her talents and is ready to break tradition and make Sofia his successor, even though she’s a woman. However, we also learn in Episode 4 that the Penguin goes to Carmine Falcone with information about Sofia, which leads Carmine to frame his daughter to cover up his crimes.

The underlying context of Episode 4 is the trauma and chaos that happens when men take away the bodily autonomy of women. Sofia is only supposed to be at Arkham for six months to be evaluated before standing trial, but her father has bribed the guards and the primary doctor. Sofia fights a losing battle to prove her innocence. Sofia could only count on her brother Alberto. Not only did her father betray her, but every single member of her family signed false affidavits that said Sofia was in mental decline. No one advocated for her, supported, helped, or visited her for ten years while she was slowly being turned into a psychopathic killer in Arkham.

Yes, Oz is a complicated character, and he couldn’t have known that ratting out Sofia would lead to her father committing her to Arkham, but if he had just spoken to her before going to her father, perhaps she wouldn’t have been committed. Sofia begrudgingly trusts Oz, and he betrays her over and over again.

The henchmen loyal to Sofia are murdered because of the Penguin’s lies. But by the end of Episode 4, Sofia takes back her agency in a big, bold way. Skin folk ain’t all kinfolk, and Sofia took care of those who didn’t have her back in a commanding way that allowed her to take her birthright and become the head of the Falcone crime family without apology. Halfway through this season, Sofia now knows who Oz is and what he’s done, and she has the resources to take him down.

Yes, Sofia Falcone deserves much better than the Penguin, and I can’t wait to see what happens now that she knows who he is and what he’s done. I can’t wait to see how Sofia handles these men in future episodes to come. And as Sofia Falcone, Cristin Milioti knocks the ball out of the park. I hope she gets nominated for and wins an Emmy for this role.

The post Sofia Falcone Deserves Better than ‘The Penguin’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

The series opens with Maison LEDU’s star designer, Vincent Ledu (Lambert Wilson, The Matrix Reloaded), unknowingly being recorded throwing a racist hissy fit that goes viral. The adverse ripple effect creates a crisis that may jeopardize the family legacy. Vincent’s former muse, ex-model Pearle Foster (Amira Casar, Call Me By My Name), is the driving force behind LEDU, but she is kept in Vincent’s shadow. Pearle comes up with a clever plan to save the company, which includes partnering with a talented young up-and-coming visionary designer, Paloma Castel (Zita Hanrot, Love, Death, and Robots).

Pearle and Paloma are visionaries ready to revitalize, rebuild, and save this century-old brand. Both women have roots in this company that have been overlooked and are determined to shine. As Maison LEDU deals with its internal drama, Vincent’s cunning rival, Diane Rovel (Carole Bouquet, For Your Eyes Only), CEO of the influential Rovel Luxury group, uses Vincent’s downfall to make moves to acquire Maison LEDU by any means necessary.

I love Paris, and this series transports the audience to the city of light in all the best ways. The locations are just stunning. One of my favorites is the location of the Rovel headquarters is the new headquarters of Renault, the French car company, located on an island in the Seine. Two characters have apartments with balconies with the Eiffel Tower in the background. I loved that the directors chose to shoot several scenes with the Eiffel Tower at night, just as the sparkling lights dazzle. 

As a fashion novice, seeing what goes into designing and building garments from scratch deepened the viewing experience and connected me to the story. The show educates as it entertains, giving nuanced perspectives on fast fashion, sustainability, and unintended consequences. The writers and directors do a fantastic job showcasing diverse haute couture elements. The opening sequence of the pilot shows how lace is constructed, and I could watch all day. 

Later in the series, we are taught how centuries-old lace patterns are designed, which blew my mind. La Maison gives viewers a look at all of the seamstresses who work tirelessly on these stunning garments, which are indeed art pieces. The heads of fashion houses are men, but the workforce, the patternmakers, seamstresses, beaders, and most of the workers are women. Paloma, Pearle, and Diane represent three generations, and through these characters, the audience witnesses how the feminist movement impacted these women in all of its iterations.

Diane is a second-wave feminist coming of age in the ’80s when being a feminist was wearing a business suit and being a female version of the movie Wall Street’s Gordon Gekko. She is focused on individual financial freedom and preserving her legacy by any means necessary. Pearle is a third-stage feminist who was Vincent’s muse as a model in the 1990s. She found fame and power through her beauty first; then, as she aged out of the modeling world, she used soft power, being the woman behind Vincent, the male star designer. Pearle’s stalwart loyalty and magnificent ability to see situations with a bird’s eye view, making calculations before taking action, but she’s just a tad shady. She is willing to bend the rules for her benefit.

Then there’s Paloma, a Gen Z social justice warrior. Her mixed ethnicity gives her a unique perspective that Diane and Pearle don’t have. A social media savant, Paloma and her team of fashion renegades know how to take risks, call out oppression, and create viral moments using fashion as their bullhorn. Still, she’s never quite ready to deal with the unintended consequences of her activism. Paloma has a global view of oppression, is the unique talent of her generation, and is ready to challenge the establishment. At the same time, she is a designer with an ego and a desire to create her own legacy, as well as all of the wealth and power that comes with running a legacy fashion house like LEDU.

The series is well-balanced and gives authentic portrayals of racial dynamics in Paris. Paloma is mixed race, but her mother is Black and is an unseen character. It would have been more interesting to have seen how Paloma interacted with her mother to show that side of the narrative. I’d love to see Paloma’s mom if there is a second season. La Maison has several diverse Queer characters, and their queerness is not the central conflict. I love a series where there are sibling dynamics that are not sugar-coated. The three Ledu siblings’ relationship is messy and has decades-old baggage they are holding onto and acting on, making the drama super juicy. I love a nighttime soap opera where a family is cutthroat, fighting for power over the family business with some electric drama. Place all that juicy chaos in the high-stakes Paris fashion world, and everybody’s fighting in French?  Yes, please!

La Maison is based on an original idea by Alex Berger, who is also an executive producer on the show. Showrunners José Caltagirone and Valentine Millville created it, and Fabrice Gobert (The Returned) and Daniel Grou (Lupin) directed it. La Maison premieres on AppleTV+ on Thursday, September 20, 2024. 

The post Review: Apple TV+’s ‘La Maison’ Is Giving Old School Nighttime Soap Opera Vibes  appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Game of Thrones was a complex, nuanced, thought provoking series inspired by the late 15th century English conflict of succession between the House of Lancaster and the House of York, aka the War of the Roses. The series was special for many reasons, but the one that stuck out in my mind was how Game of Thrones humanized its villains in ways that made audiences think twice before easily judging the cruel actions they viewed on screen and writing these people off. In Game of Thrones, no matter who the person was or their status, there were always unintended consequences for every action.

With over one hundred and fifty characters, the characters of color were portrayed to be the lowest classes, savages, pirates or slaves. Game of Thrones was also criticized for its graphic sexual violence and gratuitous female nudity.  When I watched the show I saw it as a commentary on empire and the toxicity of whiteness. White people were killing one another for status and power, not even considering the lower castes (the smallfolk in the show’s parlance) when, at the end of the day, a larger evil that will destroy everyone looms in the background. Game of Thrones was frustrating because in the early seasons I loved the complex character studies, action, costumes and great storytelling, but I hated the way the white male writers portrayed characters of color and women in the stereotypical ways that white male writers have traditionally placed these characters.

House of the Dragon, based on the book Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin, is set two hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones take place, and one hundred years before House Targaryen unites the Seven Kingdoms. The white-haired scions of House Velaryon and House Targaryen are the monarchy. In Game of Thrones, the last two members of House Targaryen are played by white actors in white wigs. In House of the Dragon, Steve Toussaint (Doctor Who), a dark-skinned Black actor with long white locs, plays Lord Corlys (the Sea Snake) Velaryon as the husband of Princess Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best, The Crown), creating a multiracial nuance to the monarchy that adds layers of fascinating complexity.

Lord Corlys is a self-made man who grew the financial resources to buy his way into royalty. It’s very American. The Sea Snake is like a Rockefeller. Corlys is determined to solidify his power and does so by marrying his son Ser Laenor (John Macmillian, One Day) to King Viserys’ (Paddy Considine, Peaky Blinders) daughter and heir, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy, Mothering Sunday) and his daughter Lady Laena (Nanna Blondell, Attack on Finland) to the the the King’s brother Daemon (Matt Smith, Doctor Who). Ser Laenor is in love with a man, and Princess (soon to be Queen) Rhaenyra  is in love with one Ser Harwin Strong (Ryan Corr, High Ground). Rhaenyra  offers a progressive arrangement within this arranged marriage. Sounds kinda like a soap opera, right?

But it gets better. Turns out that the Sea Snake, like most men of his station, not only has children with his white wife Rhaenys, but he also has two illegitimate sons: Alyn of Hull (Abubakar Salim, Jamestown) and Addam of Hull (Clinton Liberty, Normal People). These two are introduced in Season 2 and become significant players in the story.  In the Season 2, Episode 8 finale, “The Queen Who Ever Was”,  Alyn talks with Lord Corlys about the impact of growing up and seeing Corlys take care of his heir. At the same time, Alyn and his brother lived in poverty and had to pull themselves out with hard work and much luck. Seeing these two Black men have this kind of conversation was the kind of layered relationship that I loved seeing happen between a Black father and son.

I am also obsessed with the thought of Alyn and Aadam’s mother. Who was she? What was it like for her? Why did Corlys not support her? Did he love her? They had two sons together. I wish this character were a person we could see on screen played by a dark-skinned Black female actor. I love how casting all of these Black actors has attracted more of a Black audience, and the memes on social media give me life. I mean, the Seasmoke and Addam memes brought me joy for days after that episode aired.

In Season 1, I was mad at House of the Dragon because Lady Laena suffered a horrible death, which the actor justified as her choice as a dragon rider. But in Season 2, through Laena’s daughters, Lady Rhaena (Phoebe Campbell, Midsomer Murders) and Lady Baela (Bethany Antonia, Nolly), we see two young Black women navigating their royal responsibilities and being significant players. It’s nice to see these two characters evolve. Lady Baela is a dragon rider. One of my favorite episodes features this baddie flying on her dragon, Moondancer, getting key intel that shifts the trajectory of this story.

In Game of Thrones, women wield power in broad strokes. Some characters are driven by motherhood, and the other by a lust for power. Both end up being one-dimensional tragic villains. In House of the Dragon, women are like surgeons using power like scalpels, thinking of the consequences before initiating violent action. The women in this era coexist with patriarchy differently. Not only do we see women in front of the camera, but there are also women in the writer’s room and women directing episodes. In Game of Thrones, the gore is on the battlefield. In House of the Dragons, the blood is in the birthing chamber.

Sexual violence is not glorified in House of the Dragon. The one time this happens, it occurs off-camera. The audience sees the horror of the coverup rather than the visual shock of the violent action. In Game of Thrones, Cersei Lannister and Daenerys Targaryen hate one another without meeting until a late episode in the last season. In House of the Dragon, Alicent and Rhaenyra start off as best friends and gradually their love for one another turns to tragedy because of the battle for the line of succession. The Greens have top notch health care provided by the best Grand Maester Orwyle (Kurt Egyiawan, Skyfall), who also happens to be Black.  

The storytelling in House of the Dragon is far more compelling and rich because it shows a world where a multiracial world of human beings are dealing with the challenges of monarchy, caste, power struggle between genders, social class, inheritance based on birth with magic and dragons, without any white saviors. I’m totally here for it. 

The post ‘House of the Dragon’ vs. ‘Game of Thrones’: How a Diverse Cast Makes for a More Interesting Series appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

The series opens with Huey P. Newton and his girlfriend Gwen Fontaine (Tiffany Boone, The Chi) on the run from the police and the FBI. Newton has been charged with a murder he did not commit and is determined to maintain his freedom. Newton and Fontaine seek refuge at their supporter Bert Schneider’s mansion where Schneider cooks up a plan to get Newton to safety using the ruse of making a film in Hollywood.

As Newton, André Holland embodies an impressive emotional range that felt authentic but unfortunately his vocal choices were distracting. Alessandro Nivola’s Bert Schneider is a complex portrayal of a narcissistic liberal with a white savior complex and a sweet spot for cocaine. This character is so frustrating it’s mind-numbing. His rich boy incompetence adds rich context to the conflict.

The Big Cigar has the same look and rhythm as the film Argo and the story is told in multi-layered flashbacks. Its pacing at first feels like a comedy but just as the audience gets comfortable, the shocking weight of what Newton and the Black Panthers endured lands, shocking viewers into a cold reality. The Black Panther Party’s original focus was on community service programs with self defense being necessary to protect members from predatory police tactics.

Not only does The Big Cigar reflect how the FBI tormented the Black Panthers with numerous tactics to fracture the movement, it skillfully reflects how ego and the quest for power and recognition tore the leadership of the Black Panther movement apart. Newton has multiple nemesis chipping away at his sanity. The writers, directors and actors do a great job of telling the story of the traumas that informed Huey P. Newton’s style of activism without reverting to being lazy trauma porn. I loved the subtle realism that was woven throughout the series. Schneider’s white saviorism blends with the lure of Hollywood fame factored into influencing and damaging Newton’s relationship with Bobby Seale and different factions of the Black Panther Party.  

The writing, direction, and acting give a clear view of what Black revolutionaries sacrificed in their quest for liberation and the complexity of how liberal white folks both helped and harmed by funding the movement. Huey and Gwen’s love story nestled into the chaos is lovely. She grounds him in a way no one else seems to be able to do. It’s also wonderful to see the deep nurturing relationship between Huey and his father Walter (Glynn Turman, Queen Sugar) and how systemic racism influenced Huey. He comes from a space of love, and the negative impacts of his self medicating are directly linked to unfair incarceration and systemic racism.

The Big Cigar is a spectacular series to watch right now as Black folks are dissecting what revolution, liberation, and Black communities look like fifty years after the original Black Panther movement was born. Newton not only is fighting systems of oppression grounded in whiteness, he’s battling with the quickly fracturing Black Panther Party. The series lays out the layered relationship between Newton and Schneider as Newton struggles to not be perceived as a Hollywood sellout by the movement.

The show illustrates why Newton was a troubled leader with flaws and doesn’t sugar coat or exploit his issues with self-medicating with various substances throughout his life due to the dehumanizing treatment by the police, being hunted by the FBI, and systems of oppression. Newton isn’t perfect; he’s a flawed human impacted by his desire for power. When Seales and others call him out on his desire to be accepted and defined by whyte Hollywood, Newton claps back with a vitriol that many in the movement never forget or forgive him for.

The Big Cigar is layered and told with such clarity, humor, and care. Every department from the writers to the set designers are at the top of their game. Watching this limited series is like being transported back to the 1970s. 

This limited series worth watching to be entertained, informed, and inspired. 

The series was created by Janine Sherman Barrios (Claws), and one of the episodes was directed by Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), who was also one of the executive producers of the series.

The Big Cigar premieres on AppleTV+ Friday May 17, 2024.

The post Review: Apple TV+’s ‘The Big Cigar’ Brings the Black Panther Party to Life appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Created by Ronald D. Moore, the man who rebooted Battlestar Galactica, For All Mankind is an incredible series. Showrunners Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert (who have written for Fargo and The Umbrella Academy) and their writers craft mind-blowing scripts that are shockingly relevant. Not only is the writing incredible, VFX supervisor Jay Redd’s work is simply stunning. 

The sequences that take place in space are truly mesmerizing. Krys Marshall plays Commander Danielle Poole, who is a powerhouse and the first Black woman to achieve several firsts in space. Marshall’s portrayal of this incredible character has been fantastic. In Season 1, we meet Danielle in her twenties. In Season 4, we see Danielle seamlessly playing the same character in her late fifties. Marshall is an incredible talent, and BGN spoke with her via Zoom shortly after Thanksgiving 2023 about her dynamic character.

Did you get to go to space camp? 

I wish! But we did create our own little version of a space camp. We have a real live astronaut, Garrett Riesman, who was the technical advisor on Battlestar [Galactica]. Several advisors are always with us on set, ensuring everything is authentic. When we first started, the cast sat down to lunch with Garrett and got answers to questions like how you eat, how you pee, and what the physicality of being in space is. He told us that since there’s no gravity, the blood in the body doesn’t rush to the extremities; it kind of pools at the center of your body, so it’s crucial to drink fluids and exercise to keep the blood flowing. Knowing things like that has been instrumental in telling the story authentically.

Season 4 takes place in 2003, and Danielle is at the top of her career. What is it like to be playing her at this stage of life?

It’s been really cool. In previous seasons, she was coming off the heels of the civil rights movement. She went to a totally segregated school and is the only Black girl in an all-white program; she is also one of the few women in this all-male program. She has had to watch her Ps and Qs constantly. She’s had to be very aware of how she is being perceived as a person who, although she knows she’s competent and knows about what she’s talking about, she’s had to defer to everyone else around her.

Danielle has moved leaps and bounds to the Danielle we see at the beginning of Season 4. She is totally competent and not afraid to speak her voice. She is an authority in her field. We get to see what happens when a person has really stepped into their power. It’s a delight to play such different variations of the same person.

I love For All Mankind because of how beautifully each story is told, and I know that storytelling is important to you. Please tell me why your mentorship with the Young Storytellers Foundation is meaningful.

When we’re growing up, it’s easy to say to a kid, ”You can be anything you want to be. The world is your oyster.” But as a kid, you don’t really believe those things for yourself. I think about how the teacher who inspired me really encouraged me not just in a generalized way but actually meant it. So when I started doing workshops, I observed that often in grade school, kids are just taught to just answer questions. At the Young Storytellers Foundation, we sit down with writers, and we teach kids the meat and potatoes of writing — rising action, etc. Then, we help them write their first little five-page screenplay.

What about playing Danielle brings you the most joy?

There’s so much intensity in our [For All Mankind] world, and I love that Danielle is light and joy. I love that she doesn’t take herself too seriously. I love that she’s, at times, comic relief. Sometimes, in the story, you need a deep breath. And I think that she is, for our characters, a safe place for them to land. 

Krys Marshall’s work on For All Mankind is stellar. It’s not easy to play the same character from her early twenties through her middle ages. Marshall’s acting is flawless, the show is wildly entertaining, the alternate reality is a fun world to visit, and the show has a 100% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. You never know what will happen next. 

Episodes of For All Mankind are streaming on AppleTV+.

The post Krys Marshall Takes on Space with Grace in ‘For All Mankind’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

How has your background as a dancer factored into your work ethic as an actor?

I do all my stunts whenever it is safe, which is most of the time. And so it’s exciting to be able to use that old background of learning choreography and being in your body in such a natural way on a big explosive show like Reacher. Being a dancer requires a lot of discipline. It requires pushing through fatigue, pushing through aches, and whatever is going on with you. I am grateful to love what I do. And I take it seriously.

You’re also a network TV writer. Do you ever want to give the writers notes for your character?

Generally, it’s a very collaborative effort. One thing I’ve learned is when you pitch something in the writer’s room, you are always ready to make another suggestion. And if you hear a pitch, you never turn down the pitch unless you have another suggestion. That’s writer 101, standard. So whenever I come across something in the scripts where I think, “Maybe it could be a little bit different” — which rarely happens because the creative team behind Reacher is so well versed in the tone of the characters — but on the rare occasion that it does happen, I always will say, “Hey, I’m flagging this, and here are three ways that I think you could solve it.”

I hope that makes their job a little bit easier, so that they don’t have to spend brainpower coming up with something new when they have so many other things to worry about. And of course, they do that anyway. But it’s just trying to be helpful because I really love the collaborative aspect of what we do more than the actor deciding to do something and the writer deciding to do something else. For me, it’s best when it’s a collaboration. 

Frances has got this combination of being a sniper but also a little nerdy. I love that nuance of your character.

I fell in love with her on the page. She has this weird quirky quality about her that shows she’s not just a tough badass. Frances also has a sort of endearing quality about her that has been so interesting to get to play with.

There’s a scene in a convenience store with the guy helping out Frances with the security footage…

Yea, that was cool.

That particular scene was one of my favorites of the whole series.  That moment that y’all had together was just such a slice of life placed in this action series that brought it down to earth.

That was a very fun scene. And it was actually funny on the day. I don’t know if this is a spoiler, but on the day when we were shooting it, I just met the actor playing the convenience store guy that day and so I asked after we had done a rehearsal or a take, “I just have a question. Are you flirting?” And Alan [Ritchson, who plays Jack Reacher] looked at me, and he was like, “That is such a Neeley moment.” Because it’s like: “Oh, she didn’t get that.” 

You were crowned Miss Denmark in 2008. If Frances competed in beauty pageants, what do you think her talent would be?

Oh my god, she would never… [Laughs.]

I know, I know, but what if she had to compete, say, for an undercover case…

It would be a martial arts endeavor. In Season 2, some of the training techniques that she uses specifically are from something called Kali, which is a Filipino martial arts style. When you look at people who are really good at it, it’s beautiful. 

What about playing Frances brings you the most joy?

Oh, so many things. Really. She’s a joy of a character because she’s fun and quirky. Frances also has a lot of tragicness about her because she’s quite isolated from the world and she has this keen ability to follow orders. I am a person who really needs to be in control at all times.

When I get to be Frances, she’s more open to taking orders and doing things because they need to get done. It’s less complicated for her. There’s an ease in that. There’s a freedom in that; that I don’t have in my life that has been interesting to explore. You know, I’m just here showing up to do. What do I need to do? Tell me what to do. It’s interesting being in a space where I don’t have the correct answer at all times because I need to control everything. I think that is my favorite thing about her and the second part is that she’s just unapologetically herself.

Reacher season two returns on December 15, 2023, on Prime Video.

The post ‘Reacher’s’ Maria Sten Brings the Dancer’s Work Ethic to the Screen appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.