Commentary by Black Kos editor JoanMar
I once met a young blond, blue-eyed music exec from Germany who told me that his favorite movie was The Harder They Come. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. At that time, I’d only watch the film once and had largely missed its message and it’s significance.
After that conversation, I revisited the movie — this time with adult eyes and woke sensibilities. And I got it. I understood why the movie became such a cultural phenomenon and why Jimmy Cliff became one of Jamaica’s most influential and enduring musical icons.
Well, they tell me of a pie up in the sky
Waiting for me when I die
But between the day you're born and when you die
They never seem to hear even your cry…
A little about this iconic movie:
“The Harder They Come” is a landmark of Caribbean cinema. The first full-length feature film shot in Jamaica by a Jamaican director with a fully Jamaican cast, it centers on a plot based on the lives of ordinary Jamaicans, making it unlike anything to come before. Through Jimmy Cliff’s sympathetic portrayal of Ivan, a determined character whose pride will not allow him to be beaten down but whose desperation leads to an inevitably swift and gory demise, filmmaker Perry Henzell illuminates the widespread social injustice commonplace in the developing world. //
Though it took time to establish itself abroad, “The Harder They Come” brought the sights and sounds of Jamaica to overseas audiences for the very first time; in particular, it made plain the jarring reality of the Kingston slums and gave some indication of the Rastafari way of life, sparking an interest for many in the island’s music and culture, especially in the USA, where the soundtrack was a revelation.
From New York Times:
The film hit the international scene on the heels of Blaxploitation films like “Shaft” (1971) and “Superfly” (1972), and was a standout at 1972’s Venice Film Festival.
The influential soundtrack came together shortly before the deadline to get it in. The title track was the only song Cliff recorded specifically for the movie. Calling it “the album that took reggae worldwide,” Rolling Stone placed it at No. 174 on its list of greatest albums of all time in 2020, right in between works by Kendrick Lamar and Nirvana.
The Harder They Come introduced many of Reggae’s founding fathers to the world; among them the mighty Prince Buster, Alton Ellis, Desmond Dekker, Toots Hibbert, and, of course, the man himself, Jimmy Cliff. Sadly, those legends are now all gone.
Born 81 years ago in St James, Jamaica, James Chambers — known to the world as Jimmy Cliff — would storm the entertainment landscape and quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with. With timeless hits like The Harder They Come, Many Rivers to Cross, and Wonderful World, Beautiful People, he carved out a legacy that will continue to shape music for generations to come.
Thank you for your contribution to world sanity, King. You definitely did your part to leave the world a more joyful place than you found it.
Who knew? Written by La Toya Jackson?
From Tracy Chapman:
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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The Emmett Till Interpretive Center purchased the barn after a $1.5 million donation from 'Bridgerton' and 'Grey’s Anatomy' creator Shonda Rhimes. Newsone: Barn Where Emmett Till Was Killed To Be Turned Into Memorial
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The barn where Emmett Till was tortured and brutally murdered will be turned into a memorial after being purchased by The Emmett Till Interpretive Center.
According to AP, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced on Sunday that it purchased the Mississippi barn with the assistance of writer/producer Shonda Rhimes, who donated $1.5 million to the center. In an open letter announcing the purchase, the center said it plans to have the memorial open to the public ahead of the 75th anniversary of Emmett Till’s lynching.
“By the 75th anniversary of Emmett Till’s lynching in 2030, the barn will open as a part of a larger public memorial — a place of truth, creativity, and conscience. Visitors will come not to look at tragedy, but to confront their own role in the ongoing work of democracy,” the open letter reads. “We did not save this place to dwell in grief. We saved it so that truth could keep shaping us.”
Emmett Till was a 14-year-old boy who was visiting family in Mississippi during the summer of 1955 when he was accused of whistling at a white woman outside of a grocery store. On the evening of Aug. 28, 1995, Till was abducted from his great-uncle’s home. He was taken to the barn, where he was beaten, tortured, and shot. After being acquitted by an all-white jury, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryan admitted to killing Till.
Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother, held an open casket funeral after Emmett’s body was returned to Chicago. That choice wound up being a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, as the image of the 14-year-old’s mutilated body spread nationwide, forcing the nation to reckon with the brutality of lynching in the South.
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The Trump administration announced that it has terminated Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals living in the United States, even as their country is embroiled in violence and political and economic instability.
The nation’s leading organization for Haitian rights rebuked the administration’s revocation of TPS for Haitians—particularly on the eve of Thanksgiving.
“When the U.S. government knowingly chooses to send people back to a nation that they themselves have put on a category 4 do not travel due to the continued political crisis, that is state-sponsored cruelty on the eve of Thanksgiving,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, a grassroots immigration rights advocacy group.
The advocate warned, “This decision will also impact millions of Haitians back in Haiti who depend on the remittances sent by their relatives.”
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that TPS status for Haitians will end on Feb. 3, 2026. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem determined that Haiti “no longer meets the statutory requirements for TPS.”
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Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau have announced they are taking “total control” of the west African country, three days after elections that both the two main presidential contenders claim to have won.
Military officers said they were suspending Guinea-Bissau’s electoral process and closing its borders, in a statement read out at the army’s headquarters in the capital Bissau and broadcast on state TV. They said they had formed “the high military command for the restoration of order”, which would rule the country until further notice.
Earlier on Wednesday, shots were heard near the election commission headquarters, presidential palace and interior ministry, although it was not clear who was responsible.
The military takeover is the latest in a string of coups and attempted coups in Guinea-Bissau since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974. The average yearly income in the country of 2.2 million people was just $963 (£728) in 2024, according to the World Bank.’
The UN labelled Guinea-Bissau a “narco state” in 2008 because of its role as a hub for the global cocaine trade. Situated between Senegal and Guinea, its coastline features numerous river deltas and the 88 islands of the Bijagós archipelago, which experts said had provided the natural, discrete drop-off points used by Colombian drug cartels.
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