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https://blacknerdproblems.com/captain-america-brave-new-world-review/

Captain America: Brave New World is out and looking to bring audiences back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Packed with just the right balance of action and story, with a feeling that this phase has a different tone altogether. A movie positioned between two controversies. The fictional “controversy” of featuring a Black Captain America during a legitimized fascist coup. The real controversy of highlighting an Israeli operative during a Palestinian genocide. Does Brave New World bring enough to the table to see past the shadow of its bad press? Let’s get into it.

Red, White, Blue, and Black Too

Anthony Mackie picks up right where he left off after The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as the newly knighted Captain America. Forced into the spotlight as the iconic hero known as the ‘symbol of the American dream’.

captain america
Front and center, Anthony Mackie takes the stage as Captain America in Brave New World. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

From the final monologue of TF/TWS, Sam Wilson told us exactly what time he’s on. He’s here to do what’s right in defense of human rights – regardless of what any government interest has to say about it. Whether it’s the left or the right. A full three-sixty from his Civil War-era ‘do what they tell us’ stance. He’s a bit of a wildcard for the U.S. government, but they don’t question his allegiance to the country or the power of his symbolism as Captain America.

Mackie leans into his Captain America, and the character is better for it. He’s all of the gravitas, the discipline, and righteousness with none of the ‘Super Soldier Serum.’ Like Jackie Chan or Batman Beyond, this is the hero going into the fight knowing they are skating uphill. But he’s going in anyway, taking his lumps and still coming out on top. There’s a grit to Mackie’s performance of Sam Wilson that was always on the surface. His bravado came across as plucky in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and became more ‘capable but reluctant’ through to Endgame. Brave New World gets to the depth of who he is. Sam Wilson wasn’t even this fleshed out as a character until Rick Remender made him Captain America in the comics in 2014, and now he’s in living color (pun intended) as Cap, onscreen in 2025!

[Blerd note: Mind you, the character’s publication history starts in 1969. By 2014 that’s a whole forty-five years of existence with mild to limited substantial growth before an explosion that takes the character into the strata of pop culture and film. Ten more years after that, a lead role in the MCU.]

Anthony Mackie, in essence, puts his spin on being Cap the way Sam had to in the comics. There’s a nuanced layering: Anthony Mackie is playing Sam Wilson, who was The Falcon and now The Falcon is Captain America. In Brave New World, Sam Wilson finally owns being Captain America, and so does Mackie.


Director Julius Onah (l.) working with Xosha Roquemore (c.) (Agent Leila Taylor) and Anthony Mackie (r.) (Captain America). Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

About the Movie…

Brave New World enters the MCU as a political thriller. Director Julius Onah employs the same genre vehicle the Russo brothers designed for Captain America movies from The Winter Soldier. Popping in and out between multiple locations connected by narrative thread, making the world feel smaller and smaller and the threat larger and larger. The action is clean, Sam isn’t Steve Rogers, and it shows in the best ways. Without enhanced strength, the effort and precision skills make fights tighter and more close up. The action pieces move the plot along, but the plot is muddled and a little unclear tonally. Here’s why: we can’t tell whose movie this is.

The Ross Effect

Harrison Ford steps in for William Hurt (who passed from cancer in 2022) as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who becomes President of the United States and is revealed in the trailer to become the red Hulk. Ross is a rare MCU character who elevates the Hulk lore by using military might to measure and showcase Hulk’s strength. Ross also grounds the Avengers’ lore by noting how their actions impact ‘real people’.

captain america
(l.) Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross opposite Anthony Mackie’s (r.) Captain America. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

Ross was born in the comic pages as a Hulk nemesis and mainstay who matriculated from the page to the screen in the Incredible Hulk movie. The end credit scene for that movie finds Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark walking into a bar to tell Ross he’s ‘putting together a team’. On its own, that scene blurred the line between what we know to be a Hulk movie and what we would come to expect from an Avengers movie. Ross’s presence changes the tone of a Marvel movie. Brave New World can’t decide if it’s a Hulk movie or a Captain America movie. It feels like an Avengers movie shoehorned into a Captain America movie, stuffed into a Hulk movie. Adding Tim Blake Nelson’s reprisal of Samuel Sterns/Leader into the mix so heavily only further muddled things.

Sit-Rep

Brave New World is a high-quality action movie trying to do work on two fronts. It tries to broaden the galactic lore by adding the Eternal in the ocean that no one has referenced since The Eternals. It also tries to broaden the Earth-based lore by reintroducing super soldier espionage, trying to reestablish the gamma wars, and folding the Serpent Society (Sam Wilson’s primary nemesis from the comics) into the MCU.

There are a lot of great performances, but they can’t overshadow the many (obvious) changes, cuts, and reshoots that make the movie feel like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces almost fitting together. There’s also a strange and cringe-inducing, “Can’t we all just get along?” and “Can’t we disagree and still be friends?” vibe that is being echoed throughout media at large.

[Note from the writer: The military takes center stage in this movie in a way that feels more like the closeted ‘support’ messaging in the Transformers franchise and Top Gun movies. It’s not too much, but it is noticeable in the current political climate. I know all of the main characters are military-involved, but there’s something present that wasn’t there before. Just a feeling.]

Performances

Legend of the stage and screen Carl Lumbly was cast perfectly as the surly and (rightfully) untrusting ‘forgotten’ Captain America, Isaiah Bradley. But where there was so much latitude to engage in that painful yet triumphant legacy, he gets used as a pawn for the unclear plot. Another luminary actor, Giancarlo Esposito dropped in and did his thing as lethal assassin and arms dealer Sidewinder. Danny Ramirez returns as Joaquin Torres, the unofficial new Falcon, and does his thing. Ramirez is engaging, funny, and electric. But the comic reader in me knows he’s supposed to be genetically engineered human with bird features who becomes The Falcon. Either way, Ramirez delivers.


Danny Ramirez (c.) holds his own flanked by Anthony Mackie (l.) and Carl Lumbly (r.). Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

Tim Blake Nelson tones down his villainous Dr. Samuel Sterns to spectacular effect. The Leader feels like he’s coming into his own and is scarier and very believable. Harrison Ford has played the President in quite a few movies, but I don’t know that he has ever been pressed to act with this level of dramatic flair in some time. Ford’s Ross is as accurate a comic book portrayal as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The nuance of duty, pride, power, and anger of Ross’ character are conveyed convincingly by Ford – that’s just good casting. Also, a Hulk has never looked as good as this. Hats off to the visual teams.

captain america
Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk looked good. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

The Elephant in The Room

I will say this as dryly as I can. There was no reason I can fathom for the use of Shira Haas’ turn as Ruth Bat-Seraph in this movie. The blowback and protest facing this movie must’ve made enough impact that the studio just cut her out as often as possible. (They cut so much, I couldn’t even critique her performance accurately.) The move to have the character in the movie has been called ‘insensitive’ by pro-Palestine advocates in media, academia, and political organizations. Marvel Studios’ removal of her history with the Mossad and superhero identity Sabra, a move called anti-Semitic by pro-Israel advocates in the same fields. What stands out is that this character could only serve one purpose for the MCU (spoilers later on). We get glimpses, but not enough to make it make more sense than that someone wanted Israeli representation onscreen in the MCU. There’s so much quietly at play surrounding the choices to include and then amend this character that cast a bad light on Brave New World’s opening week.

Haas portrays the civilian identity of the Israeli superhero Sabra. In the comics, Sabra is an Israeli mutant who comes to work for the Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service. Created in the 1980s, Sabra is another one of the characters designed to be a counterpart to Captain America and the super soldier program like Black Widow’s Red Guardian.

From New World Order to Brave New World

In Brave New World, she’s Ruth Bat-Seraph, former Black Widow assassin and security advisor to President Ross. No shade, but the appointment of a foreign national former assassin to a government agency makes as much sense as Elon Musk’s appointment to DOGE. I say that to say, the unique value this character would have brought to the MCU was the integration of mutants into the lore. Without that, feels kinda flat.

captain america
Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

The Marvels brought the X-Men’s Beast to the screen, but this would have brought mutants to the *checks notes* 616 universe proper. What makes this take hot, you ask? The inclusion of Adamantium – in the form of a giant Eternal poking out of the Earth’s core and into the Indian Ocean. Stern’s warning about attacks from other worlds. The movie’s title changing from “New World Order” to “Brave New World”. Which I thought was a clear signal to mutants joining the fold and changing the hierarchy of power in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (lol). None of it makes any clear sense other than a way to inflate her importance by using her to introduce mutants to this part of the MCU.

[Blerd Take: Does Ross step down from the Presidency and get replaced by his running mate, Senator Robert Kelly????]

Add to that a scene where Bat-Seraph is wearing a superhero costume under her coat, never to be seen again and you get a clear picture that the character was also shoehorned into this movie. But it also reminds the world at large that this character was put here intentionally and despite tragic, damning, well-documented, and continued war crimes.

Coulda Been a Contender

To be honest, Brave New World could have been a sleeper hit for the MCU. It will still do good box office numbers. It will still get boosted by Black outlets and publications for Black History Month. The performances are strong, and the world-building is seeding potential for some cool future projects. All of this will obscure that it gets bogged down by choices that make the studio seem out of touch with the grounding that made it a sensation for almost two decades. To anyone paying close attention to world news, it distracts from what could have been a movie about the Black Captain America by ignoring the real-life politics of a world that is neither brave nor new.

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The post ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ – Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

February 17, 2025

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ – Review

https://blacknerdproblems.com/captain-america-brave-new-world-review/

Captain America: Brave New World is out and looking to bring audiences back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Packed with just the right balance of action and story, with a feeling that this phase has a different tone altogether. A movie positioned between two controversies. The fictional “controversy” of featuring a Black Captain America during a legitimized fascist coup. The real controversy of highlighting an Israeli operative during a Palestinian genocide. Does Brave New World bring enough to the table to see past the shadow of its bad press? Let’s get into it.

Red, White, Blue, and Black Too

Anthony Mackie picks up right where he left off after The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as the newly knighted Captain America. Forced into the spotlight as the iconic hero known as the ‘symbol of the American dream’.

captain america
Front and center, Anthony Mackie takes the stage as Captain America in Brave New World. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

From the final monologue of TF/TWS, Sam Wilson told us exactly what time he’s on. He’s here to do what’s right in defense of human rights – regardless of what any government interest has to say about it. Whether it’s the left or the right. A full three-sixty from his Civil War-era ‘do what they tell us’ stance. He’s a bit of a wildcard for the U.S. government, but they don’t question his allegiance to the country or the power of his symbolism as Captain America.

Mackie leans into his Captain America, and the character is better for it. He’s all of the gravitas, the discipline, and righteousness with none of the ‘Super Soldier Serum.’ Like Jackie Chan or Batman Beyond, this is the hero going into the fight knowing they are skating uphill. But he’s going in anyway, taking his lumps and still coming out on top. There’s a grit to Mackie’s performance of Sam Wilson that was always on the surface. His bravado came across as plucky in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and became more ‘capable but reluctant’ through to Endgame. Brave New World gets to the depth of who he is. Sam Wilson wasn’t even this fleshed out as a character until Rick Remender made him Captain America in the comics in 2014, and now he’s in living color (pun intended) as Cap, onscreen in 2025!

[Blerd note: Mind you, the character’s publication history starts in 1969. By 2014 that’s a whole forty-five years of existence with mild to limited substantial growth before an explosion that takes the character into the strata of pop culture and film. Ten more years after that, a lead role in the MCU.]

Anthony Mackie, in essence, puts his spin on being Cap the way Sam had to in the comics. There’s a nuanced layering: Anthony Mackie is playing Sam Wilson, who was The Falcon and now The Falcon is Captain America. In Brave New World, Sam Wilson finally owns being Captain America, and so does Mackie.

Director Julius Onah (l.) working with Xosha Roquemore (c.) (Agent Leila Taylor) and Anthony Mackie (r.) (Captain America). Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

About the Movie…

Brave New World enters the MCU as a political thriller. Director Julius Onah employs the same genre vehicle the Russo brothers designed for Captain America movies from The Winter Soldier. Popping in and out between multiple locations connected by narrative thread, making the world feel smaller and smaller and the threat larger and larger. The action is clean, Sam isn’t Steve Rogers, and it shows in the best ways. Without enhanced strength, the effort and precision skills make fights tighter and more close up. The action pieces move the plot along, but the plot is muddled and a little unclear tonally. Here’s why: we can’t tell whose movie this is.

The Ross Effect

Harrison Ford steps in for William Hurt (who passed from cancer in 2022) as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who becomes President of the United States and is revealed in the trailer to become the red Hulk. Ross is a rare MCU character who elevates the Hulk lore by using military might to measure and showcase Hulk’s strength. Ross also grounds the Avengers’ lore by noting how their actions impact ‘real people’.

captain america
(l.) Harrison Ford as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross opposite Anthony Mackie’s (r.) Captain America. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

Ross was born in the comic pages as a Hulk nemesis and mainstay who matriculated from the page to the screen in the Incredible Hulk movie. The end credit scene for that movie finds Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark walking into a bar to tell Ross he’s ‘putting together a team’. On its own, that scene blurred the line between what we know to be a Hulk movie and what we would come to expect from an Avengers movie. Ross’s presence changes the tone of a Marvel movie. Brave New World can’t decide if it’s a Hulk movie or a Captain America movie. It feels like an Avengers movie shoehorned into a Captain America movie, stuffed into a Hulk movie. Adding Tim Blake Nelson’s reprisal of Samuel Sterns/Leader into the mix so heavily only further muddled things.

Sit-Rep

Brave New World is a high-quality action movie trying to do work on two fronts. It tries to broaden the galactic lore by adding the Eternal in the ocean that no one has referenced since The Eternals. It also tries to broaden the Earth-based lore by reintroducing super soldier espionage, trying to reestablish the gamma wars, and folding the Serpent Society (Sam Wilson’s primary nemesis from the comics) into the MCU.

There are a lot of great performances, but they can’t overshadow the many (obvious) changes, cuts, and reshoots that make the movie feel like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces almost fitting together. There’s also a strange and cringe-inducing, “Can’t we all just get along?” and “Can’t we disagree and still be friends?” vibe that is being echoed throughout media at large.

[Note from the writer: The military takes center stage in this movie in a way that feels more like the closeted ‘support’ messaging in the Transformers franchise and Top Gun movies. It’s not too much, but it is noticeable in the current political climate. I know all of the main characters are military-involved, but there’s something present that wasn’t there before. Just a feeling.]

Performances

Legend of the stage and screen Carl Lumbly was cast perfectly as the surly and (rightfully) untrusting ‘forgotten’ Captain America, Isaiah Bradley. But where there was so much latitude to engage in that painful yet triumphant legacy, he gets used as a pawn for the unclear plot. Another luminary actor, Giancarlo Esposito dropped in and did his thing as lethal assassin and arms dealer Sidewinder. Danny Ramirez returns as Joaquin Torres, the unofficial new Falcon, and does his thing. Ramirez is engaging, funny, and electric. But the comic reader in me knows he’s supposed to be genetically engineered human with bird features who becomes The Falcon. Either way, Ramirez delivers.

Danny Ramirez (c.) holds his own flanked by Anthony Mackie (l.) and Carl Lumbly (r.). Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

Tim Blake Nelson tones down his villainous Dr. Samuel Sterns to spectacular effect. The Leader feels like he’s coming into his own and is scarier and very believable. Harrison Ford has played the President in quite a few movies, but I don’t know that he has ever been pressed to act with this level of dramatic flair in some time. Ford’s Ross is as accurate a comic book portrayal as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The nuance of duty, pride, power, and anger of Ross’ character are conveyed convincingly by Ford – that’s just good casting. Also, a Hulk has never looked as good as this. Hats off to the visual teams.

captain america
Harrison Ford’s Red Hulk looked good. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

The Elephant in The Room

I will say this as dryly as I can. There was no reason I can fathom for the use of Shira Haas’ turn as Ruth Bat-Seraph in this movie. The blowback and protest facing this movie must’ve made enough impact that the studio just cut her out as often as possible. (They cut so much, I couldn’t even critique her performance accurately.) The move to have the character in the movie has been called ‘insensitive’ by pro-Palestine advocates in media, academia, and political organizations. Marvel Studios’ removal of her history with the Mossad and superhero identity Sabra, a move called anti-Semitic by pro-Israel advocates in the same fields. What stands out is that this character could only serve one purpose for the MCU (spoilers later on). We get glimpses, but not enough to make it make more sense than that someone wanted Israeli representation onscreen in the MCU. There’s so much quietly at play surrounding the choices to include and then amend this character that cast a bad light on Brave New World’s opening week.

Haas portrays the civilian identity of the Israeli superhero Sabra. In the comics, Sabra is an Israeli mutant who comes to work for the Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service. Created in the 1980s, Sabra is another one of the characters designed to be a counterpart to Captain America and the super soldier program like Black Widow’s Red Guardian.

From New World Order to Brave New World

In Brave New World, she’s Ruth Bat-Seraph, former Black Widow assassin and security advisor to President Ross. No shade, but the appointment of a foreign national former assassin to a government agency makes as much sense as Elon Musk’s appointment to DOGE. I say that to say, the unique value this character would have brought to the MCU was the integration of mutants into the lore. Without that, feels kinda flat.

captain america
Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph. Photo by Marvel Studios/Courtesy of Marvel Studios. – © 2024 MARVEL.

The Marvels brought the X-Men’s Beast to the screen, but this would have brought mutants to the *checks notes* 616 universe proper. What makes this take hot, you ask? The inclusion of Adamantium – in the form of a giant Eternal poking out of the Earth’s core and into the Indian Ocean. Stern’s warning about attacks from other worlds. The movie’s title changing from “New World Order” to “Brave New World”. Which I thought was a clear signal to mutants joining the fold and changing the hierarchy of power in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (lol). None of it makes any clear sense other than a way to inflate her importance by using her to introduce mutants to this part of the MCU.

[Blerd Take: Does Ross step down from the Presidency and get replaced by his running mate, Senator Robert Kelly????]

Add to that a scene where Bat-Seraph is wearing a superhero costume under her coat, never to be seen again and you get a clear picture that the character was also shoehorned into this movie. But it also reminds the world at large that this character was put here intentionally and despite tragic, damning, well-documented, and continued war crimes.

Coulda Been a Contender

To be honest, Brave New World could have been a sleeper hit for the MCU. It will still do good box office numbers. It will still get boosted by Black outlets and publications for Black History Month. The performances are strong, and the world-building is seeding potential for some cool future projects. All of this will obscure that it gets bogged down by choices that make the studio seem out of touch with the grounding that made it a sensation for almost two decades. To anyone paying close attention to world news, it distracts from what could have been a movie about the Black Captain America by ignoring the real-life politics of a world that is neither brave nor new.

Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here! Follow us on BlueSky ,TwitterFacebookYouTubeTwitch, and Instagram! 

The post ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ – Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.


February 17, 2025

Black Movies To Watch During Black History Month

https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-movies-to-watch-black-history-month/

Black History Month is about celebrating, educating, and championing Black culture. Black filmmakers have played a crucial part in this landscape. Through film, these moviemakers have done their part, allowing us to view events and stories through their lens–and perspective. BLACK ENTERPRISE selected nine movies by Black directors that push boundaries on storytelling and display artistic innovation that might inspire a new generation to do the same.

Selma

Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay, was released in January 2015. It portrayed the historical experience of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders and activists as they planned and organized the historic march from Selma to Alabama’s state capital, Montgomery, in 1965. Selma highlights the importance of the marches in standing up and securing voting rights for African Americans, as well as honoring what the civil rights leaders had to endure during their fight for equality and justice.

Fruitvale Station

Ryan Coolger wrote and directed Fruitvale Station, released in July 2013. Fruitvale Station, a stop on a Bay Area train route, takes place in Oakland, California. The film tells the story of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, a Black man killed by an Oakland policeman. Fruitvale Station humanizes Oscar by showing what a day in his life consisted of right up to the moment he is slain while bringing light to racism, police brutality, and systemic injustice.

Judas And The Black Messiah 

Judas And The Black Messiah was directed by Shaka King and debuted in February 2021. The movie shares the story of activist Fred Hampton and  William O’Neal betraying him. The setting is Chicago during the late 1960s. Judas And The Black Messiah shows the power of this young Black activist and the measures the government took to suppress and oppress the Black Panther Party.

Do The Right Thing

Do the Right Thing was directed and written by Brooklyn, New York native Spike Lee. The Award-winning director filmed this classic in his hometown neighborhood, Bed-Stuy. The movie chronicles the events of an extremely hot summer day. Do the Right Thing is a tale of racial tensions between Black and white communities. Watching Do The Right Thing will give viewers a 1980s look at gentrification, police brutality, and racial injustices. 

Boyz N The Hood 

Boyz N The Hood was written and directed by John Singleton and debuted in July 1991. Boyz N the Hood goes down in South Central, Los Angeles. The title Boyz N the Hood depicts the challenges young Black men faced in L.A.: gang violence, teen fatherhood, and police profiling. Singleton did an excellent job of showing the brash realities of these West Coast urban communities and unveiling the significance of education, family, and mentors.

Get Out


In February 2017, Jordan Peele gave moviegoers Get Out. This sinister, suspenseful narrative, written and directed by Peele, is about a Black photographer visiting his white girlfriend’s family. Get Out is a significant movie to watch because it sheds light on cultural appropriation, the fetishizing of Black people, and the most insidious form of white privilege. 

King Richard

King Richard was directed by Reinaldo Green and debuted in November 2021. It’s a heartfelt film about tennis icons Serena And Venus Williams’ father, Richard. It covers the nurturing upbringing of his daughters while he coaches them into two of the greatest tennis superstars of all time. This story takes place in Compton, California. King Richard highlights Black resilience, perseverance, and confidence, making it a perfect watch for Black History Month.

Malcolm X

Spike Lee, a repeat offender in creating great art through Black films, justifies a second entry. Lee dropped Malcolm X in the Fall of 1992. The movie chronicles his life from a problematic youth to his becoming a leader in the Nation of Islam and the Civil Rights Movement—and on to his unfortunate demise. The film covers Malcom from the 1920s through 1965. Movie watchers learn about Malcolm X’s time in Michigan, Harlem, New York, and Mecca. Malcolm X is a great purposeful watch for Black History Month.

Dear White People 

Dear White People, directed and written by Justin Simien, debuted in October 2014. It is a tale about four Black students at a predominantly white university and how they chose to navigate racial identity and systemic racism on a college campus. This film points out the tokenism, racism, and microaggressions that Black students experience at majority-white Institutions.

RELATED CONTENT: Pharrell Williams’ ‘Golden’ Film Shut Down Before Release


February 16, 2025

Black Women Build Restores Baltimore’s Vacant Neighborhoods

https://www.blackenterprise.com/black-women-build-baltimores-vacant-homes/

Baltimore nonprofit Black Women Build is paving the way to revitalizing some of the city’s vacant neighborhoods, making potential homeowner dreams come true, CBS News reported.

Since 2017, the organization has transformed more than 24 homes in the Upton, Druid Heights, and Penn North areas. With the average price of the flipped homes starting at $120,000, program manager Tonika Garibaldi said the group supports Black women in giving them the tools for generational wealth and how to maintain as a homeowner.

“We support Black women in their homeownership journey and expose them to tools and skills to learn carpentry and maintain their home,” Garibaldi said. 

“All the homes are open floor plans, kitchens usually in the back, living room here with a bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs.” 

Some of the affordable homes they helped establish between Etting Avenue and Presstman Street would hold a mortgage of $600 with the group’s work. Garibaldi admitted that they could go higher but they are not looking to take advantage of vulnerable homeowners.

“We could easily list it for a little bit more, but we want it to benefit the buyer,” she continued.

“It’s not just get the home and you are done, it’s we are there, we have conversations about starting new businesses, paying off mortgages early, buying an investment property.” 

Such advice has helped women like Saj Dillard, who says she always dreamed of owning her own home like some of the women in her family. When she found Black Women Build, it became a reality. “I’ve always wanted to own a home. My mom and grandmother are homeowners, and that’s something I wanted, but never thought it would be a reality for me at this age,” Dillard said. 

“I have neighbors that I connect with, talk to, am able to share my ideas with, let them know what I have going on, how they can support me, and vice versa,” Dillard said. 

The group’s work caught the eye of JPMorgan Chase in 2024 after being one of nine nonprofits who were awarded a portion of a $4 million commitment to help combat Charm City’s vacant housing crisis, according to The Baltimore Banner. The funding is part of a five-year, $20 million investment from the financial institution to the city as it has expanded its reach, including the launch of a virtual call center in 2023 that provided close to 125 jobs. 

With support from the city and corporations like JPMorgan, Black Women Build has been able to focus on more than just housing opportunities. Their latest move is opening a community resource center with the anticipation of providing resources such as financial wellness classes, a tool-lending library, and a tranquility garden. 

Dillard says she’s excited about what’s next for the organization. “We lack these kinds of spaces in this area, so it will be a welcome addition and step in the right direction for other things to be added to this community as well,” she said. 

RELATED CONTENT: Savannah’s Black Woman-Owned Embroidery Business Celebrates Opening During Black History Month


February 16, 2025

‘Cobra Kai’ – Back in the Valley for One Last Round

https://blacknerdproblems.com/cobra-kai-finale-review/

In the seven years that it has taken for Cobra Kai to reach the end of its multi-chapter martial arts high school drama, a lot has changed in my life. My love for the series has not wavered though. From its relatively humble beginnings on YouTubeRed, a platform that no longer exists (a fact that I am aware that I bring it up quite frequently, but I will bring it up to emphasize that I have been here since Ace Degenerate aired on May 2, 2018), to its current explosive run on Netflix that catapulted it into the mainstream (or at least to my group of friends who could now more readily watch it on more household platforms), I have covered this series every season without fail. That has also included reviewing Season 6, Part 1 and Season 6, Part 2

This will be my final piece covering Cobra Kai. I do not think it will be the last time I cover The Karate Kid franchise, but for now, we gotta do some bookkeeping about the events in Part 2 before we get to the main event and thoughts on the series as a whole.

If you’re not caught up on the first ten episodes of season six, this is your cue to turn back. Spoilers are coming.

Okay?

Okay?

Okay.

Cobra Kai. (L to R) Alicia Hannah-Kim as Kim Da-Eun, Martin Kove as John Kreese, Daniel Kim as Yoon in episode 611 of Cobra Kai. Cr. Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix © 2025

So a kid died at the Sekai Taikai. 

The marquis brawl of Season 6 started with Kwon taking a cheap shot at Robbie during his semi-final bout with Axel, the undefeated and unhit ace of the Iron Dragon. It ended with Kwon picking up Kreese’s eunjangdo off the ground and attacking Axel only for Axel to counter in such a way that Kwon fell on the knife, and it flat out pierced his heart.

In a series where we have endured repeated attacks on existing injuries: an accidental kick that caused Miguel to fall two stories and left him in critical condition as the season 2 cliffhanger, a literal home invasion at the end of season 3, brainwashing, fight fixing, witness tampering, and a prolonged war flashback, it is not like we are unfamiliar with the brutality of unchecked violence. But Kwon’s death inevitably changes the calculus of the universe. 

It was perhaps the inevitable conclusion of the mini-arc that was Part 2, given how Danny boy had started to learn about the unsavory parts of Miyagi’s past. This culminated in a flashback where they digitally resurrected Miyagi for a scene, something I have exceedingly mixed feelings about. Yes, they got permission from the family; however, the series had manage to respect the character’s legacy via exceedingly well-used clips from the original movies. Also, Brian Takahashi, the actor that played Young Miyagi, was doing an incredible job within the scene to the point where I don’t think we needed Danny to be haunted by the visage of his father figure.

Although, the events and revelations at Barcelona did set the stage for the final act of Cobra Kai. Unfinished business, guilt, worry, trepidation, and the want for answers and redemption.

The final five episodes of the series take us back to the Valley, and everyone is going through it for different reasons. The death of a peer, however much of a… firestarter Kwon was, has shaken the now high school seniors who were also counting on the tournament as a way of moving past their own hang ups. And the adults aren’t taking it well either with Danny easily out of character and unsure what to do with knowledge and Johnny lamenting for the lack of opportunity to prove that all of his character growth meant something.

However, this is martial arts high school drama, so it takes all of ten minutes for Terry Silver to induce machinations to try and finish the tournament. Thomas Ian Griffith continues to play the megalomaniac villain perfectly. Also, Kreese, continuing on his weird pseudo redemption arc, mourns the loss of his star student and manages to make it back Stateside with absolutely no problem despite being a literal prison escapee, one of many logistical oddities that plague the series’ final run.

By the end of episode 1 (or 11 depending on how you’re counting), the Sekai Taikai is in fact back on, and it’s happening in the Valley, courtesy of… plot predominantly. It certainly helps that two (one and a half?) of the three participating dojos are based there, but it’s mostly for the narrative book end.

What follows is sort of an accelerated version of a season. We get a training montage, we get the rest of the tournament, and we get the aftermath. Due to this acceleration, the focus of the show pretty much centers solely back on the core ensemble. A lot of the supporting cast is relegated to cameos, references, and one-off jokes, as the bulk of the runtime has to be dedicated to the characters that have been active participants throughout the series. This is ultimately fine, given that the ensemble had grown to a massive size, and the reduced scope in Season 6, Part 2 helped with pacing so an even more reduced scope in Part 3 is only sensible.

Cobra Kai. (L to R) William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso in Cobra Kai. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

The show continues to impress me with how it handles teen topics, as it has one of the more realistic and practical depictions of kids dealing with the reality of post-high school lives and adults dealing with their hang ups and reservations. This particular stretch didn’t quite impress me with the martial arts tournament, something that is almost expected as Season 6, Part 2 made it very clear that the Sekai Taikai’s rules and regulations were full of loopholes that allowed for rampant roster and allegiance changes at pretty much a drop of a dime. The fights themselves continued to be fantastic, although they didn’t quite reach the same levels of hype as some of the early fight scenes. 

My personal top 3 are:

  1. Chozen demonstrating Miyagi’s Pressure Points (Season 3, Episode 5)
  1. Robbie’s handstand kick (Season 1, Episode 10)
  1. Daniel LaRusso vs. Terry Silver (Season 5, Episode 10)

You know. I will sneak in my number four. The Season 6’s tag team fight. That was admittedly glorious.

Still, the fight choreography remains impressive, and it remains a lot of fun to watch. The music team put in the work, and it shows. Whether it is a clever pairing of an 80’s rock song or a crisp orchestral score, it’s a constant stream of good tunes.

And the acting remains fantastic. The entire cast that gets proper screentime shows off how much they have learned to embody their characters, none more so than William Zabka bringing his iconic character’s arc to its end. Ralph Macchio and Courtney Henggeler play beautifully off each other. Yuji Okumoto continues to be the best part of the continuation. And I am so ecstatic to see where Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Peyton List, and Jacob Bertrand go next (which given Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Bettle and Peyton List’s School Spirits, I think the answer is to say, great places).

What drags Part 3 down is the complete loss of sense of scale and time. Without getting into too much detail, the pacing of the final tournament sequence feels drawn out and yet somehow, there are still missed moments and opportunities. To say more would require me to spoil things, and we can’t have that. That said, the end of the series I feel does mostly stick the landing, but whether or not you agree is going to be up to you.

Cobra Kai has been a series about balance and legacy. It has been a story about unlearning and learning. It has been one of my favorite shows despite its many flaws because the series manages to tell an epic story that manages to continue the tale of one of my favorite film franchises in a way that brings the story to a whole new generation. It has introduced me to several great talents who I am excited to see post-Cobra Kai. It is a brilliant sports drama and an interesting attempt to analyze the stark values dissonance of the 80s and 2010’s/2020’s with mixed results. It mostly succeeds. 

Cobra Kai. (L to R) William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz in Cobra Kai. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024

I feel satisfied. Not elated, not defeated, just satisfied. Which is perhaps not the way I wanted the run to end, but Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg had a story they wanted to tell and they told it well. 

We’ll see what the future holds for the extended Karate Kid Universe (specifically in July), but for one last time, say it with me.

COBRA KAI NEVER DIES.

All episodes of Cobra Kai are now available on Netflix.

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The post ‘Cobra Kai’ – Back in the Valley for One Last Round appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.


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