Black Dynamite Is Out of Sight OR The Many Faces of Michael Jai White

If you came of age in the nineties, like me, then you remember things like VCR's, Sega Genesis, and the X-Men cartoons. The X-Men cartoons hold a special place in my heart because I wanted to be Storm. She was the only black, female superhero I knew of at the time. She was articulate, intelligent, and respected. Everything I wanted to be when I became an adult. In 1997, another moment in black superhero history took place. Michael Jai White starred as the title character of the movie Spawn. Thirteen year old me was thrilled. I was intrigued by this African American superhero who sacrificed his own mortality to save his family. It didn't hurt that Michael Jai White was athletically built and handsome.

Fast forward fifteen years. African American actors have come and gone, and Michael Jai White has kept busy. We've seen him in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? movies and the spin-off television show, For Better or Worse. I could end the blog here and say good for him. Way to go young brother, way to go. But there is more than meets the eye with Mr. White.


He and Byron Minns are voices, writers, and producers of the blacksploitation cartoon on Cartoon Network, Black Dynamite. The cartoon follows the movie version, which was released in 2009. Both the movie and the cartoon feature Michael Jai White as Black Dynamite, Kym Whitlee as Honey Bee, Tommy Davidson as Cream Corn, and Byron Minns as Bullhorn.

As previously stated, my blackness obligates me to investigate such matters. The cartoon is awesome. The movie is even awsomer. The humor is well timed and not at all trite. In some strange way, they have found a way to honor blacksploitation without being degrading or stereotypical. This seems impossible since part of blacksploitation is stock characters and racial stereotypes. It's a well-balanced dance between parody and reverence. I know. Strange.

If you woke up giddy on Saturday mornings to watch Storm save the X-Men just in time, or searched out other black heroic characters as positive images of African American culture, you MUST watch at least one episode of Black Dynamite. It airs on Cartoon Network on Sundays at 10:30 p.m. CST.

Black Dynamite Movie Trailer

Black Dynamite Cartoon Trailer

Watch Episodes Now







P.S. If you don't know what blacksplotation is, I suggest the following:

Super Fly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmZjD2UWoso
The Mack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e7VngeFbhE
Shaft (the original with Richard Roundtree)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ga1FgU10E
Foxy Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOnqC_acEuI