HANIF ABDURRAQIB'S BLACK VHS EXPERIENCE

New York Times bestselling author and poet Hanif Abdurraqib’s widely published writing often explores music’s relationship with Black experience in America. Guest curating a series of films this summer at the Walker, Abdurraqib took cues from his recent books Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest and A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance to organize a look back at the 1990s as a particularly vibrant moment of critical mass for the representation of Black music in film. Ranging from Whoopi Goldberg’s performance in Sister Act to Robert Townsend’s portrayal of a fictional R&B group in The Five Heartbeats, plus the Queen Latifah–led heist film Set It Off, Abdurraqib’s movie playlist is affectionately inspired by their soundtracks.