Department of Languages and Literature, VSU

05/29/2026

Bring Reading Back . . .

Turning the University back into a space where reading drives academic exploration would reinvigorate students with a deeper sense of meaning, forming life-long learners rather than pumping out careerists.

05/21/2026

Betty Boop is returning to theaters in her first starring feature film since the 1930s, with Quinta Brunson attached to lead an origin story centered on the iconic animated character gaining a life of her own 🎬 The project is being developed by Fleischer Studios alongside producers connected to the character’s estate, reviving one of animation’s earliest global stars nearly a century after her debut in 1930. Betty Boop became a defining figure of early animated cinema through a series of theatrical shorts produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood animation.

05/21/2026

Malcolm D. Lee is officially entering the thriller genre with "Strung", a psychological journey starring Chloë Bailey.

Chloë plays a gifted violinist who lands a dream job that quickly turns into a nightmare as she uncovers the deadly secrets of an elite family.

The cast also includes Lynn Whitfield, Lucien Laviscount, Anna Diop, and Coco Jones.

Check out the trailer: https://www.theqgentleman.com/post/2026-05-chloe-bailey-stars-in-malcolm-d-lees-new-psychological-thriller-strung/

05/13/2026

Universities have become generic, one professor and former dean argues. In the A.I. era, students may demand something they can’t get elsewhere.

05/11/2026

Our class watched this in the Special Topics: Horror Noire class!

"Tales from the Hood" (1995) is a riveting, socially conscious, and humorous horror film written and directed by Rusty Cundieff with Spike Lee as the executive producer. So much can be said about this movie, especially if you want to dig deeply into the messaging. This movie combines "Tales from the Crypt" and "Trilogy of Terror" with black culture. Clarence Williams III owned everything about his role in this film. His acting range is fantastic on many levels, and he showed much of it as Mr. Simms, the mortuary director. He was creepy and amusing at the same time. Very few can pull that off successfully the way he could.

As mentioned earlier, the movie consists of four stories: "Rogue Cop Revelation," "Boys Do Get Bruised," "K*K Comeuppance," and "Hard-Core Convert." Each narrative has an intriguing creep factor that makes you think about the situations presented. Some topics mentioned are police brutality, child abuse, racism, and black-on-black violence. In addition, the actors in the stories are memorable. They make the points of the narratives much more robust to ensure the audience receives the information well.

Furthermore, this movie is a time capsule of the 90s. It represents a time when hip-hop was diverse, and the people in the film were well-known among the youth and older generations. I thoroughly enjoy this movie and can't get enough of it. I highly recommend you see this film if you haven't. It's a top-tier black horror film.

Director: Rusty Cundieff
Writers: Rusty Cundieff, Darin Scott

Starring Clarence Williams III, Joe Torry, De'aundre Bonds, Samuel Monroe Jr., Anthony Griffith, David Alan Grier, Brandon Hammond, Rusty Cundieff, Paula Jai Parker, Roger Guenveur Smith, Art Evans, Rosalind Cash, Lamont Bentley

Storyline
Stack, Ball, and Bulldog arrive at a local funeral parlor to retrieve a lost drug stash held by the mortician Mr. Simms (Clarence Williams III). But Mr. Simms has plans for the boys. First, he leads them on a tour of his establishment, introducing them to his corpses. Even the dead have tales, and Mr. Simms is willing to tell them all. And you better listen: even everyday life can lead to extraordinary terror when you're in the hood.

https://www.daarac.ngo
https://www.daaracarchive.org/2011/10/tales-from-hood-1995.html

Available on Blu-ray and streaming services.

05/11/2026

In honor of Mother's Day, we pay tribute to the resilience and strength of Black women who led the charge for .

Their contributions, often overlooked, were key to shaping our nation's history. Let's celebrate these inspiring "Mothers of the Movement." https://bit.ly/4bc9v7K

05/11/2026

“Putting a perfect GPA in reach of so many students perversely deters them from taking classes that could threaten it,” Joshua Greene, a member of Harvard’s grading committee, writes. “If educators want to revive academic risk-taking, engagement, and inquisitiveness on college campuses, then we should liberate our students from the tyranny of the impeccable transcript.” https://theatln.tc/9ea114uD

🎨: The Atlantic. Source: Jeffrey Greenberg / Universal Images Group / Getty.

05/11/2026

From steamy romance to celebrity cookbooks and chilling horror, these 15 books by Black authors are May’s must-reads.

05/09/2026

Kim Wayans is an American actress that is the sibling of the famous Wayans brothers. She started her career in 1987 in the movie "Hollywood Shuffle," in which her brother Keenen was one of the writers for the film. After that, she appeared in several episodes of "A Different World" and was a regular on "In Living Color." She was AMAZING in "In Living Color." She was also the nightclub singer in "I'm Going to Git You Sucka," and her part was insanely funny!

Kim didn't have many films where she was the lead, but in 1994 she starred in a little-known indie film called "Talking About S*x." Aftward, she appeared in minor roles in "A Low Down Dirty Shame" (1994) and "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood" (1996). In addition, she did some voice acting for the cartoon series "Wayanhead" and was a regular in "In the House."

Throughout the 2000s, Kim continued to appear on T.V. shows and movies, displaying her comedic performances. She starred in "Juwanna Mann" in 2002 and was a writer and producer for the show "My Wife and Kids," which also starred her brother Damon. In 2011, she starred in the movie "Pariah," which showed her range as an actress. We don't often see her in dramatic roles, but that film was a delight. And throughout the 2010s, she persisted as an actress on various T.V. shows and movies and was a regular on "Reckless."

Kim Wayans is a wonderful and talented actress who always lights up the screen when she appears. She is hilarious and deserves mentioning alongside her brothers. She is guaranteed to make you laugh. I love how her brothers always included her in their movies, and I am glad we still enjoy her career today.

https://www.daarac.ngo

Hollywood (1987)
https://www.daaracarchive.org/2011/07/hollywood-shuffle-1987.html

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988)
https://www.daaracarchive.org/2009/10/im-gonna-git-you-sucka-1988.html

A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994)
https://www.daaracarchive.org/2012/11/a-low-down-dirty-shame-1994.html

Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood (1996)
https://www.daaracarchive.org/2012/10/dont-be-menace-to-south-central-while.html