May 1, 2025 5:00:44 PM
“He knows that every time this happens he’s moved just a little closer to that darkness outside. The darkness outside is what the old folks have been talking about. It’s what they’ve come from. It’s what they endure.” – James Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues
It’s in Black cultural moments like these that both of us miss our African American History high school classrooms. Words cannot express how we felt blown away, empowered, and reminded of our mission after seeing the movie, “Sinners.” It's so much more than a horror story or musical; it’s a celebration of our ancestors, a reminder of the need for Black protection, and a call for more stories told like this that cultivate the imagination of diverse Black perspectives. If students enjoy Squid Game and the Purge movies, they can enjoy “Sinners” for its fun AND its beautiful artistic depiction of the connections between past, present, and future Black histories.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” is not just a film; it’s a cinematic invocation of Black culture.
Set in the Mississippi Delta during the 1930s, “Sinners” immerses us in a world thick with the realities of Jim Crow, but also rich with rituals of Black survival. It tells the story of twin brothers returning home to open a juke joint, only to find themselves entangled in a more profound spiritual and historical reckoning.
Some early reviewers have tried to label "Sinners" as a “gothic” story, but that misses the point entirely. “Sinners” is not gothic in the European sense; it does not trade in spectacle, terror for terror’s sake, or decaying aristocracy. Instead, it draws from African and African American traditions where art, spirit, history, and struggle are deeply intertwined. The film’s portrayal of a white vampire feeding off others, and a “passing” character used to breach the sacred Black space of the juke joint, reveals a deeper truth: white supremacy operates not only through external violence, but through internal infiltration. The horror here is not aesthetic. It is historical, communal, and living.
In a world where Eurocentric traditions often position art as distant and detached from everyday life, “Sinners” returns art to its African-centered roots, where art is functional and inseparable from the struggles and hopes of people. The film isn’t something to simply observe; it is something to be lived and wrestled with, while felt deeply in the bones. From the haunting metaphors of bloodsucking vampires to the sacredness of protected Black spaces, the film forces us to confront how Black history moves, not just through linear time, but through memory, music, resistance, and place.
As educators rooted in the Black intellectual tradition, we saw in “Sinners” the echoes of W.E.B. Du Bois’s veil, Zora Neale Hurston’s celebration of Black cultural life, and Carter G. Woodson’s call to recover and teach Black histories from the standpoint of Black dignity and self-determination. “Sinners” lives within that lineage.
It doesn’t simply portray Black suffering; it illuminates Black ways of knowing, emotional truth, and communal power. In that way, the film becomes a powerful teaching tool through the lens of Dr. LaGarrett King’s 8 Black Historical Consciousness Principles. These principles challenge us to frame Black histories not as a story of victimhood, but as a dynamic tradition of agency, resistance, identity, and futurity. This piece is our reflection on how “Sinners” embodies those principles and how, as educators, we might use it to deepen our students’ understanding of what it means to teach and learn Black histories, not as a moment, but as a movement. We believe that these principles offer a means not just to use “Sinners” to teach about Black history, but through Black histories.
Please note that there is considerable overlap between the principles, and this is intended as a starting guide for teachers who wish to consider using “Sinners” as a supplemental tool for Black history.
“In America, one tradition that lasts is Black blood woven into the fibers of the flag.” – Black Thought
From scenes of the lack of economic equality in the Mississippi Delta, the KKK, and the cultural appropriation of Black music, white supremacy is abundant. The movie is set after Reconstruction has ended, and the terror of racial violence threatens the livelihood of Black families, businesses, schools, and community gathering spaces. “Sinners” also highlights other indicators of oppression through depicting white supremacist evolved systems of slavery in sharecropping and convict leasing.
Compelling questions to ask students related to this principle:
Resources to Consider:
“How shall Integrity face Oppression? What shall Honesty do in the face of Deception, Decency in the face of Insult, Self-Defense before Blows? How shall Desert and Accomplishment meet Despising, Detraction, and Lies? What shall Virtue do to meet Brute Force?” – W.E.B. Du Bois
Black people have consistently demonstrated resilience, refusing to accept the status quo, and through various strategies, demand their liberation. In addition, this movie showcases an often-overlooked form of Black resistance that we included in the School District of Philadelphia’s national African American History curriculum – cultural retention.
Compelling questions:
Resources to Consider:
“Culturally speaking, the idea that the devil’s will might be operating as powerfully as God’s is consistent with the way West African theologies were remixed in the Americas.” – Imani Perry, Black in Blues
This principle is embedded through the story. From the Indigenous syncretism of hoodoo to one of the movie's most iconic scenes, which connects West African indigenous music with the blues and rap music of today, there is plenty here to be investigated.
Compelling questions:
Resources to Consider
“When I sing the blues, it’s like I’m tearing open my heart and pouring out my emotions for the world to see.” – Muddy Waters
Fear of white supremacy, celebration of Black love, Black joy at the juke joint, and grief over the death of a Black child are all depicted throughout the movie. To fully honor Black people’s humanity, all aspects of Black people’s emotions must be considered when teaching Black history.
Compelling questions
Resources to Consider
“I think, though, as African-American women, we are always trained to value our community even at the expense of ourselves, and so we attempt to protect the African-American community.” – Anita Hill
Students have much to learn from the character of Annie (played by Wuni Wosaku), a Black woman who uses her spiritual wisdom to lead resistance against attacks on her Black community. The agency of Black women is a common theme of Black erasure, therefore Annie’s central role in protecting the Black community is revitalizing. In addition to highlighting leadership embodied by characters like Annie, “Sinners” challenges the politics of respectability that often shape Black narratives. The character of drunkard Delta Slim, who sacrifices himself to protect the sacred tradition of Black music, reminds us that dignity and historical memory are not reserved only for the “respectable” but are carried by all members of the Black community regardless of acceptable expectations.
Compelling questions:
Resources to Consider:
“The trouble with Clare was, not only that she wanted to have her cake and eat it too, but that she wanted to nibble at the cakes of other folk as well.” – from Nella Larsen’s "Passing"
Integration or segregation? Should the juke joint let this fair-skinned Black woman in again to party? Or will she just bring trouble? The movie challenges the audience to deeply consider issues of colorism and passing, and the extent to which these societal constructions endanger the Black community. Should the character of Sammie (played by Miles Caton) adhere to the cultural expectations of the Black church or venture out and have some fun playing music?
Compelling questions:
Resources to Consider:
“We are creatures of history, not divine beings. I cannot claim infinite knowledge. What I can do is to bear witness to my story, to tell it and live it, as the story grips my life and pulls me out of nothingness into being.” – James Cone
By centering the stories of everyday Black people who built and protected their communities, we can teach students that they, too, have the power to be agents of local cultural work meant to provide spiritual and cultural subsidence despite oppressive conditions. The Mississippi Delta is a powerful example of how Black musicians, artists, and businesspeople can preserve and protect Black local traditions. “Sinners” highlights how the actions of regular Black folk are vital responses to white supremacist efforts of silencing and eliminating Black progress and expression.
Compelling questions:
Resources to Consider:
“Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within.” – Ruha Benjamin
“Sinners” offers a vision of Black Futures by showing how survival, memory, and spiritual resistance are acts of ongoing liberation. The film refuses to frame Black life trapped in tragedy, instead presenting Black cultural traditions as living foundations for future-making. The story invites us to teach and imagine Black futures grounded in dignity, creativity, and collective power. The glimpse we see of Sammie’s future during the film’s credit scene powerfully affirms that Black survival is not the limit of our aspirations. Through Sammie’s music and spirit, “Sinners” teaches us that Black futures are built through imagination and the refusal to be defined solely by suffering.
Compelling questions:
Resources to Consider
This piece first appeared on Philly's 7th Ward.
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