Cooley High (1975)

Cast
Preach - Glynn Turman
Cochise - Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Mr. Mason - Garrett Morris

Synopsis
This film takes place in the mid 60's and follows a group of teenage boys who live in Chicago. It follows them in their adventures in adolescence.

To understand the importance of this films, you must first consider the time that it came out; the 70's. This was the time when blacksplotation films were all the rage, but this films was different. This was the beginning of more diverse stories being told. Cooley High is coming of age movie that doesn't focus on crime and drugs. It's just about people living their lives and dealing with everything that comes with it. There are elements that are specific to African Americans, but it's also relatable to everyone.
Diverse storytelling will always be important because African Americans aren't all alike. Sure, there are similarities but there are also differences. We are not a one dimensional group of people. There are cultural things that link us but we are all individuals who live and experience different things. Showing our similarities and differences helps others understand this. Believe it or not, when people aren't exposed to certain group of people they tend to use TV and movies as a looking glass into their culture. If all they see is one thing they assume that all of those people are like that. In order to stop this from happening, we must do what Eric Monte (writer) did with Cooley High and show the diversity of our people.

Pic credit