By Ismael Jimenez and Abigail Henry
“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 can not express how we both felt blown away, empowered, and reminded of our mission after seeing the movie. “Sinners” is 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 on the connections between past, present, and future Black histories.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” is not just a film, it’s a cinematic Black cultural invocation. 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 deeper 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 Hurstons’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 both believe that these principles offer a means to not just use “Sinners” to teach about Black history but through Black histories.
Please note that there is a lot of overlap between the principles, and this is meant as just a starting guide for teachers who want to consider using “Sinners” as a supplemental Black history tool.
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Power, Oppression, and Anti-Blackness: highlight Black people’s lack of justice, equality, and freedom
“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 Mississippi Delta, the KKK, and the cultural appropriation of Black music white supremacy is abound. The movie is set after Reconstruction has been overthrown 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:
- How does “Sinners” reveal the impact of power and oppression on the Black community?
- To what extent do white supremacist beliefs regarding anti-Blackness affect everyday Black experiences?
- How does cultural appropriation contribute to historical erasure, and how does reclaiming Black histories and culture through storytelling counter erasure?
Resources to Consider:
- PBS’s “Slavery by Another Name”
- Equal Justice initiatives Racial Terror Lynching Map
- Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance by Bell Hooks
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Agency, Resistance, and Justice: Black people are not helpless victims
“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 and always continue to show resilience, refuse to accept the status quo, and through a variety of strategies demand their liberation. In addition this movie showcases an often missed form of Black resistance we included in the school District of Philadelphia’s national African American History curriculum – cultural retention.
Compelling questions:
- What steps are taken in the movie to protect the Black communities spiritual, physical, and cultural well-being?
- Where do we see similar forms of Black resistance, agency, and protection occurring in society today and what can we learn from it?
- How does the movie showcase Black music as a form of resistance?
Resources to Consider:
- PBS’s “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song”
- A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest Gaines
- We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
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Africa and the African Diaspora: contextualize history within the African diaspora.
“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 Indigenous syncretism of hoodoo to one of the best scenes of the movie that connects West African indigenous music with the blues and rap music today, there is plenty here to be investigated.
Compelling questions:
- How do African musical traditions influence the music being told in the movie?
- What other stories can and should be imagined that honor our African ancestors?
- How does recognizing African roots change the way we understand Black cultural practices in America?
Resources to Consider
- John Antrobus’s “A Plantation Burial” painting
- Oya’s Betrayal by Harmonia Rosales
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Black Emotionality: Emphasize the diversity and importance of ALL Black emotions
“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 of Black people’s emotions need to be considered while teaching Black history.
Compelling questions
- How do discussions of Black emotions help us understand the complexity of Black people’s experiences?
- Which Black emotions in the movie resonated with you? Why?
- How do Black emotions function as acts of resistance?
Resources to Consider
- Brittany Jones “Critically Analyzing Historical Sources for Racialized Emotions (CARE)”
- James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues
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Black Identities: include Black identities beyond those of middle-class, heterosexual, able-bodied men
“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:
- How do centering perspectives of Black women help us better understand Black histories?
- What role do Black women have today in resisting white supremacy and protecting the Black community?
- Where do you see Black women leading acts of protection and resistance?
Resources to Consider:
- Surviving Southampton: African American Women and Resistance in Nat Turner’s Community by Vanessa Holden
- Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War by Edda L. Fields-Black
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Black Historical Contention: not all Black histories are pristine, Black people did and do not always agree
“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:
- What does Sammie’s personal struggles with the Black church reveal about the Black people’s religious experiences?
- How do issues of colorism impact society today?
- Why is it important to study disagreements within Black communities, rather than ignore them?
Resources to Consider:
- Excerpts from James Baldwin’s Go Tell it On a Mountain
- Excerpts from Nella Larsen’s Passing
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Community, Local, & Social Histories: include Black histories beyond the icon, through the “regular” Black change agents
“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 the ways in which Black musicians, artists, and business have the ability to 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:
- How did Black communities in the Mississippi Delta (or your local region) build spaces for safety and cultural expression during the era of Jim Crow?
- What are examples of local Black musicians or artists whose work preserved community memory and spirit during times of racial terror?
- How do regular people, not just famous leaders, shape Black history and collective memory?
Resources to Consider:
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Black Futurism: hope for a better Black future
“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 by suffering alone.
Compelling questions:
- What story would you like to watch or read that celebrates Black histories in a similar way?
- How else can we Black freedom dream?
- What are the ingredients needed to build a liberated Black future?
Resources to Consider
- Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin
- Freedom Dreams: the Black Radical Imagination by Robin D.G. Kelley
