Kris Bowers “Black excellence” is one of those phrases that might be difficult to explain, but you know it when you see it.
It almost instantly pops into my mind — often in hashtag form — when I see images of classic Black icons or beautiful Black bodies dressed to the nines and stunningly captured in photographs; everybody Black at award shows; the Obamas; or anything Beyoncé and Jay-Z do.Black excellence is a feeling.
Any time we see someone Black at the pinnacle of their field, achieving greatness, it’s a form of applause. There’s great pride in calling it out, as if to say, “That’s what we do!”I’ve had the honor of composing the scores for projects that highlight the stories of individuals who embody that feeling of Black excellence: from Aretha Franklin in “Respect” to Billie Holiday in “The United States vs.
Billie Holiday” and most recently, the young Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard,” a story about two parents, Richard Williams and Oracene Price, who fought with everything they had to cultivate the feeling in their household.
Read more on variety.com