Akeelah and the Bee Gets It Right

Finally! A movie that centers around Black people in all of our various incarnations; educated ones, earnest ones, poor ones, dumb ones, old and young ones. The story is about 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson from South Central, LA and her quest to become a national spelling bee champion. But the warm fuzzy plot is not what makes this movie earn a 4-star review from the Melting Pot. It's the way the cast was rounded out with Latinos, Asians, Whites and Mixed race individuals, giving a realistic perspective of life in one of the most diverse states in the Union, California. Go see it for Akeelah, but love it for the way diversity is presented as a nuanced part of life and not a bad stereotype or a problem.