Educational Media Reviews Online

Destination: Planet Negro is a Cheech and Chong(ish) comedy about race relations in America and cameo appearances via proxy by some of the prominent African Americans who have led in this struggle. This film uses a science fiction motif and humor as a platform to spotlight some of the issues surrounding racism and discrimination.

Jim Crow laws and the “Negro Problem” drive a 1939 all-star group of America’s leading African Americans to seek a solution. This group of historically significant leaders settles on a colonization program to Mars as the solution. First a group of three scouts are sent on ahead to blaze the trail. In a bizarre turn of events failure of the mission results in time travel to the present and a landing in Kansas City. There the trio experiences an assortment of adventures which demonstrate some of the progress made in race relations, but also the significant amount of unfinished business that remains to be done.

Black and white footage makes up the initial thirty minutes of the film with color from there on. Using a 1950s science fiction storyline and feel, this low budget production succeeds in telling its story to knowledgeable audiences with its strong acting performances. The film suffers from its lack of special effects, a look which is unfamiliar to most modern viewers, and inclusions of superfluous social commentary at the expense of the storyline. Viewers who are not knowledgeable about African American culture and the history of race relations in America will miss many of the allusions which generate both the movie’s humor and its poignancy. Although the movie does succeed at making many points the issues noted above result in a rating of recommended with reservations for typical general audiences. High school and college level courses in African American studies and history could gain from the unusual way in which this important story is told.