''Hidden Colors'' is a series of

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

s directed by Tariq Nasheed and produced by King Flex Entertainment, to explain what Nasheed claims is the marginalizing of people of African descent in America and across the world.

Series

The first film in the series, ''Hidden Colors: The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor, and African Descent'', was given a limited theatrical release on April 14, 2011. The second in the series, ''Hidden Colors 2: The Triumph of Melanin'', was released the following year on December 6, 2012. The third film in the series, ''Hidden Colors 3: The Rules of Racism'', was released on June 26, 2014. The fourth film in the series, ''Hidden Colors 4: The Religion of White Supremacy'' was successfully funded on Kickstarter in March 2015. The fifth film in the series, ''Hidden Colors 5: The Art of Black Warfare'', was released in August 2019.

''Hidden Colors: The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor, and African Descent''

The first installment in the series was released on April 14, 2011. The film discusses the role of African and aboriginal people in history and argues some achievements have not been properly recorded or credited to them. ''Hidden Colors'' features several interviews with commentators on subjects such as the race and appearance of Jesus Christ and the reasons behind the end of slavery. The film also states Africans were the first to circumnavigate the globe, there was "pre-European settlement in the United States", that Africans created the first Asian dynasties, and that the Vatican created Egyptology.

Cast

* Tariq Nasheed * Phil Valentine *

Frances Cress Welsing Frances Luella Welsing (née Cress; March 18, 1935 – January 2, 2016) was an American psychiatrist and well-known proponent of the Black supremacist melanin theory. Her 1970 essay, ''The Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation and Racism (Whit ...

Shahrazad Ali Shahrazad Ali (born April 27, 1954) is an American author of several books, including a paperback called ''The Blackman's Guide to Understanding the Blackwoman''. The book was controversial bringing "forth community forums, pickets and heated a ...

* Sabir Bey * Booker T. Coleman *

Umar Johnson Umar Rashad Ibn Abdullah-Johnson (born Jermaine Shoemake; August 21, 1974) is an American Black activist,Eli Mundy and Isabella InsingoDr. Umar Johnson speaks about critical race theory at Lehigh ''The Brown & White'' (Lehigh University) (Novem ...

''Hidden Colors 2: The Triumph of Melanin''

The second installment was released on December 6, 2012 and was also directed by Nasheed. The documentary further explores issues surrounding people of African and aboriginal descent such as the global African presence and the treatment of Black economic communities in America. Other film topics include the investigation of

melanin Melanin (; from el, μέλας, melas, black, dark) is a broad term for a group of natural pigments found in most organisms. Eumelanin is produced through a multistage chemical process known as melanogenesis, where the oxidation of the amin ...

Cast

Michelle Alexander Michelle Alexander (born October 7, 1967) is an American writer and civil rights activist. She is best known for her 2010 book '' The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness''. Since 2018, she has been an opinion columnist ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

* Tariq Nasheed *

Runoko Rashidi Runoko Rashidi (16 August 1954 – 2 August 2021) was a historian, essayist, author and public lecturer based in Los Angeles, California, and Paris, France. He is the author of ''Introduction to the Study of African Classical Civilizations]'' (1 ...

* Phil Valentine (Not the talk show host) * James Small * Claud Anderson * Tony Browder * Booker T. Coleman * Umar Johnson

''Hidden Colors 3: The Rules of Racism''

The third installment was released on June 26, 2014. The film focuses on the topic of race, racism, and history within the United States.

Cast

Carol Anderson Carol Anderson (born June 17, 1959) is an American academic. She is the Charles Howard Candler professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Her research focuses on public policy with regard to race, justice, and equality. Education ...

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Ba ...

Dick Gregory Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, civil rights leader, business owner and entrepreneur, and vegetarian activist. His writings were best sellers. Gregory became popular among the Afr ...

* Paul Mooney *

Khalil Gibran Muhammad Khalil Gibran Muhammad (born April 27, 1972) is an American academic. He is a professor at Harvard Kennedy School and the Radcliffe Institute. He is the former director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a Harlem-based branch o ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

* Tariq Nasheed *

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP '' Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single ...

* Phil Valentine *

* George Fraser * Joy Degruy * Umar Johnson * Kaba Kamene

''Hidden Colors 4: The Religion of White Supremacy''

* Tariq Nasheed *Jennifer Tosch *Tony Browder *Llaila Afrika *

Boyce Watkins Boyce D. Watkins (born June 20, 1971) is an American author, political analyst, social influencer and ex-academic. In addition to publishing scholarly articles on finance and investing, Watkins is an advocate for education, economic empowerment ...

*Robin Walker *Phil Valentine *James Small *Eric Sheppard *Patricia Newton *Nteri Nelson *Killer Mike *Kaba Kamene *Jim Brown *Delbert Blair

''Hidden Colors 5: The Art of Black Warfare''

* Tariq Nasheed * Claud Anderson * Brother Polight * Kaba Kamene * Shahrazad Ali * Ice-T *

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D helped crea ...

* David Banner *

Rizza Islam Ronnie Steven "Rizza" Islam (born March 17, 1990) is an American member of the Nation of Islam and a member of its paramilitary wing the Fruit of Islam. According to the Anti-Defamation League, he is a social media influencer with over 500,000 f ...

* Charm Tims * Michael Jai White * Jabari Osaze * Kmt Shockley * James Small

Reception

The radio program Powertalk hosted by Lorraine Jacques-White called ''Hidden Colors'' "eye-opening and necessary." A review of ''Hidden Colors 2'' published in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' dismissed much of the documentary as conspiracy, saying that Nasheed demonstrates "a seeming total inability to separate gibble-gabble from revealed truth, vital social concern from talk about Chemtrails and digressive subchapters with titles like 'The Hidden Truth About Santa Claus.'" The reviewer praised one contributor,

, who the ''Voice'' noted was the only woman in the film, saying that "Her well-reasoned discussion of the American penal system is compelling, but it's an embarrassment that she should be placed alongside the likes of Phil Valentine, a metaphysician whose malarkey about AIDS ("the so-called immunity system of the homosexual") is a low point, as is Umar Johnson's lionization of the late, unlamented Gaddafi and the odd nostalgia for segregation that runs throughout."

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

described the series as "one of the most successful Black independent documentaries." ''The Root'' called the series "semi-factual."

References

External links

* * * * * * {{IMDb title, 10698666, Hidden Colors 5 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2011 documentary films 2011 films 2012 documentary films 2012 films 2014 documentary films 2014 films 2016 documentary films 2016 films 2019 documentary films 2019 films African-American films American documentary films Conspiracist media Documentary film series Documentary films about race and ethnicity Film series introduced in 2011