The Strength of Street Knowledge

THE PIONEERING FILMMAKER JOHN SINGLETON, WHO DIED OF A STROKE earlier this year at 51, left behind nine films as director, virtually all of them laced with powerful social commentary and a cinematic style that echoed the humanist tradition of François Truffaut and Vittorio De Sica. The news of his death was a reminder of how things have changed in Hollywood, where he helped to pave the way for a new era in black filmmaking. It’s no exaggeration to say that without John Singleton, there would be no Barry Jenkins or Ryan Coogler.

, which Singleton both wrote and directed, set new standards for realism in stories about everyday black life. Inspired by his own experience, it showed the devastating effects that dead-end poverty, gang violence, and absentee fathers have on families in South Central Los Angeles. When the film opened in July 1991,