Sadly, this morning news initially broke that John Singleton, the beloved director of films such as Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice and Shaft (2000) had reportedly passed away. Kansas City’s FOX4 is still reporting that their resident film critic, Shawn Edwards, was informed by the family of the director that he had passed away early Monday morning, following a major stroke that left Singleton in a coma more than a week ago. At the same time, other media entities are reporting that Singleton’s spokesperson is still telling reporters that Singleton is alive and on life support. Additional reports are still filtering in, and this post will be updated when we have more clarity. Regardless, there’s much confusion regarding this story floating around Twitter at the moment, but Singleton remains in critical condition at the very least.
In recent years, Singleton has been known as the co-creator of cocaine drama Snowfall on FX, which has been renewed for a third season. But before that he was the first African-American to ever be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards, when he received that honor in 1991 for Boyz n the Hood. Notably, at the age of 24 he was also the youngest person ever nominated for the award at the time—a record that is still standing now, in 2019. In the years that followed, meanwhile, other black creators have followed Singleton’s footsteps in terms of Best Director nominations—Lee Daniels, Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee.
Singleton’s other films included everything from Higher Learning and Four Brothers to the much-parodied 2 Fast 2 Furious. He was considered a guiding light among black filmmakers, and an innovator in the field of dramas that realistically grappled with issues of inner city violence. Tributes will surely begin rolling in from across the web in short order, but in this moment we can simply look toward Ava DuVernay’s thoughtful dedication from a few days ago.
Other tributes are rolling in now as well:Lifting my highest thoughts + prayers of intercession for John Singleton. His films helped form me. His kindness lifted me up. I remember him coming to the premiere of my indie years ago. Showing love/support for a fellow black director from LA. He is a lovely man. Pray with me. pic.twitter.com/oHCSZBCilx
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 25, 2019
And more are coming...Thank you John Singleton for leading the way for so many of us who wanted to create but never saw a representation of us on screen. Could not be here without you. Rest in Power.
— Ronald Funches (@RonFunches) April 29, 2019
article source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/04/rip-john-singleton-boyz-n-the-hood-director-dies-a.html?fbclid=IwAR0bcTf5iFE9H96o-JQhKsD-GIF7HH9TBvM63J4_JloMN8KOuKVIrkObm2IGod Bless this guy.
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) April 29, 2019
John Singleton Damn.
Such a nice guy.Talented guy.Generous
Gave so many people there Big Breaks.
What a nice loyal guy he was.#johnsingleton
Literally gave me the opportunity of my career. Was so supportive t& was my biggest fan making Higher Learning pic.twitter.com/c2xSCXfg2C
