Black Archaeologist (DVD)

A Product Review

The Shout Out. Allow me to commence by “giving a shout out to my peeps at Children’s Books by African American Authors and Illustrators.” Children’s Books by African American Authors and Illustrators is a Facebook group and it is an excellent resource for parents of Black children. The manager of Children’s Books by African American Authors and Illustrators also maintains a webpage called Inside the Books. It too is an excellent resource for parents of Black children. Check them out!

The Product. I learned of Black Archaeologist through Children's Books by African American Authors and Illustrators. Black Archaeologist is an animated series that features the adventures of a character simply named, Black Archaeologist. According to the description provided on the website, Black Archaeologist "…is a cross between Batman, Huey P. Newton, and Shaft." Throughout the series, Black Archaeologist is on a mission to "…enlighten the world about the hidden historical facts about Black people in spite of the evil plans of ‘The Society’ to silence him."

The Excitement. My first response to Black Archaeologist was pure excitement. I thought I had found an entertaining and educational resource for Black children. I visited the Black Archaeologist website. I watched a few clips of the Black Archaeologist series on YouTube. Then I ordered season one of the series.

The Disappointment. When my DVD arrived and I watched it, I was very disappointed. I will share three reasons for my disappointment in this review. My first reason is that the cartoon series contains unnecessary and excessive vulgarity. Each of the 12 episodes contains at least one instance of sexual innuendo or profane language. Many episodes contain multiple instances. One reason for my initial excitement about Black Archaeologist was that as a parent, I thought it would be a good resource. I thought it would be a departure from the excessive, sexual innuendo and indecency that is so pervasive in media currently being marketed to children. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

My second reason for disappointment was that the "episodes" are extremely short. The 12 episodes have a mean run time of 6 minutes 22 seconds. The shortest episode is 2 minutes 37 seconds. The longest episode is 15 minutes 41 seconds. When I visited the website prior to purchasing the DVD, I thought I was looking at trailers for each episode. After making my purchase, I realized that I was actually looking at full episodes.

My third reason for disappointment was the animation quality. The animation style is an old style. It reminds me of the Star Blazers series that was produced in 1979 and throughout the 1980s. Now in fairness, this is not a big area of disappointment. I saw examples of the cartoon prior to making a purchase, so I was aware of the animation quality. Because there is so little media for Black children, I was willing (even excited) to have a good resource despite an older style of animation. However, after sitting through the vulgarity and the oddly short duration of each episode, I no longer had a good reason to overlook a 35 year-old animation style.

The Recommendation. In short, I would not recommend Black Archaeologist as a resource for Black families. However, I do encourage others to see for themselves. Episodes are available on the Black Archaeologist YouTube channel. Choose wisely.

And remember... Have Fun!

Jomo W. Mutegi, Ph.D. is an author of science-related children’s books, and an Associate Professor of Science Education at the Indiana University School of Education in Indianapolis. He is also a member of the (ES)² Research Program. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s books, visit www.JomoMutegi.com. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s research, visit www.ES2RP.org.