A Thousand and One: A tale of Black motherhood and survival

All week the movie, A Thousand and One starring Teyana Taylor has haunted me. This was such an incredibly searing portrayal of Black life in NYC in the early 90’s and aughts that I am still feeling chills about the accuracy of the depiction. I struggled to write about this because I hate people who ruin stuff for other people and I hate ruining stuff for others as well. If I tell you the whole plot, would you really watch it for yourself? That said this film did leave me with so many impressions so I’ll speak as much as I can without giving away the plot.

A Thousand and One is the tale of a young Black mother and her son trying to survive the treachery of Harlem life in the early nineties and 2000’s. A Thousand and One from its’ trailer and points in the plot eerily reminds me of 1995 classic Losing Isaiah with Halle Berry and Jessica Lange. It is the story of motherhood and the lengths mothers will go for their children. Both films evoke complex emotions for complicated situations. There’s a profound sense of sadness and hope when you watch both films in my opinion.

A Thousand and One takes place primarily in Harlem, Nyc, my hometown and I am so tickled to see old Harlem depicted with such accuracy, to see the clothes from the era, to see the abandoned buildings, to see how 125th street, the main commercial street in Harlem go through its’ changes as well as the neighborhood itself. I remember Harlem before the white people came through and took over. I remember when everyone in Harlem was Black and Blackness was felt in every corner and every block in Harlem. I remember the many different types of Blackness in Harlem ; from the elite 10% Blacks of Strivers’ Row, the welfare recipients in the projects, the blue collar and white collar workers who worked downtown, the Muslims, the Afro- Centrics, the drug dealers and the every Sunday in Church Christians. Harlem World as we call it was always filled with every type of Black person you could think of and it was all weaved together in the rich tapestry of a community untouched by the deluge of whiteness a few train stops away. A Thousand and One depicts that Harlem very well and sure it’s cute that there’s now a Bath and Body works and Whole Foods on 125th street but Harlem was great before all of that. And I mourn the passing of time and what has been left in its’ midst.

A Thousand and One shows so vividly the struggle of poor Black single mothers. The pride, the passion, the depths of sacrifice poor Black women make for their children. These women who are the backbones of our community inspire their children even amidst their lack of experience and lack of support. Many Black mothers work overtime convincing and teaching their children about the validity of their lives. I can’t help but wonder if this stems from their own deprivation, their own experiences of being locked out and locked into boxes of statistics that invalidates their humanity. Inez played by Teyana Taylor inspires these sentiments with how she cares for her son Terry. They are at the bottom of the bottom, homeless, she’s just been released from jail and without any support. And yet she still retains a superhuman level of tenderness and compassion for her child when the world has not showed her the same.

A Thousand and One brought up to me in many ways the complex, unofficial arrangements of many families in the hood. Black people in the hood don’t often live that cookie cutter two parents who are married with kids on a double income life. Many times our social arrangements and our familial realities aren’t set up with the same mainstream formulas. I have a great aunt who raised all her daughter’s children because of her daughter’s substance issues. This great aunt raised all of these children by herself and took great pride in doing so. She often had more people in the apartment than maybe she should have. But as she always says, “ everyone had a place to sleep and something to eat”. She took and takes great pride in being Granny and Mama at the same time. Inez , in the film relies on a similar dynamic with her friend Kim who becomes an unofficial aunt of young Terry. When Inez starts to date a man named Lucky ,he similarly assumes the position of dad for young Terry. In Black communities and especially in poor Black communities, family isn’t strictly based on blood and marital linkages. When your family and another have been friends or even living on the same block for years, you become like family. This is very common place and I know for a fact it probably comes from antebellum slavery. You could lose your family in an instant on the plantation. Enslaved people were still people and still wanting and needing those connections. People you weren’t related to could and did become family. I believe it is something that is dying out in this day and age but the remnants of such arrangements are alive and well in Black communities.

What is right and what is wrong? Inez made some decisions that will lead you to shake your head at the audacity. You’ll question her morals, you’ll question whether she’s evil. You may even hate her for what she does. But I think that there are nuances to many situations in life that allow for gray areas. People are not wired to operate in strict either or thinking. There are allowances and asterisks . At the end of the day, young Terry was raised with love. He was raised being fed by the efforts of his poor mother, herself a former foster child who served time in jail. That same poor, formerly incarcerated mother who made a way out of no way put so much into Terry that he is not only able to excel at a specialized high school but be set on a track to attend college through scholarships. Inez’ sacrifices for Terry is the hallmark of single Black motherhood across this country. Demonized, hated and deprived but still doing any and everything for her child. In that moment, I felt my mom, my aunts, the ladies from around my way and so many of the proud, strong, beautiful Black women I knew doing the same thing. It is testimony to the massive humanity of these women that they pour so much into loving even while being denied love themselves. Inez pontificates on this beautifully during an outburst amidst a revelation; who cares for the woman made mule? What happens to the girl inside of the woman chronically abandoned and shamed for her circumstances?

I must mention the portrayal of Lucky , the father figure for Terry in the movie. Lucky reminds me of the men that I knew growing up. They were decent men who loved their families and their women . They were in the streets hustling , having spent time upstate and subsequently denied by and large entry into the “normal” workforce. They hustle in the streets because they have to , not because they want to. So much of strife in relationships and marriages relate to finances. And for poor Black people, this is no different except the deprivation and the accompanying traumas are much more intense when you’re already living in poverty. Quite frankly, it is harder to love and be loved when you’re trying to survive. It’s hard be the necessary man of the house when you don’t have the funds to stay in that position. To feel like a man is necessary for men. And the easiest way for straight men to feel like men is through sex and the obtaining of different women. Lucky’s depiction represents that rugged pride and perseverance of poor Black men. He gives humanity to men whom are commonly thought to be without feelings, without fears and without pain. He shows an example to young Terry about the rights of young Black men to feel their humanity and to embrace it.

Teyana Taylor and cast did an amazing job with this movie. It made me cry because I’m a water baby. But it is truly a touching tale. It shows the transformation of Harlem from ghetto to gentrified haunt. It shows the boundless courage that love requires. And how the strongest bonds are formed in the most unconventional of ways.