Trump Can't Build Anything, So He's Destroying Everything Instead

Black on Black Cinema tackles Trump's ongoing assault on American landmarks. The East Wing of the White House was abruptly demolished last October, sparking legal battles over the approval process. Now the Kennedy Center is facing demolition threats over his childish desire to have his name on the building. The historic East Potomac cherry blossom grove; a 1912 gift from Japan is at real risk as Trump terminates a 50-year lease to build a "championship" golf course, with debris from the demolished East Wing literally dumped on the same site. The Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool sits in disarray after a botched, unbid renovation.

We ask the harder question: why does this president's legacy consistently manifest as destruction rather than creation? And as Black people, we sit with the real complexity here, many of these landmarks were built by enslaved people, monuments to a history that never fully included us. Is preservation even our fight? We land somewhere honest: this is still our country, our history, our capital, and watching it get torn down for spite and a golf handicap isn't something we're willing to be apathetic about, however complicated our relationship to these buildings really is.

The next film to be review will be "I Love Boosters," written and directed by Boots Riley. The film follows a group of shoplifters who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven by stealing her clothes and reselling them at a lower price, what they call "fashion-forward philanthropy."

Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).