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November 24, 2008

COOLEST MOMENT: Cooley High

It should be no surprise that a movie named Cooley High (airing Saturday at 8pm [ET]) would have a ton of, well, cool moments in it. I mean, the 1975 classic had everything going for it. The cast included Lawrence Hilton Jacobs who went on to become the coolest guy in Welcome Back Kotter. It also had Glynn Turman, an actor who went on to play a teacher at the coolest Black college on TV in A Different World.  The movie is so cool that they turned it into a TV show; remember What’s Happening?

But the coolest part of Cooley was how it treated the lives of young, Black men. It showed Black boys as they were, just boys having fun. Sure there were some issues with drugs and criminal behavior, but no more than any other American story — it’s no wonder critics compared it to American Graffitti, George Lucas’ ode to 60’s teen life.

And while there are plenty of scenes in the film that highlight the love and life these characters shared, the coolest one we found was this gem as Preach (Turman) and Cochise (Jacobs) pose as cops while trying to cut a deal with some women WAY out of their league. Watch it here.

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