Van Peebles dedicates ["Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song"] "to all the brothers and sisters who've had enough of the Man" and, indeed, his story is a celebration of that moment when the black man breaks with society and struggles to survive. (p. 116)

There are flaws in Van Peebles's bleak vision. Bitterness has pushed him to paint all policemen as sadists, beating anyone black, carelessly killing suspects in their search for Sweetback, deliberately detonating their pistols next to the club owner's ears to deafen him. His attitude toward his hero is unsure. (Does he accept the stereotype of black man as sexual athlete or does he use it ironically?)

But his documentary style, despite its inclusion of arty split-screen effects, superimpositions and negative color, draws a harrowing portrait of black city life. Van Peebles creates an effective street collage of religious signs, voodoo storefronts, drab poolrooms, backyard garbage dumps and...