It’s Black History Month once again and in honor of the occasion I continue the series of “Great Minority Movie Heroes” which we have been running over and over for years, now. What better occasion than Black History Month than to continue listing movie heroes that are people of color? Be sure to check out the past editions of the series and let us know what some of your favorite minority movie heroes are.
Detective Inspector Lee & Detective Carter – Rush Hour Series
Lee and Carter don’t exactly get off on the right foot when they first meet in the first “Rush Hour” but they eventually learn to get along. They also learn to trust one another and confide in each other, which makes them a very good and competent set of action heroes that get their missions accomplished. They’ve been such a compelling pair of heroes that the fans of the “Rush Hour” series can never seem to get enough of them as they’ve proven to be heroes that you can root for and want to see accomplish taking down crime every time.
Capt. Moses Hightower – Police Academy Series
One of my favorite characters of the “Police Academy” series, Hightower is a massive bear of a man who might be soft spoken, but is a force to be reckoned with. In spite of his height and girth, Hightower is also a powerful and passionate police officer who doesn’t mind knocking heads and smashing things if it means getting his point across. He proves to be a very competent and imposing hero repeatedly in the “Police Academy” movie series and he’s a fan favorite.
Buzz’s Space Rangers – Lightyear (2022)
Izzy, Mo, and Darby are about as diverse a team of superheroes as you can get. We got to meet them in the criminally underrated “Lightyear” as they help the time displaced Buzz Lightyear fight Zurg. Along the way they go from privates to Space Rangers, learning to work with one another, and also realizing their own potential for fighting space menaces alongside their new commander. They’re fun, funny, and admirable heroes, and they deserve a bigger spotlight in the annals of the Pixar universe.
Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel – The Marvels (2023)
Kamala Khan is also known as Ms. Marvel; she’s a massive superhero geek and Muslim teen who manages to become a superhero in her own right. In the MCU she’s a superhero who loves being a superhero and manages to team up with other super powered Marvels to take on the Kree and stabilize the universe again. What makes her so fun is she has a blast being a superhero, which is refreshing and downright entertaining, and she takes being a superhero very seriously in the end.
Sgt. Larvell Jones – Police Academy Series
Originally introduced in the first “Police Academy,” Larvell Jones is a great police officer who is known mainly for his knack for hilarious sound effects and impressions. Jones is introduced initially as a rebellious jokester but he proves himself time and time again throughout the “Police Academy” movie series with keen intellect, and passion for fighting crime with his fellow police officers. He originally is paired with series favorite Mahoney, but comes in to his own as a law enforcer.