Giving Delroy Lindo His Flowers

I want to take a moment to sing the praises of one of our great actors, Delroy Lindo. Delroy Lindo has been working for a long time as a professional actor. He has never been to this many awards shows, I don’t think in his life, than he has been because of “Sinners.” “It feels really good, yeah.” And one of the award shows he’s about to go to is the Academy Awards, where he has never been as a nominee. It’s about time. “See, white folks, they like the blues just fine.” “They just don’t like the people who make it.” He plays Delta Slim in Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners.” “Rice said he was going to take that money,” “going out to Little Rock,” “start him a little church.” It’s a wonderful performance. He’s got this extremely good monologue in a car that one of the Michael B. Jordans is driving in that movie. “Klan got ahold to him,” “searched his pockets, found all that money,” “made up a story about him killing some white man for it” “and raping that white man’s wife.” “And they lynched him right there in the railroad station.” My question is, what took y’all so long, Academy voters? You had so many opportunities to give this man a nomination for something. It could have been “Crooklyn.” It could have been “Get Shorty,” I mean, he stole that movie, and everybody was trying to steal that thing. West Indian Archie in “Malcolm X.” I mean, money on the table. But maybe my favorite Delroy Lindo performance is in “Clockers,” where he plays the neighborhood drug dealer Rodney. “How you always know when I’m coming out of somewhere?” “Don’t you know I know everything?” He is doing monologues in cars all day long, he’s got at least two in that movie that I remember. And, in one of them, he picks up Mekhi Phifer as he’s coming out of the hospital, and — proceeds to be like: “I heard a homicide came back on you again yesterday?” Are you talking to the cops? “You and them [expletive]-buddies now, or what?” Are you talking to the cops? “Come on, get in, get in.” This is such a good performance, because at every moment, this man is, sort of, balancing dualities. He’s very cool and calm, but he’s also got to be a little bit paranoid because, you know, neighborhood drug dealer in 1995, not an easy job. “I mean, you happen to be a lowlife rat bastard mother[expletive],” “who will sell off his newborn for a suck off that glass dick,” “crack will bring you right on in the light.” Delroy Lindo is so good at just like, keeping it like this, and emanating gravitas, emanating danger. And that is something that Delta Slim and Rodney have in common. “I’m a great business man, Strike,” “and I got me the world’s greatest product.” And I am just happy to see Delroy Lindo be an Academy Award nominee. I’m just really excited for that. Dreams do come true.