Craig Brewer’s “Dolemite Is My Name” tells the story of Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian known as the Godfather of Rap who turned the theatrical exhibition world upside down in 1975 with his debut film, “Dolemite.” Moore might have been lost to multiple generations if not for the passion of star Eddie Murphy to tell his story, but he’s not the only subject in the Netflix release who finally gets a deserved moment in the spotlight.
In fact, the absence of material on Lady Reed is a glaring example of how pockets of history have been lost as most reference materials are transferred online. Reed doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry, despite the recent success of “Dolemite.” Yet when Randolph mentioned the role to her father, she discovered he knew all about both Moore and Reed.“I kind of was like, ‘Dad, what the heck?’ Like you knew about all this,” Randolph recalls.
Reed’s comedy albums, which can be found on YouTube, informed Randolph’s performance even more. In an era where women were exploited and objectified for their bodies, “especially women of color through blaxploitation,” Randolph notes, Reed took the power dynamic back and instructed women with a play-by-play of not only how to be comfortable in their own skin but to know how powerful that is.
Our mission at is to build the social news network that ends fake news. Follow us Overlooked_Inc