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• Blaxploitation
  Blaxploitation

  noun

  a subgenre of American cinema in the 1970s featuring Black protagonists in exploitation films intended to appeal to African American audiences.
• blaxploitation
  blaxploitation

  noun

  a genre of films featuring Black stereotypes

Blaxploitation

American  

[blak-sploi-tey-shuhn] / ˌblæk splɔɪˈteɪ ʃən /

Or Blacksploitation

noun

(often lowercase)

1. a subgenre of American cinema in the 1970s featuring Black protagonists in exploitation films intended to appeal to African American audiences.

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blaxploitation British  

/ ˌblæksplɔɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. a genre of films featuring Black stereotypes

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Etymology

Origin of Blaxploitation

Blend of Blax (respelling of Blacks ) + exploitation; coined by Dr. Junius Griffin (1929–2005) of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP in 1972 in response to the movie Super Fly (1972)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Blaxploitation blaxploitation

He did the soundtrack to the Blaxploitation movie “Coffy,” which was co-written by its star Pam Grier and director Jack Hall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025

PolyGram executive Harry Weinger reached out to Bitton and asked him to lend the record label his copy of a rare Blaxploitation soundtrack so the company could make a reissue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024

The 1970s movie franchise was iconic as it was among the first of what came to be known as Blaxploitation films, a genre featuring action movies that centred on heroic black characters.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2023

When you hear it mentioned, usually the word that begins and ends the conversation is Blaxploitation, as if that's all they were.

From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2022

Originally conceived as a book, the film — streaming on Netflix — unfurls as part kaleidoscopic visual odyssey, part ruminative personal essay, illuminating a fruitful period of Black cinematic expression that extended far beyond Blaxploitation.

From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2022

Judy Pace, a pathbreaking model and star of blaxploitation films who appeared in television shows through the 1960s and ’70s and the hit made-for-TV movie “Brian’s Song,” died last week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

He also wrote and produced the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Coffy starring Pam Grier.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025

Richard Roundtree, who played one of the first Black action heroes in the blaxploitation '70s era of film, died at 81 of pancreatic cancer on Tuesday in his Los Angeles home, his manager said.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2023

The blaxploitation films were primarily aimed at the African American audiences.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023

Mr. Badalamenti got started in films by writing music for “Gordon’s War,” a 1973 blaxploitation film.

From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2022