Pam Grier, coming to Planet Comicon KC, launches streaming channel honoring Black cinema
Before the Academy Awards earlier this month, NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast named performers who have never been nominated for an Oscar but should have one.
The legendary actress/activist Pam Grier, who will meet fans at Planet Comicon Kansas City next week, made co-host Glen Weldon’s list.
Best known as “the meanest chick in town” Foxy Brown in the popular 1974 film, Grier has been described by director Quentin Tarantino as “cinema’s first female action star.”
“When it comes to the Oscars, are we rewarding the actor? Or are we rewarding their ability to conform to the kind of parameters that we are setting with our expectations of what an Academy Award performance looks like?” Weldon argued.
“Pam Grier can give you indomitable, resolute, persevering. She can also give you sexy badass. She can give you intelligence, defiance, resourcefulness. So, justice for Pam Grier!
“But also justice for any actor who isn’t playing into the Academy’s very narrow parameters of whatever they think is ‘Oscar worthy.’”
Grier might not have an Oscar. But now she has an entire channel devoted to independent Black cinema.
Grier has teamed up with Free TV Networks to create “Pam Grier’s Soul Flix,” a new free (ad-supported) streaming channel that will play films curated by Grier.
The channel is “a celebration of our legacy,” Grier said in a statement announcing the channel, now available on free streaming platforms Plex and The Roku Channel.
It’s described as “an adrenaline-fueled journey through the era of Black empowerment.”
Grier said the channel “builds upon my life’s work to support all independent women and fans of Black cinema. These films don’t just entertain — they inspire, empower, and tell stories that need to be heard.
“As someone who’s lived through this journey and fought to bring strong characters to life, I’m thrilled to shine the spotlight on the brilliance and resilience of our community.”
Grier became famous for roles in 1970s blaxploitation action films that featured Black actors in typically low-budget films made by Black filmmakers for Black audiences. In much of her work, Grier portrayed strong Black women in a Hollywood where women of color were (are?) woefully underrepresented.
“Foxy Brown,” in which Grier plays a woman who avenges the murder of her boyfriend by members of a drug syndicate, is one of the most famous of the blaxploitation genre.
Grier’s career spanning more than five decades includes both film and TV work, earning her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Last year the Toronto Black Film Festival honored her with a lifetime achievement award.
Tarantino directed her in the 1997 crime thriller “Jackie Brown.”
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She will appear at Planet Comicon all three days, March 21 to 23, at the Kansas City Convention Center. (Autographs, photos and selfies with the legend range from $50 to $90.)
Emmy winning actress Helen Hunt, star of TV’s “Mad About You” and popular movies including “Twister” and “As Good As It Gets,” is a late addition to the convention’s lineup. She is scheduled to appear Friday and Saturday.
Planet Comicon Kansas City is the region’s largest comic book and pop culture convention. Guests include:
- Ann-Margret (“Bye Bye Birdie,” “Viva Las Vegas”)
- David Tennant (“Doctor Who”)
- Christina Ricci (“Addams Family,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Yellowjackets”)
- Andy Serkis (“Lord of the Rings,” “Planet of the Apes”)
- Tori Spelling (“Beverly Hills 90210,” “Scream 2”)
- Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future,” “Addams Family,” “Taxi”)
- Matthew Lillard (“Scream,” “Scooby-Doo,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s”)
- Carla Gugino (“Watchmen,” “Sin City”)
- Mike Colter (“Marvel’s Luke Cage,” “The Defenders”)
Tickets for adults range from $42 for a day pass to $98 for three days, with cheaper prices for ages 13 and younger.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM.
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