Your Nappy Ass Roots: Zack Taylor, Power Ranger.

Zack Taylor was the first African American Power Ranger and the only black fighter in the original founding five.  A confident opponent, Zack also enjoyed playing sports and dancing, “especially to a fresh beat bumping out his homeboy’s boombox” (per Wikipedia).  He enjoyed dancing so much, in fact, that he often incorporated it into his fighting, eventually developing his own style called ‘Hip Hop Kido,’ which featured numerous body rolls for no clearly defined reason at all.

Zack excelled as a Ranger, facing and defeating several opponents, including a particularly gangster crab.  In spite of his success, however, Zack faced racist harassment from his fellow Rangers (who often called him Michigan J. Frog due to his constant dancing) and criticism from the black community, drawing protests from the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Unable to understand why people were so angry about his funky fresh moves, Zack quit the Rangers and soon developed a drinking problem.  Ironically, it was the very thing that drove him to drink–his insatiable love of dance–that would prove to save his soul; Zack got clean and took up salsa dancing, becoming the 2004 Mayan World Salsa champion.  He continues to dance and teach to this day, making it possible for anyone to dance with the Black Power Ranger for as little as $10.

(We’re not making that last part up.)

Brokey McPoverty

Brokey McPoverty, aka Tracy Clayton, is a writer and humorist from Louisville, KY. She currently writes for BuzzFeed and lives in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter.

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