I Am Not Your Negro 🖋
In the shadow of last week’s events, including the murder of George Floyd, both recommendations this week will be from Black directors. Thank you for the inspiration, Mike. If you can, please donate.
Today’s movie is I Am Not Your Negro (2016)—streaming on Prime Video. This Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Raoul Peck uses famed author James Baldwin’s words to tell the story of America’s past, present, and future. In our current environment, it’s possibly the most important film of this century. Plus, on this first day of Pride Month, I wanted to celebrate a queer Black artist.
[Here’s what it’s about] From the film: “In June 1979, acclaimed author James Baldwin commits to a complex endeavor: tell his story of America through the lives of three of his murdered friends: Medgar Evers, Martin Luther Link, Jr., and Malcolm X. Baldwin never got past his 30 pages of notes.” [Trailer // 93 mins]
[Why you should watch it] From Frantz Jerome’s brilliant review: “I Am Not Your Negro is a lesson in duality in both form and function. The film is equal parts a maelstrom of black rage and a sleek, surgical assessment of the American Dream as it pertains to race. James Baldwin was out there in the world letting heads know it wasn’t RuPaul’s best friend race from jump street…
The duality that lives at the core of I Am Not Your Negro is one of time. The events take place in the past and are felt in the present. His view of the world was ahead of the curve, which gave it the weight of prophecy (James Baldwin is: Nostradamus, in: Nostradamus, Of Harlem!). In the age of the Trump presidency, just the sight of Baldwin’s contempt for business as usual, coupled with his compassion for the people that hated him (lots of X-Men vibes there) presented him (and by extension, we, the viewer) with as close to a solution to our country’s social ills as much then as now.”
📺 Buy or Rent: Prime Video | iTunes | YouTube
Pair it with 🍷
If Beale Street Could Talk: Based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name, the film follows Tish (Kiki Layne)—a young black woman living in 1970s Harlem—as she tries to clear her boyfriend Fonny’s (Stephan James) name of a crime he didn’t commit. Told in a non-linear form, the movie tracks their relationship from its hopeful start through all their highs and lows. [Where to watch]
Paris is Burning: The movie follows several members of the ballroom scene in New York City in the 1980s. Balls are elaborately staged competitions where trans and queer performers compete in different categories and are judged on their fashion and performance. While they’re queens in the ballroom, outside they deal with homophobia, violence, and a growing epidemic. [Where to watch]
One random movie thought 💭
For the rest of Pride month, I will be featuring films about and by queer people. After this sobering week, I was thinking particularly of Paris is Burning and this quote from the great Pepper LaBeija:
“This is white America. And when it comes to the minorities, especially Black, we as a people, for the past 400 years—is the greatest example of behavior modification in the history of civilization. We have had everything taken away from us, and yet we have all learned how to survive.”
Don’t be silent, speak out, and take care of each other.
See you Thursday —
Karl (@karl_delo)