Out Takes

22 Jun 2017

Queer Race Relations, Repression and Rebellion in American Documentaries

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Queer Race Relations, Repression and Rebellion in American Documentaries

This week on OUT TAKES we looked at documentaries that chart race and racism in the United States of America; documentaries that position themselves at the intersection of queer and racial identities.

We started with I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, an incendiary portrait of James Baldwin; a searing snapshot of race and racism in 20th century America. Based on Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript REMEMBER THIS HOUSE, it charts the history of race relations in the United States and the impact of the leaders at the forefront of the civil rights movement: Medgar Evans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

We spoke with I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO producer Herbert Peck about the impact of James Baldwin and the importance of his work. We also spoke about the timeliness of I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO and some of the themes that it deals with: what Baldwin calls the ‘moral apathy’ of the ‘vast, headless, unthinking, cruel white majority’.

Next, we looked at CHECK IT, the confronting new documentary from Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer. Set at the footsteps of the White House in Washington DC, CHECK IT follows members of Check It, a group of young LGBT black men and women who fight against prejudice and homophobia. We spoke with CHECK IT co-director Dana Flor about the documentary, and its resonance in Trump America.

Essential viewing: I Am Not Your Negro (Dir. Raul Peck, 2016)

Hungry for more: Check It (Dir. Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer, 2016)