Black Is… Black Ain’t

Black Is… Black Ain’t

87 mins | Documentary | June 1, 1994

African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.

Black Is… Black Ain’t

87 mins | Documentary | June 1, 1994

Black Is… Black Ain’t
African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.
IMDb rating 7.7
Producers Signifyin' Works
Original title Black Is… Black Ain’t
Directors Christiane Badgley, Marlon Riggs
Writers

Cast

Marlon Riggs

as Self

Angela Davis

as Self

bell hooks

as Self

Essex Hemphill

as Self

Cornel West

as Self

Maulana Karenga

as Self

Barbara Smith

as Self

Michele Wallace

as Self