Black Is… Black Ain’t

Directed by Marlon Riggs

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.

Cast

Marlon Riggs

Self

Angela Davis

Self

?

bell hooks

Self

Essex Hemphill

Self

Cornel West

Self

?

Maulana Karenga

Self

?

Barbara Smith

Self

?

Michele Wallace

Self