Black Is… Black Ain’t 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.

Cast

Marlon Riggs

Angela Davis

bell hooks

Essex Hemphill

Cornel West

Maulana Karenga

Barbara Smith

Michele Wallace