Film Screening 11/30 and 12/2: Marlon Riggs's "Black Is...Black Ain't"

Marlon Riggs, 1957-1994

It's necessary to constantly remind ourselves that we are not an abomination. --Marlon Riggs

This Tuesday and Thursday (11/30 and 12/2), we will view Marlon Riggs's 1994 documentary Black Is...Black Ain't. Here is a link to some more information about Marlon Riggs, his life, and his work:

Marlon Riggs, The Museum of Broadcasting 


So much of my life has been about self-effacement, pretense, masquerading, concealment, and indirection. --Marlon Riggs



Below is a poem by Audre Lorde (1934-1992). Here is a link to more information on Lorde, her life, and her work:  

Audre Lorde, 1934-1992

Audre Lorde: Voices from the Gaps

Coal

I
is the total black, being spoken
from the earth's inside.
There are many kinds of open
how a diamond comes into a knot of flame
how sound comes into a words, coloured
by who pays what for speaking.


Some words are open like a diamond
on glass windows
singing out within the crash of sun
Then there are words like stapled wagers
in a perforated book—buy and sign and tear apart—
and come whatever will all chances
the stub remains
an ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge.
Some words live in my throat
breeding like adders. Other know sun
seeking like gypsies over my tongue
to explode through my lips
like young sparrows bursting from shell.
Some words
bedevil me


Love is word, another kind of open.
As the diamond comes into a knot of flame
I am Black because I come from the earth's inside
Now take my word for jewel in the open light.
                                                           --Audre Lorde