I Am Not Your Negro

I Am Not Your Negro Remixes James Baldwin With America’s Tradition Of On-screen Racism

... same ethnic heritage. This, to Peck, was physical proof of Baldwin’s insistence that there is no such thing as a monolithic “black experience”—a long-propagated and dehumanizing form of reductionism. “[Their forebears had come] from all over the world—they ranged from Native American to Chinese to Indian,” Peck says enthusiastically. “It was a reflection of the whole film that all these faces are so different, and it was a great day because something theoretical becomes true. I knew it was a perfect ending.”. The same could be said for what has happened for Negro after Peck’s decade-long journey with it. When the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, Peck had to urge audiences to sit down after a prolonged standing ovation, presaging its win of the festival’s prestigious Audience Award. Soon after, the film stoked conversations about racial equality when the organizers of Blackout for Human Rights held advance screenings across the country (in a double feature with Ava Du Vernay’s documentary The 13 th) as part of its third annual Blackout Black Friday event in November. It is ...

The Best Takedown Of Hollywood Comes From James Baldwin In ‘i Am Not Your Negro

... as ever. “He saw through it already,” director Raoul Peck says of Baldwin, “because he was analyzing the fundamentals. So his judgment is still present.”. People are bombarded with images that teach “something really frightening about the American sense of reality,” Baldwin says in the film, images “designed not to trouble but to reassure.”. With “I Am Not Your Negro” out in theaters this Friday, Peck seeks to finish an unfinished Baldwin manuscript for a book that would “tell his story of America through the lives of three of his murdered friends: Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X,” the film’s opening sequence declares. And within this weighty exploration squarely fits a major theme: the representation of black and white people in Hollywood, and the ways entertainment and pop culture reflect a warped story of America. “He wrote extensively about Hollywood movies,” Peck says of Baldwin. “He was probably one of the best critics in the country.”. “He shows us how, basically, Hollywood fabricated the image of the Negro,” Peck adds. Baldwin explained how “entertainment is not innocent. That ...

James Baldwin Speaks To Now In I Am Not Your Negro

... In addition to Jackson, there is Baldwin himself, appearing in archival footage from university speeches and appearances on The Dick Cavett Show. That he and Jackson peacefully coexist in the film is a testament to how cleverly Peck and his editor, Alexandra Strauss, have pieced together the material. Granted complete access by Baldwin’s estate, Peck excels at the daunting task of selecting a small fraction of the author’s vast output to service his 95-minute feature. It took him more than half a decade to do so, and his meticulousness pays off in the most satisfying of ways. Readers of Baldwin’s work already know that it’s as timely and relevant today as it was when he wrote it decades ago. I Am Not Your Negro powerfully highlights this point for today. I Am Not Your Negro. Starring Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by Raoul Peck. Written by James Baldwin and Raoul Peck. Rated PG-13. 95 ...

The Powerful Trailer For 'i Am Not Your Negro' Shows Why It's The Movie We All Need To See

... Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in relation to America’s race problem, but he died before he could complete the manuscript. Peck uses the manuscript as the basis for his film. Along with never-before seen archival material from Baldwin, the film takes a look at the lives of Malcolm X, King, and Evers as well as a look at various movements and cultural moments from Ferguson and Black Live Matter to the civil rights movement and the original Birth of a Nation film. “The story of the Negro in America is the story of America,” says Samuel L. Jackson, who narrates the film, in the trailer. “It’s not a pretty story.”. In the trailer, you can hear Baldwin’s discernible voice and prophetic words (narrated by Jackson) and images from the 1960 s to the present day. “If any white man in the world in the world says ‘give me liberty or give me death,’ the entire white world applauds,” says Baldwin in the trailer. “When a black man says exactly the same thing he is judged a criminal and treated like one, and everything possible is done to make an example of this bad nigger so there won’t be any ...

I Am Not Your Negro Gives The Race Problem Back To White American Film Critics

... celebrity commentary or fanfare—people telling you what Baldwin meant and how he meant it—what’s left? What do we see, or, rather, witness (a very important word for Baldwin)? What truths are unveiled when we let a great mind from the ’50 s, ’60 s and ’70 s speak for itself in 2017. Peck formally demands that we not only sit with Baldwin’s words, but that we engage with them, and respond. So how is it that not a single white film critic has responded to the most powerful and poignant question posed by Baldwin in a 1963 interview, and re-presented by Peck today. Now here in this country we’ve got something called a nigger. It doesn’t in such terms exist in any other country in the world. We have invented the nigger. I didn’t invent him. White people invented him. I’ve always known and I had to know by the time I was 17 years old, what you were describing was not me, and what you were afraid of was not me. It had to be something else. You had invented it, so it had to be something you were afraid of … I’ve always known—and really, always, that’s part of the agony—I’ve ...

I Am Not Your Negro' Gives James Baldwin's Words New Relevance

... OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). BALDWIN: How precise are you going to reconcile yourself to your situation here, and how you are going to communicate to the vast heedless, unthinking, cruel white majority that you are here. YU: Raoul Peck says Baldwin spoke directly to his audiences then and even now. And he put the onus of change squarely on people in positions of privilege and power. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING). BALDWIN: I'm not a nigger. I'm a man. If I'm not the nigger here, and though you invented him - you, the white people invented him - then you have to find out why. And the future of the country depends on that, whether I was able to ask that question. YU: Because, as James Baldwin wrote, not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. Mallory Yu, NPR News. and. (SOUNDBITE OF JOEY FEHRENBACH SONG, "INDIGO ROAD"). Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights ...

I Am Not Your Negro' Will Introduce James Baldwin To A New Generation

... a powerful film about the nuances of race and class in America. James Baldwin was a groundbreaking writer: Black, gay and unapologetic. He became a household name by the 1960 s and even graced the cover of Time Magazine in 1963. His books like The Fire Next Time solidified him as a thought leader and political figure. With archival footage and Samuel L. Jackson narrating Baldwin's words, I Am Not Your Negro uses an incomplete manuscript from the Harlem native to tell a story that is frighteningly relevant today. The manuscript focused on three of his friends who died tragically: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But this isn't just a doc about race and class. Baldwin's commentary is much more layered. His insight was and is heartbreaking, poignant and unforgettable. With pure cinematic magic, Peck delivered one of the best documentaries of the year. At a time when protests for justice are once again erupting across this nation, Baldwin’s voice is prescient. We will be reminded that ...

Director Raoul Peck Discusses His Oscar-nominated James Baldwin Documentary 'i Am Not Your Negro

... past to present, and back. The words in the film are all Baldwin's. Did you ever consider bringing in other voices. This was one of the first decisions I made. The question was always, "How do I bring those words to the forefront?" I knew Baldwin had to be the person telling the story and presenting these words himself. I didn't want talking heads. It would have been putting somebody between Baldwin's words and the audience, and I don't think these words need any interpretation. Baldwin's words are so strong and so multilayered that an intellectual can deal with them and the man in the street can deal with them. Every person can own those words and can understand them profoundly. Why isn't Baldwin more central to the American canon. There are many explanations. One being that even in his lifetime, Baldwin was pushed aside by the new generation of leaders that were in the ...