This is someone showing their rejection of the oftentimes traumatizing cishet Christian ideals many young Black queers are currently being taught. We live for anything that will shorten (or make obsolete) their pain so they can live bolder happier lives.
“I fully understand they have to paint a picture of the times, and deep racial trauma and pain were a part of those times, but I found myself wondering why we need another gut-wrenching Black story on film.”
Black people are the future, creating some of the most beautiful and challenging art we have seen, forging a way out of the past while being entirely cognizant of it. As the editors state in the introduction, time is not linear, we are always in conversation with the past, present, and future. Black Futures as a collection is keenly aware of this.
“I’m always clamoring for more lesbian kisses on screen but the scene where she is singing in her lover’s ear gave me chills. I miss intimacy!”
“I can’t help but think, with the election so fresh on my mind, how black women are tasked with saving everyone including ourselves. What an emotional toll that takes. Like we literally are just boosting everyone up over our shoulders and no one turns around to extend a hand. For me, music has always been a healing space, so I deeply appreciate music like this that speaks to healing on that deep level.”
Dani and Shelli got together to chat about Justin Simien’s new satirical horror movie, their own relationships with their hair over the years, and being over the compulsion to make space for white audiences in Black films.
