In conjunction with Verizon, EBONY is journeying through our rich archives in honor of Black History Month to highlight the cultural contributions of African Americans in this country. The final video in this archival series explores the deep importance of Black film and those behind the scenes who have had a significant hand in making Black movie magic so real and relatable.
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PeopleTranscript
00:00I've been through some things in my career where I was told that I wasn't, you know,
00:04marketable or the right look.
00:06I didn't always feel wanted and I didn't always feel desirable and I lived through that and
00:13felt like, okay, what's happening in this industry?
00:15Then I started to learn, you know what, stop looking for validation in everyone else.
00:30I wanted to change how people of color are seen in the narrative.
00:35I wanted to normalize us.
00:37I wanted to elevate us.
00:38I want to show people that we are indeed complicated people, that we are indeed worthy of complicated
00:47stories and wonderful stories and epic stories and I wanted autonomy in that.
00:57I did not want to create stories where I was constantly riding on any Caucasian person.
01:08Any Caucasian person or people out there, their idea of who they thought we were, but
01:13who we really are.
01:15But for the man child, a boy, to watch his mother and sisters and aunts go through all
01:21that kind of stuff at the hands of his sex, it can make you really sensitive to it.
01:27So because of that sensitivity and because of what I was going through, every time I'm
01:31writing one of those stories, I'm hoping that I'm saying something that speaks to the heart
01:35of the richness of who we are, especially as the richness of black women.
01:39You know, there's a famous saying that power concedes nothing without a demand, okay?
01:47If we want the narrative in Hollywood or in the world to change, then we have to demand it.
01:54That yes, all of those things come up against us, but then we have the power within ourselves
02:01to fight that, okay?
02:03And you have to understand that you have the power to fight that.
02:07Yes, there is an unwillingness to listen to our voice.
02:10There absolutely is.
02:11But then you just have to talk louder.
02:17You have to talk louder.
02:18You have to talk louder.
02:19You have to talk louder.
02:20You have to talk louder.
02:21You have to talk louder.
02:22You have to talk louder.
02:23You have to talk louder.
02:24You have to talk louder.
02:25You have to talk louder.
02:26You have to talk louder.
02:27You have to talk louder.
02:28You have to talk louder.
02:29You have to talk louder.
02:30You have to talk louder.
02:31You have to talk louder.
02:32You have to talk louder.
02:33You have to talk louder.
02:34You have to talk louder.
02:35You have to talk louder.
02:36You have to talk louder.
02:37You have to talk louder.
02:38You have to talk louder.
02:39You have to talk louder.
02:40You have to talk louder.
02:41You have to talk louder.
02:42You have to talk louder.
02:43You have to talk louder.