"What are you most afraid of?" "The police." Brut spoke with @QueenAndSlim screenwriter Lena Waithe and director Melina Matsoukas about being black in America.
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00:00Talk about your nephew.
00:01Oh, yeah. My nephew, who is eight years old, he surprised, like,
00:06what are you most afraid of? He said the police. And I think to be a young black boy, I think I
00:12shouldn't be surprised by that, actually, because you can't shield him from news or sort of social
00:17media. And I think that was really eye-opening for me. I know I'm afraid of them. But it just
00:23makes so much sense, because the truth is, even when you watch civil rights footage,
00:27people beating up the young college students who are protesting are police officers.
00:32When they're supposed to be protecting you.
00:33Exactly.
00:33When they're attacking you.
00:34Yeah. And then obviously, now the images we have of police officers and black people
00:38is beyond water hoses and dogs. Now it's just, you know, being killed. So I think I understand why
00:46I have a panic attack when I get pulled over. I think most black people do,
00:50because we don't feel like we're necessarily being protected or served by the police.
00:55I agree.
01:25In the movie, Slim asks, why do black people always feel the need to be excellent?
01:32Do you feel that pressure yourself?
01:33Of course. You know, I don't think we would be here if we weren't excellent. And I think
01:38this is something that just comes with the dinner of being black, because we don't have true equality
01:43yet. But I think that that's, you know, look, I think it's a harsh truth that we both have to
01:48face. But I think we both accept the challenge.
01:50I was brought up that in a way that we're all created equal and we need to fight for each
01:55other's rights, not just our own. That we have to use the privilege we've been given
02:00to give other people that opportunity. And so it gave me purpose, you know, and it gave me this
02:06need to want to create change, to want to dismantle, to want to disrupt, to want to
02:11challenge. I just had to figure out what was going to be my weapon of choice. And then I
02:16found filmmaking. And I was like, this is a way for me to like, change the world. You know,
02:21I can reach everybody. I can change minds. I can make people think I can affect change
02:27that hopefully motivates other forms of activism.
02:31What kind of responsibilities do you think you have when it comes to your art as a black woman?
02:37I feel like I have a responsibility to reflect the times, to be honest to how we live.
02:42I don't really like to make people comfortable or create a space where people
02:49don't need to change. You know, I think that comfort breeds complacency and I like to motivate people
02:56and make them uncomfortable where they're questioning why. And so I feel like, you know,
03:03there's a need for me to reflect the times in which we live, to critique the society in which
03:07we live, because it's not created equal. And there's a lot of dismantling and disruption
03:12that needs to happen. And I need to be a part of that.
03:14Yeah, I agree.
03:15And you, what would be your answer to that same question?
03:18My responsibility? To tell the truth, you know, to be a truth teller and to not be afraid
03:26and to not make art that allows our community to be passive.
03:31Because, you know, we have to be the revolution that we dream about.