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Amidthe national protests that erupted after the killing of George Floyd, his work has only become more vital.
I was quarantined in New York City, in Harlem.
But we [recently] came up to Marthas Vineyard.
But we got here a week and a half ago and its been very welcoming.
Were not at that point anymore where [the virus] is felt to be a New York thing.
My kids had been wanting to come to Marthas Vineyard for a month.
And I was like, Its too cold; you dont want to be there.
We were here three days when George Floyd got murdered.
My 21-year-old twins demanded to go back to New York and become part of the protests.
Frankly, I was a little pissed.
But they were like, We have to be part of whats going on.
So we drove them back, and they are still there, protesting every day.
Im really proud that they insisted.
Im glad theyre out there.
Young people are kind of shocked by where this country really is.
Older people are not in the same way.
Especially for African-Americans, each generation wants to think its over.Okay.
Fucking finally, you might rest.And thats not what happens.
I dont mean just recent generations.
We dont have the monuments about slavery that they have in Europe to the Holocaust.
We dont have the reminders of how horrible it was.
So you have this narrative thats not real, where we celebrate the Confederacy.
We name Army bases after their generals, and put up statues of them.
These people were enslavers.
The Panthers started in 1966 because of the systemic violence by the police.
Thats happening to me in New York.
Its happening to me in the Navy.
And the same thing is happening now.
One of the big differences now is that this is a leaderless movement, by design.
So many times in the civil-rights movement, when the leaders faltered, the movement faltered.
So this movement is not based on personality; this is based on truth and justice.
But there are similarities.
Were seeing the same thing with peaceful marchers against police brutality being brutalized by the police.
Then you have people from the Trump administration saying that what we see is not what we saw.
Its becoming much clearer that you do have to make a choice.
We all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
And I think that thats what these movements and protests do.
They make us part of something bigger.
Everybody doesnt have to be Martin Luther King.
I hope filmmakers understand, this is not an opportunity for white filmmakers to get another commission.
I dont believe that we need to see films about African-Americans by white filmmakers.
Name me five films by Black people about a white person.
Roger Ross Williams made one.
And how many films can you name by white people about Black people?
You know what Im saying?
Wed love for you to make a film about the Holocaust.
And Im like,What?
Think about the decision-makers.
Im working on a project now where were going around pitching it to different networks and cable providers.
Weve done three or four pitches.
My next project is about theTulsa massacre.
Its with Russell Westbrooks company.
He stayed, so he has ties there.
Tulsa is one of those mythical stories in the Black community.
Its starting toget some traction, and people are starting to look it up and know something about it.
Its like the Black Panthers: Everybodys heard of them, or thought they knew about it.
But there was so much more that people didnt know.
I think that those can sometimes be really enlightening stories.
There were 70 or 80 Black towns established in the West after the Civil War.
And Tulsa was the most successful of those.
Theres incredible footage of Tulsa before the riots.
People sitting on their porches.
you might see the pride in their community.
Theres the Black sheriff with a badge, and Black people with guns.
Black people herding cattle.
I dont think theres any footage of the riot.
But theres footage of the aftermath.
You see the burnt town peeking through the rubble.
Over a thousand homes destroyed.
Were talking about probably the biggest racial riot in the history of the country.
Im really excited about the project.
Trump was going to havehis first rally there, and it wasgoing to be on Juneteenth.
Once again, its this purposeful slap in the face of Black people.
