American - Producer | September 16, 1970 -
The first time I saw the Dutch character known as Black Pete, or Zwarte Piet, my heart sank, and I felt a little nauseated.
Roger Ross Williams
CharacterHeartTimeBlackFirst
When I decided to make 'Blackface,' a short film about Black Pete, I had little knowledge of the giant cesspool of hate I was about to dive into. I didn't realize how popular and passionate many white Dutch are about a figure that they connect to fond memories from their childhood.
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I'm definitely drawn to stories about outsiders. Feeling like that myself as a gay black man, I often seek to give a voice to those in the world who don't have one.
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I want to look at the community I came from and what role incarceration has played there.
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I grew up in a Southern Baptist-style church with a choir, a band, and music, but I've been asking myself my whole life, 'Why is my own church, my own community, rejecting me because of my sexuality?'
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Imagine that you're a gay man, and you're spending all your time with people who believe you are possessed by the devil. Or, in the case of a lot of Ugandans, with people who believe you should be killed. Someone told me once that I'm worse than a dog, I'm the scum of the earth, so for me, it was draining.
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What is so attractive about Uganda for missionaries is that they have free rein. They can go anywhere they please - schools, hospitals, the parliament.
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Gay Africans must speak up and let everyone know they are there, they have always been there, and that they are not going away.
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I went to church every Sunday and sang in the choir. But for all that the church gave me - for all that it represented belonging, love and community - it also shut its doors to me as a gay person. That experience left me with the lifelong desire to explore the power of religion to transform lives or destroy them.
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The American evangelical movement in Africa does valuable work in helping the poor.
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It is important for American congregations to hold their churches accountable for what their money does in Africa.
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I'm a recovering journalist, I should say.
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