Film studies begins

The Office of International Programs kicked off its International Film Studies in Dillard Auditorium in the Anderson Center with a documentary titled “Black Is, Black Ain’t.”The 86-minute documentary focused on the many shades of black culture. African-Americans are referred to in the film as “gumbo” because of the diversity of language, thought and even skin color among black people. Specifically, the film focused its lenses on inter-cultural racism and the relationships of black men and women. However, Dr. Olasope O. Oyelaran, WSSU’s director of International Programs, used the film as a jumping-off point for discussing a multitude of issues about race. Ebonics, for example, is characterized as lazy talk, said Oyelaran, who is a native of Nigeria and of Yoruba ethnicity. But he believes the opposite is true. Ebonics is a reflection of West African culture and a “tremendous” form of expression he would “do anything to master,” he said. In Oyelaran’s view, Ebonics is an essential part of the “gumbo” of African-American culture. To deny it is to deny who you are, he believes. Marlon Riggs, the film’s creator, produced several probing and groundbreaking films about the black American experience during his life, including Ethnic Notions, an Emmy-award winning documentary released in 1987 that dealt with stereotypes branded into the American psyche and Tongues Untied, which explored the black gay experience.