Black is ... Black Ain´t Signifyin´ Works

Black is ... Black Ain´t probes the paradox of contending, even self-cancelling definitions of blackness throughout African American history and prominently features the perspectives of those who have at times been silenced within the race because of color, class and regional background, sexuality, physical appearance, gender, even speech. Set in Mississippi, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, South Carolina, Texas, Oakland, New York and Washington, D.C., this semi-autobiographical experimental film blends interviews, media analysis, dance, cinema verite, biographical profiles, poetry performance and music into 90-minute exploration of the singular question: what has “blackness” meant to black Americans? Above all, what has this cost us, black and non-black Americans alike, this casual assumption of and endless searching for a “definitive” black identity?