I Too, Sing America: (Re)Claiming Blackness Through Exploring the Experiences of Black Male Filmmakers

• In Event: Because We See Us: (Re)Claiming, (Re)Centering, and (Re)Affirming Blackness in Education

Abstract

Objectives
Black males' dehumanizing, and “socially dead” (Dumas, 2016; Dumas and ross, 2016) representation within film and media are rooted in anti-Black logics (Carter-Andrews & Cosby, 2021) and manifested through dominant imaginings and narratives. The cinematic (mis)representation of Black Males, combined with their limited access or control in shaping their own narratives, serves as an informal education of Black Males’ identities and experiences for Black and non-Black audiences, and it deeply informs the deficit perceptions about and dehumanizing social (re)positioning of Black Male Scholars, Educators, and Leaders within educational institutions. Situated within this context, this paper explores how (re)centering the experiences of Black Filmmakers (Bush & Bush, 2013; Berry, 2019) could serve as an alternative approach to (re)humanizing Blackness in Education.

Theoretical Framework
Knowing how African American Male representation influences Black Male identities within and outside of the context of the United States, I blend Bush and Bush’s (2013) African American Male Theory (AAMT), BlackCrit (Dumas & ross, 2016), and Intersectionality (Collins, 2020; Crenshaw, 1989) to understand and examine the multifaceted, non-monolithic experiences of Black Male Filmmaker creatives (Green, 2018) across the Black and African Diaspora.

Methods and Data
Methodologically, I apply ethnography and critical race methodology (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) to collect data through oral histories, and to explore Black male film creators' lives with their perspectives and lived experiences as they describe them. Relying on five central tenets: Lived Experience, Global Identity, Representation, Emotion, and Race to categorize emergent themes, I analyze data collected from interviews and surveys of ten Black Male Filmmakers who hold various roles such as writers, directors, actors, and producers.

Findings and Significance
Findings from this study illuminate how schools and institutions of higher learning would benefit from understanding the ways in which the lack of positive Black Male cinematic and media representation affects the sense of belonging (hooks, 2009) Black Males feel within their institutional contexts. This is most noted by participants' stories in which their discrimination, lack of power, and lack of representation as Black Male Filmmakers, mirrored similar experiences of exclusion (Warren et. al, 2022) within their K-16 schooling and educational institutions. Building on the connections between schooling and media representations of Black Males, the findings also point to the need for critical media literacy education specifically to address issues of race, ethnicity, diversity, and inclusion in general, and how anti-Black logics (Carter-Andrews & Cosby, 2021) are embedded within the imaginations of those creating media in particular. Therefore, increasing Black Male Filmmaker representation begins with understanding how schools serve to socialize and uphold social contracts within a society, which means that Black Male’s schooling and educational experiences and their representations in media are inextricably connected. Given that media functioning as its own institution, and knowing how media representations of Black Males impacts the perception, language, and actions directed towards Black Males within educational institutions, (re)centering the authentic, lived experiences of Black Male Filmmakers could be a viable path to (re)create pro-Black images and (re)creating pro-Black narratives.

Author

• Charles Opong, Loyola Marymount University