West End Cinema in Washington, D.C. will be hosting screenings of The New Black February 12 to 18. They have also invited the director of the film, Yoruba Richen for an exclusive meet and greet. Richen will be available for discussions on February 12 at the 7 p.m. screening.
The New Black focuses on the role of African-Americans in legalizing gay marriage — especially in the wake of a successful Proposition 8 in California, which opposed marriage equality, leading many to brand African-Americans as hostile or indifferent to gay rights. Centering on the 2012 legal battle in Maryland (a state in which blacks make up nearly one-third of the electorate), the documentary film examines homophobia in the black church and reveals the Christian right wing’s strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda.
The filmmaker introduces us to Sharon Lettman-Hicks, the Executive Director of National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), and Pastor Derek McKoy, President of the Maryland Family Alliance and Maryland Family Council. Other characters include Rev. Delman Coates, Samantha Master, Karess Taylor-Hughes, and Anthony Charles William II.
Moira Sullivan from the San Francisco Examiner calls the documentary “an excellent, important and empowering film.”
For more information and screening schedule, visit https://ff.hrw.org/film/new-black?city=114.
