Essex Hemphill
Actor · 1967 – 1995 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Essex Hemphill was an openly gay American poet and activist. He is known for his contributions to the Washington, D.C. art scene in the 1980s, and for openly discussing the topics pertinent to the African-American gay community.
Movies4
Movie6.7DocumentaryMarlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.
Tongues Untied
1990 · 63 votes
Movie5.8DocumentaryAfrican-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.
Black Is… Black Ain’t
1995 · 13 votes
Movie4.5MusicA collage of erotic images and a call to arms, with a feverish hip-hop energy that celebrates the lives of African American men.
Anthem
1993 · 14 votes
Movie5.6DocumentaryA look at what it's like to be gay and black in America.
Affirmations
1990 · 12 votes