One of my favorite comedians, Jerrod Carmichael, claims he has a list of 15 reasons why Black people will never overcome. He revealed some of the reasons in his last comedy special, Love At The Store.
A few of those reasons were, “a nigga’s need to shine, Air Jordan release dates, and Tyler Perry’s typewriter. Another one of those reasons could easily be, Black people don’t support works of art that help advance the culture. Instead, we run out to support movies like Madea.” The last three Madea movies pulled in a combined $66 million during their opening weekends alone, according to Box Office Mojo.
That’s one of the reasons I’m so disappointed that Nate Parker‘s The Birth Of A Nation only made $7 million at the box office this week. I completely understand the controversy surrounding his past. Rape is a serious crime, but he was acquitted. If you still have doubts about how he handled things, fine. Feel however you like, but as he told me on my show Extra Butter, “400 plus people worked on this film. It ain’t the work of just one person.”
This movie is a major conversation starter to have a real discussion about race. In my opinion, as a father of two daughters, I’ve seen remorse in Nate’s eyes, and I heard it in his voice. Sure, I’ve never heard an apology from him, but I believe he feels he doesn’t have anything to apologize for.
I respect that, because Donald Trump apologized and now I have 40 percent of the nation telling me to forget that he said he sexually assaults women by kissing them without asking and grabbing them by the pussy.
The people who didn’t go support The Birth of A Nation because of Nate Parker’s past are the same ones who want an insincere apology from Nate, rather than the real remorse and regret he feels for putting a young woman (and himself) in that situation when he was just a young 19-year-old boy. A boy by Ryan Lochte standards, according to pussy grabbing cosigner Billy Bush.
So if you’ve hurt people, you can put your pain aside and go out and support The Birth Of A Nation this week; it would be a great conversation starter and an even better example of another type of American hero.
It’s Disappointing We Didn’t Support ‘Birth Of A Nation’ – Here’s Why was originally published on globalgrind.com