Episode 1: Birth of a Nation and the Power of Narratives

The Non Critic

Our full first episode is finally up! I would open a bottle of champagne but bubbles make me dizzy. This episode, we continued the conversation started on our launch event where we screened Birth of a Nation and argued and laughed about things like white guilt, consent, black narratives, directing style... you know, the light topics.
Birth of a Nation tells the true story of Nat Turner, an enslaved Baptist Preacher in Southampton, Virginia in the 19th century, one of the southern states of America that kept African slaves. The movie tells of his prophetic visions and sufferings that led him to use the same Bible that he used to convince the slaves of their subjugation to lead the largest slave revolt in American History. The Southampton County rebellion was one of the most gruesome and co-ordinated mass killings of the time, claiming the lives of over 60 men, women and children. Nate Parker brings this leader to life on the big screen.
We referred to a lot of pop culture news, actors, movies, celebrities and other things, because, you know, we are cultured and stuff. But if you got lost in any part of that episode, here are the links and videos for all of them:
Trevor Noah fly joke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNqfFafXGLA
Moonlight: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4975722/
Tyler Perry stereotypes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRfDgnapUAw
Samuel L. Jackson Black British comments: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/samuel-l-jackson-black-british-actors-african-americans-comments-get-out-daniel-kaluuya-response-a7628566.html
Get Out movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/
Half of a Yellow Sun movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2215077/
Half of a yellow sun book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Half-Yellow-Chimamanda-Ngozi-Adichie/dp/0007506074
Gods of Egypt: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/11/27/exclusive-lionsgate-responds-to-gods-of-egypt-whitewashing-controversy/#7e3b0164cd02
Hotep community: http://www.thevisibilityproject.com/2014/11/06/7-ways-to-identify-a-member-of-hotep-twitter/
The Mali Kingdom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_Empire
1915 Birth of a Nation cinematic techniques: http://www.sparknotes.com/film/birthofanation/section1.rhtml
Gandhi Racism: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/Was-Gandhi-a-racist/article16754773.ece
Nate Parker breakfast club interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hMDO-7NZuM
R Kelly and Chris Brown: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/r-kelly-sex-abuse-allegations_us_56797582e4b06fa6887eb270
Bill Cosby: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/08/opinions/jones-bill-cosby/index.html
Woody Allen allegations: http://gawker.com/what-you-should-know-about-the-abuse-allegations-agains-1500274468
Bill O'Reilly allegations: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/a-timeline-of-bill-oreillys-vileness-w477663