*As we previously reported, several theaters across the nation played up the threat of violence by increasing the presence of police at screenings of the N.W.A biopic “Straight Outta Compton.”
As if Black folks are the ones shooting up movie theaters. Civil rights activist and author Kevin Powell appeared on CNN Saturday where he blasted the Los Angeles Police Department and other agencies for profiling black films.
“You know what, there were shootings at the ‘Batman’ screenings, we know about what happened in Colorado,” Kevin noted. “There were shootings at the ‘Trainwreck’ screening. We cannot racially profile movies.”
“We don’t want to racially profile people, we shouldn’t racially profile films,” he insisted. “Yesterday, when I saw ‘Straight Outta Compton’ — black, white, Latino, Asian, multiple generations of people. They were all very peacefully seeing the film. So we’ve got to really think about what we’re saying when we make those kind of statements.”
Since the film’s nationwide release, there have been no reports of violence at screenings, riots or attacks on police – as police feared would happen – and pre-screenings occurred without incident as well.
Powell also echoed what many have asked since the film’s release, why no mention of N.W.A’s “misogynoir?”
“This is an opportunity to really examine, not just race in our country, but also violence against women and girls,” Kevin said. “Ice Cube, now in his forties, still refers to women by the B-word,” We’ve got to make progress. If we’re going to talk about racism in America, which this film talks about, we also have to be willing to talk about sexism, which is equally oppressive to half the population in this country and on this planet.”
Earlier this month, EBONY magazine Editor-in-Chief Kierna Mayo asked director F. Gary Gray why Dr. Dre’s history of violence against women wasn’t addressed in the film:
“We had to focus on the story that was pertinent to our main characters,” Gray answered in an audience Q&A session. (He didn’t mention Dre’s alleged abuse of his ex-wife, former Ruthless Records singer Michel’le). “The original editor’s cut was three hours and 30 minutes long, so we couldn’t get everything in the movie. We had to make sure we served the narrative; the narrative was about N.W.A. It wasn’t about side stories.”
Powell told CNN that he disagrees with Gary’s view that violence towards women is a “side” narrative.
“I actually disagree with the director, F. Gary Gray, when he said that these are stories that are side stories,” Powell said on CNN. “A woman’s life is not a side story. And we as men, if we’re serious — not just black men, but all men — if we’re serious about addressing any kind of inequities, we have to talk about the things that women deal with.”
Watch Kevin’s CNN appearance below:
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