{"id":176470690,"date":"2017-01-05T02:55:55","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T08:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/?p=176470690"},"modified":"2017-01-05T02:55:55","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T08:55:55","slug":"video-sam-greenlee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/2017\/01\/05\/video-sam-greenlee\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Sam Greenlee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_176470691\" style=\"width: 468px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shadow-and-act.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-176470691\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176470691\" src=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shadow-and-act.jpg\" alt=\"JANUARY 3, 2017\" width=\"458\" height=\"83\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shadow-and-act.jpg 458w, https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/shadow-and-act-300x54.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-176470691\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">JANUARY 3, 2017<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">WATCH 45-MINUTE <\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">A-TO-Z <\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">SAM GREENLEE<\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\"> INTERVIEW\u00a0ON<\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">\u2018THE SPOOK WHO<\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\"> SAT BY THE DOOR\u2019 <\/span><\/h1>\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\"><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">+ MORE<\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"entry-meta\"><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"clearfix entry-content\">\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main \">\n<div class=\"mashsb-box\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_176470692\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/sam-greenlee-01.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-176470692\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-176470692\" src=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/sam-greenlee-01.jpg\" alt=\"Sam Greenlee \" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/sam-greenlee-01.jpg 720w, https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/sam-greenlee-01-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-176470692\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>Sam Greenlee<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The late\u00a0Sam Greenlee\u00a0(author of \u201cThe Spook Who Sat By The Door\u201d), who died in\u00a0May 2014, was never one to mince words, especially when it came to dishing on the state of what we call \u201cblack cinema,\u201d and the film industry overall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The author and activist was a fearless\u00a0political firebrand, and elder statesman at 83 years old, at the time of his death at his home in Chicago. And his words still resonate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">I\u2019d say\u00a0Melvin Van Peebles\u2019\u00a0\u201cSweet Sweetback\u2019s Baadasssss Song\u201d\u00a0is often the cinematic reference point for radical, subversive black cinema during one of the more contentious periods in American history. But I think the seemingly under-seen 1973 adaptation of \u201cThe Spook Who Sat By The Door\u201d\u00a0(which was\u00a0selected for inclusion in the\u00a0National Film Registry of the Library of Congress\u00a0in 2012), directed by\u00a0Ivan Dixon, was potentially even more lethal in its crafting and message, and really had the ability to inspire a revolution at a time when black people in this country were maybe most susceptible, as well as capable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">And I\u2019m not sure if the story of the making of the film (specifically, how it was funded) is one that\u2019s widely-known, and which I think is important to note. In short, the film was financed mostly with funds raised from individual black investors (almost the equivalent of\u00a0Spike Lee\u00a0taking to\u00a0Kickstarter\u00a0in 2013 to raise funds for his \u201cDa Sweet Blood of Jesus,\u201d soliciting the financial support of the \u201chaves\u201d within the black community, with the financial means, like\u00a0NBA\u00a0athletes, etc, as well as even folks like you and I). It\u2019s an idea that was itself revolutionary (and I\u2019ll say still is) when Dixon and Greenlee did it 40+ years ago, and one that I\u2019d like to see repeated more often, especially today, where black cinema is concerned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The film was suppressed for about 30 years for obvious reasons, until its release on DVD in 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">So not only was the content of the film revolution-inspiring, the production\u00a0and distribution of the film were also quite revolutionary efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Christine Acham\u2019s\u00a0recent documentary (covered quite extensively on this blog), \u201cInfiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who sat by the Door,\u201d documents the film\u2019s production and distribution trials and triumphs. You\u2019re encouraged to pick up a copy of it on DVD today, via the a website the filmmakers previously set up\u00a0<a title=\"Link: http:\/\/66.147.244.220\/~infiltr3\/purchase-the-film\/\" href=\"http:\/\/66.147.244.220\/~infiltr3\/purchase-the-film\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">And if you still haven\u2019t seen \u201c<em>The Spook Who Sat By The Door<\/em>,\u201d you must rent or buy it ASAP (I challenge any filmmakers reading this to make that film today, but obviously updated to reflect contemporary times).\u00a0And then purchase Acham\u2019s feature documentary on its making for further context.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For a sample, watch the below 4-part interview with Greenlee that I stumbled upon over the weekend. It\u2019s about 45 minutes in total length, and in it, he shares details on the film\u2019s journey from writing to financing, filming, distribution and exhibition. And he doesn\u2019t hold back on how he feels\/felt about certain intrusions into their process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">He also shares his thoughts on black cinema in the 21st century, and talks about obvious black creatives like Tyler Perry, John Singleton and others. Even Jesse Jackson isn\u2019t exempt from his commentary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">It\u2019s a useful conversation that took place in 2013, about a year before his death, courtesy of the Chicago-based \u201cProject Brotherhood Power Hour\u201d radio interview series.\u00a0It all fits nicely into the myriad of conversations we\u2019ve had on S&amp;A, and continue to have, everyday, every week, every month about (broadly-speaking) the progress that black people have made in a\u00a0film industry that\u2019s a century old.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The people conducting the interview could\u2019ve done a better job, but listening to Greenlee speak is always worth it. We could use more filmmakers with his revolutionary spirit today:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9-q_1R9FZc8\" width=\"699\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kiOkjvUJYBw\" width=\"699\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JmKKsLdfIVc\" width=\"699\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V8k2aFKpXy0\" width=\"699\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&gt;via:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/shadowandact.com\/2017\/01\/03\/watch-45-minute-a-to-z-sam-greenlee-interview-on-the-spook-who-sat-by-the-door-more\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/shadowandact.com\/2017\/01\/03\/watch-45-minute-a-to-z-sam-greenlee-interview-on-the-spook-who-sat-by-the-door-more\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; WATCH 45-MINUTE A-TO-Z SAM GREENLEE INTERVIEW\u00a0ON \u2018THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR\u2019 + MORE The late\u00a0Sam Greenlee\u00a0(author of \u201cThe Spook Who Sat By The Door\u201d), who died in\u00a0May 2014, was never one to mince words, especially when it came to dishing on the state of what we call \u201cblack [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[4,12,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176470690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176470690"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176470690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176470694,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176470690\/revisions\/176470694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176470690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176470690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176470690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}