A Holiday Reflection: Unapologetic on PBS POV
A note from director Ashley O’Shay and producer Morgan Elise Johnson
When our team came up with the idea to acknowledge Kwanzaa, with Unapologetic falling on the second day of the holiday, I thought it was a cute idea. To be honest, I’ve never celebrated Kwanzaa. An elder once told me that Kwanzaa has deep roots in Chicago. Curious, I did some internet searching and found that the Karamu Feast, which takes place on the 6th day of Kwanzaa, was developed in Chicago in 1973. The feast was used as a community-wide educational campaign to promote Kwanzaa and help it gain popularity. It doesn’t surprise me that Chicago was at the center of grassroots efforts to spread awareness of a holiday created to celebrate Blackness, our African heritage, creativity, faith and community.
But like most things birthed in America, Kwanzaa, which was first celebrated in the middle of a civil rights movement, has a troubling past. It was created in California by a Black militant organization called the Us Organization that erected after the assassination of Malcolm X and the Watts uprisings. It is documented that the group engaged in a conflict with the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, fueled by FBI’s COINTELPRO, and horrifically carried out the murders of two BPP leaders, Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins. That’s not all. The leader of the Us Organization, Maulana Karenga, brutally sexually assaulted women. Sadly, Black women can’t seem to find peace, safety, or liberation within our religions, liberation organizations, or cultural traditions.
So, how can we as a community move forward with acknowledging a pro-Black holiday and message promoted by a man that caused harm?
I think we remember that no one leader can embody a movement.
I’ve long moved past the idea of the charismatic Black male leader being our key to salvation. That’s one of the reasons why I appreciate the Movement for Black Lives for asking us to interrogate that model and evolve our perspective on what leadership looks like.
This Movement has intentionally made room for women to be at the helm, women like Janaé and Bella, who truly embody the principles of Kwanzaa, principles such as Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work) and Nia (Purpose). Though we see Unapologetic through their eyes, the film portrays Janaé and Bella as part of a community of leaders. They are never meant to take on the savior trope or be the bearers of all. And I think there is power in that.
I wish that movement work wasn’t so complicated and I could write a cute blog post about Kwanzaa without misogyny and abuse spoiling it all. I wish our ancestors left us a roadmap to freedom with no ditches, casualties or dead ends. But I’m constantly reminded that we’ve been tasked to work towards our liberation while working through our traumas. And those traumas show up everywhere.
So, do I think celebrating Kwanzaa can be a liberating practice? Yes.
The Movement for Black Lives has truly stretched my imagination on restorative justice, and learning from the failures of past movements helps to prevent us from repeating them. I believe that we do ourselves a disservice when we tie liberation movements to the identities of a few charismatic leaders. What a victory it would be for our oppressors if we were to tear down every liberatory practice we’ve built every time our leaders fail us.
We have to look at the totality of the movement, its principles and impact, holding onto the nourishing ideals that our elders dreamed but failed to uphold. We can pick up the mantle and continue striving with collective strength and Kujichagulia.
-Morgan Elise Johnson
When I first brought out a camera to film a Fight for 15 action at 35th & Michigan near Chicago Police Headquarters, I was blossoming into my creative voice. I had never been around so much activity in Chicago proper, having gone to school in a north suburb of the city. Despite the heavy police presence surrounding us, young Black people spoke frankly about the conditions of our people in both this city and the rest of the world. In the few hours I spent pounding the pavement with them, I learned more about the history of Black social movement than I had in any classroom the past 22 years. Organizer after organizer educated the group on the overlap between the modern-day labor movement and the safety of Black women and girls across the country. The energy and respect in the space felt palpable, and I couldn’t help but feel I was a part of it, too. More than that, I couldn’t help but feel a responsibility to witness this moment from the perspective in which I was seeing it.
On this second day of Kwanzaa, Unapologetic makes its U.S. broadcast premiere on PBS POV. Kujichagulia: to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, & speak for ourselves. This principle feels fitting, given the agency with which this film was created and the community in which it happened. Beginning this process, I never imagined we would have to convince so many stakeholders that Black women and femmes mattered. I never imagined it would take 4.5 years to complete, with many of those years working on our own dime or for little to no pay. I never imagined the problematic community dynamics we’d encounter along the way, facing a new one even as we honor this historical Black holiday. Despite all of this, I discovered a fearlessness and boldness that I could only credit to the community surrounding me. Every time I entered a space as a director, producer, DP, or otherwise, I simply mirrored the energy being offered to me. Janaé and Bella held me up in those difficult starter years, as I struggled to trust my vision as a young Black female creative, with no major studio backing.
As Black people, we often learn agency in life later than we should, leaving those in power to determine the narrative and shape popular media perceptions (yes, we’re talking to you, distributors). Unapologetic exists in direct contrast to this, made by young Black people, owned by young Black people, released by young Black people. It exists in the same tradition that led Fannie Lou Hamer to co-found the Mississippi Democratic Freedom Party and Ida B. Wells to investigate and write about the lynching of Black people. Reclaiming that power is undoubtedly difficult to do, especially in your 20’s living in a city like Chicago.
Unapologetic, however, is here to encourage the next young Black person to do it.
Find your tribe, trust your vision, and faithfully forge ahead. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look like the person to your left or right, or if you stumble along the way. We need you. We need more, for us by us. We must continue to claim the inalienable right to our own stories.
Unapologetic is but one step in this long tradition. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this historic moment, as we continue to define ourselves, name ourselves, and create for ourselves in this broad media landscape.
-Ashley O’Shay
Unapologetic premieres on PBS POV on 12/27 at 9pm local time. You can also watch via pov.org or the PBS VIdeo App (Mac App or Google Play)
