Leah Gilliam, Sapphire and the Slave Girl, 1995, 18 mins. 20 secs, and: Tony Cokes, Black Celebration, 1988, 17 mins. 17 secs, and: Tony Cokes, 3#, 2001, 4 mins. 38 secs, and: Ephraim Asili, Forged Ways, 2010, 15 mins, and: Ephraim Asili, American Hunger, 2013, 19 mins

Leah Gilliam, Sapphire and the Slave Girl, 1995, 18 mins. 20 secs

tidal networks of black people cross            the roada Walgreens and pizzeria wefollow as they walk        time-markeddowntown area, early computersWelcome to Chicago.            It could be New York, Detroit, Cleveland—in each, sections where only black peoplelive like this. Sapphire, orthe many women who represent her,changes into a suit in an alleyway in a blond wig hides    from sight        from behind            a wall        from TV and radiothe black male, close up,    melted down, he is brushing his hair.

there are things that are facts because    nothingmakes sense otherwise    a part of you

will always remember the transgression, inevitable

    buildings, bold movements    at a table as man asks, is it safe?

"Have you ever received a call on your wrist?" She gets dressedin bathroom—since Sapphire came to London, she learnedto pass for white. The first Negro

of high-school age to enter a school after it was integrated, many whitesshouting epithets    she refuses to sayanything to the reporter (14:00) title:            open spaces—black woman            as white man says what's important            is for the space to feel closed

Tony Cokes, Black Celebration, 1988, 17 mins. 17 secs

        Universal Studios of riot    interspersed with whites holdingguns and carryingpeople away.    Troops Patrol L.A.: DamageHeavy in Coast Riots        the music     some kind of'80s metallends a sinister quality to them     rainbow glimmer

        around the figures (was there something happening in the '80s        the same stancein footage, footageshowing race     there's a pseudo-            feeling maybe a critique of        ofnarrative or historicism in general?

Tony Cokes, 3#, 2001, 4 mins. 38 secs

        leaves a race behind    takes on the music            pop    its relation to            capitalthe video     itself a manifesto,            whichthe other     could also do.             (There is no mass…

    The fact that         at the end

    form and content             in the way that directing

a film is preparatory         (one prepares toand the process is

tied to it         in creation and outcome

Ephraim Asili, Forged Ways, 2010, 15 mins

The sound from some other kind of space orcraft and foot     set in a downtown, US     shotsinto windows         where flowers and mannequins    with shots of             impoverished    behind, walking             downtown    moves between that and a Caribbean (?)nation. Ducks, pigeons.         I'm almost certainty            the other places the            flag is in the clip you took)            as we see from vehiclethe roadway and house and building alongside it    (I'm not certain but the title ofand the castle bring me to think of colonialism and/asthe environments in which     ways of life are forged)The sound of     moving through it, the sound ofphotos taken         finally arrives home where his white girlfriend         takes photos     the twoof them lounge     She puts up     cutouts,        religious sits, worship inthe other nation and constant roadwaysand cars     behind a chant     in another language—the other locationis this Ethiopia and you were right about Harlem)

Ephraim Asili, American Hunger, 2013, 19 mins

outside the viewer,black     outside a mention     of orishas and speechabout freeing         We've ourselves as being    definitively now (04:40)     but also are moving betweenan American street         images of women's and men's        as they look at thecamera, the festival         We also     again            a passenger'sThere's a feeling of voyeur     or tourism as the        document the lives ofblack     in those spaces—some laboring, others         it is a lifeor...