Marlon Riggs

From The AIDS Memorial Instagram page last Friday, to celebrate Mr. Riggs birthday:

Marlon Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a film maker and professor who died of AIDS in Oakland, California. He was 37 years old.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Marlon began making documentaries In 1982 after receiving his master’s from @Harvard. He is best remembered for the award winning ‘Ethnic Notions’, ‘Color Adjustment’ (which won a @peabodyawards) and ‘Tongues Untied’ that was lambasted for its “graphic content” and caused outrage because it was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In his final years, whilst struggling with HIV, Marlon produced his last film ‘Black Is Black Aint’, taught at @UCBerkeley, undertook public speaking engagements and continued to write. Hospitalised, he continued to direct and appeared on film from his bed.

Towards the end of the film, Marlon is seen looking up at the camera from his hospital bed and says: “As long as I have work then I’m not going to die, cause work is a living spirit in me — that which wants to connect with other people and pass on something to them which they can use in their own lives and grow from.” #whatisrememberedlives

On an earlier post for Marlon Riggs on the same IG page, there was a brief clip of an interview he gave. I loved his answer to a certain "talk show" host, who shall not be mentioned here, that seemed rather disgusted that the National Endowment for the Arts funded Marlon Riggs' film. Mr. Riggs responded by saying that those who believe "that this is misusing, abusing federal tax dollars, tax payers dollars, don't even imagine that we are a part of those Americans whose salaries are taxed to support the government. Well, this is my money, too. Please understand. This is my lover's money, this is the money of my community, and that, that pittance of money received for this work, and we're talking about a pittance, five thousand dollars, which if anybody knows and understands video doesn't go that far, we're talking about a pittance here. And their aim quite frankly is to silence me, and to silence the community, so that we don't speak, and we return to our closets where they're happy for us to exist. If they allow us to exist at all." Oh to be that brilliant and speak that eloquently at the drop of the hat. What a remarkable man.

(photo kidnapped from criterion)