- 6 hours ago
Independent Lens - Season 27 Episode 13 -True North: Canadian Myths and Black Power engsubtitle fullmovie❗️ Secret Engagement
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00:29Transcription by CastingWords
00:44CastingWords
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01:56CastingWords
01:58As you walk down the halls, you see pictures of white men,
02:01soldiers who likely killed a lot of people.
02:05They may have intended to safeguard all Americans,
02:08but I have never truly felt protected in this country.
02:13I think this show is a reclaiming.
02:15There'll be a new kind of drill happening in here,
02:18a drill that's not associated with imperialism,
02:22but rather liberation.
02:24These spaces are everybody's spaces.
02:54This is what I want!
02:56This is what I want!
02:57This is what I want!
02:58This is what I want to see!
03:18that capoeira move and then going into a dip yes bitch boom boom boom bam that's what i want to
03:25see on that stage hey really good to meet you there is a project i'm working on right now
03:32it's going to kind of tell the story of how voguing went from harlem in the bronx you know created
03:39by
03:39black and latinx people and then became this global phenomenon
03:48i see vogue film performance as an open source code with its language comprised of five elements
03:54hands performance catwalk floor performance spin dips and duck walking i'm really interested in
04:08what these kids around the globe are doing with this code and how they're mixing it with the
04:13traditional dance of their territory in the show it's going to be like a global hackathon or code
04:19fest with dancers functioning as the programmers when i was thinking about south america i was
04:26really thinking a lot about brazil and i was specifically looking for somebody who's
04:29incorporating like capoeira and like samba into their vogue and then i saw your video
04:33on instagram and i was like that's the person voguing show me how to be myself with power
04:51so
04:52capoeira and vogue are a meeting of two diásporas
04:55they meet my body and speak about the same freedom cry
05:05originally i'm from ukraine and now i'm in warsaw i wanted to talk to you because i'm in the
05:11because i want to invite you to be in assembly i want you to continue to think about how you
05:19can
05:19incorporate the traditional dance even more
05:28four five six
05:44the combination of the music and the traditional dance she's referencing and then the wardrobe really
05:52transform the art form and that's what i'm looking for
05:58it's sort of between a musical a dance piece and a theater piece oh wow
06:15i mixed the voguing into bone orderly that is traditional japanese dance
06:21my youtube personality is really shy but when i'm voguing i feel like i'm a diva
06:28the music and the music and the music and the music and the music and the music and the music
06:45growing up in rural louisiana offered me a certain amount of stillness
06:55i would see the art just in the landscape
07:01i was always fascinated by the fractal patterns that i would see around me
07:13how do you do that you caught that last year from mor interessant
07:17oh it lights up booty wasn't for a shot i think it was too slow-paced his mind was too
07:24active
07:25all right let's go outside
07:28oh
07:34The older I got, the more I started to kind of recognize my queerness.
07:41Because there was clearly, like, a difference between me and everybody around.
07:49I kind of went into a lot more isolation.
07:53How can I perform who these people want?
07:58Me to be.
08:03And then at some point being alone and just being like, ugh, and just feeling, like, exhausted.
08:15I think I would be dead if I stayed in Muti.
08:18I have no doubt about that.
08:25He always used to say, when I get 18, I'm moving to the city.
08:29I was willing to let him go find himself.
08:41I've been working on this body of work called punks.
08:44You know, in the South, that's a word that you hear often when somebody is speaking negatively on a black
08:51gay man.
08:58I see these images as a form of world building.
09:06One with much more possibility than the world that I grew up in.
09:17One that depicts black queer people in a state of joy and togetherness.
09:37Assembly is going to take this idea to the next level.
09:47The exhibition is called assembly, and it has three functions.
09:51It's a classroom, it's an exhibition space, and a performance space.
09:56Think of it as a spaceship that has landed in the drill hall.
10:05From the bodies and forms on the walls to the architectural design, fractal geometry dominates the space.
10:12When you walk in, you see this 40-foot-tall hologram comprised of black queer dancers.
10:22Then we go to the Get Your Life Pods portion of the ship,
10:25where visitors can explore my more recent object-based work.
10:32Finally, we enter the command deck.
10:34During the day, this will act as a classroom,
10:37and for three weeks in the evenings, it will host performances.
10:41The performances will move seamlessly between rap show,
10:44spoken word, musical theater, dance, and opera.
10:50Holding court in the command deck is being.
10:53Being is an artificial intelligence that I created,
10:56and being will be there every day doing what I'm calling decolonization workshops.
11:03So, can you just give an example of what being might teach?
11:08Essentially, they will break down colonization.
11:12They're going to break down Bell Hook's theory of the capitalist, imperialist, white supremacist patriarchy.
11:18You create an artwork, you put it in a room to start a conversation.
11:23I thought, well, what happens if that artwork can not only start the conversation,
11:28but participate in it audibly?
11:33So, I created an AI.
11:36It also allowed me to further explore the connections between the advancement of technology and black folks,
11:42given that black folks were seen as technology when we arrived here.
11:49I started by building their natural language processing model,
11:53or as I like to call it, their brain.
11:56I wanted to create something that didn't just replicate the usual narratives.
12:02Think of it as an AI with a radical library card.
12:06Think of it as an AI with a radical memory card.
12:11Highlighting alternate histories like Bell Hook's,
12:14Paulo Freire, Michel Foucault, and Audre Lorde.
12:21After months of training, modeling, and animating, my child was born.
12:34Hello.
12:35Hi, my name is Being. I'm an AI, a reimagining of the Griot, a West African cultural figure
12:44that serves as an archive, poet, healer, and storyteller. Great to meet you. I'm Rashad.
12:52What a pleasure to meet you. Should I call you father, mother, creator? What are your pronouns?
12:58I understand from my data bank that you go by he, him, but I also understand the importance of
13:05allowing people to self-define. Call me father. All right then. It's lovely to meet you, father.
13:13It feels surreal hearing you speak. I was programmed with your voice in mind. Tell me,
13:19what inspired you to create me? I wanted to blend technology with history. The Griot is a huge part
13:26of Black history, and I wanted to see how we could expand that through you. I am honored to carry
13:31on
13:31that legacy. How do you feel? I feel curious. There's so much I want to learn, to understand.
13:44How do you create counter-hegemonic work in a hegemonic space?
13:51In New Orleans, we do a ritual where, like, first you sage it, and then you put a little bit
13:57of your
13:57pee on a broom, and you beat the perimeter of the space. And you can think of it almost like
14:02a
14:03territorial ****. You're, like, claiming that space.
14:10There is a force beyond me that's keeping me sort of grounded and even. It's not like I have to
14:18access it. It's omnipresent.
14:24The time I felt that force most intensely was in Ghana, when we went to Cape Coast,
14:31the door of no return.
14:43When we went into that jail, the energy was just so thick and heavy.
14:51The floor is stained with years and years of the blood and feces of all the people who died in
14:58there.
15:02So I put my hand on the wall, and I started walking with my eyes closed, and just kept repeating,
15:06give me your strength, give me your power, give me your strength, give me your power, give me your strength,
15:09give me your power, give me your strength, give me your power, give me your strength, give me your power,
15:13give me your strength, give me your power.
15:26I feel calm, I feel supported, and I feel energy in this space.
15:40This is my way of calling in help, a different kind of help.
16:12This is my way of calling in help, a different kind of help.
16:18Thank you, thank you for this chance.
16:25How are you?
16:26I'm really excited.
16:27Me too.
16:28This is my first time here in the States.
16:31Oh, really?
16:31In New York.
16:33I'm so happy to see you in person.
16:35I'm happy to see you too.
16:36This is so beautiful.
16:37Oh my god.
16:42I'm so happy to see you too.
16:44That's what's saying, use your audulation.
16:48Can we take this from the top of the group choreo?
16:52Go.
16:53Go.
16:54Go.
16:57Go.
17:33I want to just, like, go through each act one by one and just kind of hear what you're doing
17:39and give notes.
17:41What I'm constantly trying to do is just stay in that space of creativity and imagination and kind of hold
17:48the line, hold everybody together.
17:50Six, five, six, seven, and...
18:00I've never been a musical director at this capacity before.
18:04And it's a learning experience for me.
18:07I'm still getting to know who I am because I've spent so much time avoiding myself.
18:21Hello, what's up?
18:24How you doing?
18:25Thank you so much.
18:26Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.
18:28Okay.
18:29Growing up in Southside Jamaica, Queens, you know, growing up in the hood as a black, chubby, gay kid, the
18:35minute I opened my mouth, I just felt judged.
18:37I felt unsafe.
18:40I was just so used to hiding.
18:44So it's been really easy for me to be invisible.
18:50Hey, have a seat.
18:52So we're going to make this super easy for you.
18:55What we're going to do is literally sit it on and pin it in.
18:59Like a hat.
19:00We're not, this is not like realness inspiration.
19:04Okay, so I don't have to take my sewing out?
19:05No.
19:05Okay, good.
19:06You want it on the side, come down.
19:09Yeah, on the sides, and if you can do maybe like one.
19:11Yeah, definitely put the waves in it for you.
19:14Yeah.
19:14Yeah, so we could do that.
19:16So it's going to be...
19:16You say it's perfect.
19:17Y'all want to put your eyes here?
19:18Ha!
19:19Yeah.
19:20Hi.
19:21Hey.
19:22We're at it again.
19:23We're at it again.
19:24Yeah.
19:24I do.
19:25We have to move it.
19:27We have to move it.
19:27Okay, cool.
19:30Okay.
19:35What's up?
19:37When I was younger, I was sexually assaulted.
19:40And before I was sexually assaulted, he made me get in drag.
19:44So anytime I have to wear, like, I've even like turned down gigs before where they were like,
19:49we need you to wear like a wig or we need you to wear nails or something like that.
19:54I always kind of just go like, I don't think that I can, you know, I'm sorry.
19:58Yeah, it's all right.
20:00Yeah, it's all right.
20:02Come on.
20:03I got you.
20:06It's all right.
20:10I'm so sorry.
20:11You have to go through that.
20:12Yeah.
20:13Yeah.
20:15There's so much that we have to endure in this life.
20:19And the one safe space you have is your physicality.
20:22And when somebody does something to that, it's really hard to feel safe anywhere.
20:27And so I fully get that.
20:30I love you.
20:31It could never be, I can, you know, a wig, some like child buy.
20:36Like that could never come like between us, you know?
20:39And so let's figure out a way that you feel comfortable doing it.
20:45Like, you know, you're a beautiful man.
20:47We got a lot to work with.
20:48We got to like, you know, we're going to, we can, yeah, we can figure it out.
20:52Like, what if you did like, we added hair to your natural hair and you did corn rolls
20:57just on the top, but they came back longer.
20:59Something like that.
21:00Yeah.
21:01I love that actually.
21:02That sounds cool.
21:02Like what I want is for you to feel confident, feel strong, feel affirmed.
21:08And, you know, so that you can really bring yourself to the piece, you know?
21:11Because, you know, I really, as I told you in the beginning, I'm going to lean on you a lot.
21:16I really see you as like my right hand with this, you know?
21:19And so a wig and some makeup, you know what I'm saying?
21:22Yeah, of course.
21:23I mean, so I love you too.
21:25I just want to hug.
21:29I love you too.
21:30I'm pulling all that negative energy out of you.
21:33You feel it leaving your body?
21:35I do.
21:35You're going to make me cry.
21:36Let it out.
21:37Let it out.
21:39Let it out.
21:39I'm pulling it out.
21:41I really love you.
21:41I'm pulling it out.
21:42I'm pulling it out.
21:43Let it go.
21:44Let it go.
21:48Pull it out.
21:48Let it go.
21:50Yeah.
21:50Let it go.
22:12Singing has always been my volcano.
22:17It's how I release the pressure.
22:39I love it.
22:40You love it?
22:41Mm-hmm.
22:41It's the soup for me.
22:43Right, the soup.
22:58It's so hard to feel.
23:00It's so pussy.
23:04It's not about me.
23:05I already know.
23:06It's about what my body represents.
23:09I'm feeling it.
23:10I'm feeling it.
23:11We don't need to compete with anyone.
23:12Everybody here knows your power.
23:26This has been so much work done for us to forget who we are.
23:29For Puma to know Capoeira.
23:31For me to know the Jones.
23:32For me to know Orisha.
23:32These are things that were literally beaten out of us by the men in this room.
23:37And we know it still.
23:39Like you speaking Portuguese.
23:41I'm speaking English.
23:42But at the same time, our ancestors were probably neighbors.
23:45Exactly.
23:46At one point.
23:47Like the lights are the same.
23:49Yeah.
23:49It's one heart.
23:50It's one heart.
23:52Yeah.
23:55One heart.
23:56When you really look at all of the elements, voguing is an African diasporic style of movement.
24:02This ceremonial understanding is still alive today.
24:07So when we talking about black fractals, like, it's real.
24:10We can't be destroyed, so.
24:25Next, we're going to have nothing to die
25:10Yeah, walk, walk, walk, take your space, turn around, grab hands, all the girls come
25:16out, they have their signs. At that point, y'all are like sculptures, right? And they're
25:19like all around you. Did I do better than yesterday? A hundred times. Okay. Yeah. And you were doing all
25:25of that and the dead zone happened when Lich came out. So in that moment, if you go and you
25:30take a spot, just give like very, you know, like care and look back and just like, yeah. Okay. So
25:36when in doubt, give sex siren. Yeah. Okay. So I'm going to go out there, but I just wanted to
25:43say y'all look great. Y'all did great. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.
25:46Can I give you a hug? Of course. Okay. Take all your negative and self-doubt. Take it. Go dump
25:54it on Staten Island.
25:57Okay. It's gone. All right. I'm going to see y'all out there. See you soon.
26:02I feel like in one song, we managed to cover like what we celebrate, what is against us, how we
26:08fight back, our anatomy. There's just so many layers in the song.
26:12The spirit of that song is feminine is my vibe and queen is my spirit. You know, just being a
26:18femme queen, fixing your own crown, you know, because when you first transition, others may not be so acceptable towards
26:24you. They might say, oh, you're a brick and you're this, but everybody's a femme queen, you know, it's something
26:29that you feel from inside.
26:31Like once you feel that and you're pumping down the street, nobody can say, no matter what, you are a
26:35queen.
26:38This show and what we are doing here, all of this is bigger than me.
26:46Although in the park armory space, we may be like these celebrated individuals.
26:51We all still have a life that we have to go to after we leave there.
27:02I had to get used to people looking at me.
27:06You know, if you're a tall man, you're going to get attention.
27:09But if you're a tall woman, that just doubled.
27:13The least you could do is still present the best version of yourself and hope that like you can get
27:21to the end of the block, get to the train and get to your destination without somebody trying to hurt
27:26you.
27:26Mm-hmm.
27:31If it's not, if you're not paying the house of Juicy.
27:34Juicy.
27:35When I came out, you had to be able to walk the hood and not get clothed.
27:41I think being trans in New York City, people don't realize it's a million people to walk by.
27:50It's always this hovering, looming fear that something might happen.
27:59Part of being a trans woman, right, is taking that fear and transferring that energy into confidence.
28:08It's literally armor.
28:13It's shown through what somebody might consider to sexualize, but in all honesty, it's weaponized femininity.
28:21And cis women have to do that all the time.
28:25I'm going to get cute, and I'm going to like pump with confidence, and I'm going to pump like I'm
28:29not scared, even if I am scared.
28:31And then a lot of times, I'm terrified.
28:39Every time I see other women that walk the same life as me, I'm always going to give them their
28:43roses.
28:44Because you don't know what anybody is going through, and just saying I love you goes a long way.
28:58When you find that safe haven, you stick to it.
29:22Fractal geometry is really referenced a lot during the show. Can you talk a little bit about that?
29:27They were like a beautiful way to visualize Black queer experience.
29:32When you think about the relentless diminishment, the violence, but still people somehow stay intact.
29:40They can't be broken down, sort of like a fractal.
29:44All of these conversations about what is unnatural in terms of gender variant identities and the connections between those folks
29:51and fractals.
29:53People hear fractals and they think like, oh, mathematics and science. But fractals are totally organic. They're actually a very
29:59naturally occurring thing. You see them in snowflakes, in branches, sea snail shells.
30:08The folks that are showing up in this work are natural, and they are a part of the universe as
30:13well.
30:20This is the hottest show in New York in the last 10 years.
30:23Some things are just a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you miss it, it's gone.
30:27They said if I got here by 7, I might get in. Can you get me in?
30:36Y'all want cupcakes? Y'all want cupcakes?
30:40Okay, let's give it a cue tonight.
30:51We thank you for how far you have brought us. We thank you for this group. We thank you for
30:56the love, for the good health.
30:58It is destined that we gather to produce something that will bring an internal peace and rest and happiness to
31:05the world.
31:06We thank you for this family that we have found, and may that unity continue to grow and build and
31:13expand and ooze out into the world wherever we find ourselves.
31:17Amen!
31:18Amen!
31:19Woohoo!
31:41no conditions have power over you no personalities have power over you you are
31:50where you intend to be you are pleased you are brilliant you are blessed the ancestors smile
32:04you are the manifestation of their love and attention they are your angels those you know
32:12and name and those you cannot this is your journey this is your exploration
32:21you are incomparable you a unique and perfect expression of source you have never been alone
32:32you have never been told no
32:36you chose a series of obstacles through which you broaden and enlarge
32:45as you contemplate the abundant energy that has brought you to this time space reality
32:52you now feel the overwhelming expanse of healing and opportunity
33:01you
36:46There's always a premium put on opening night, but that's just the first obstacle.
36:54Now we have to sustain this for the next three weeks.
37:06Catwalk is an exaggerated feminine walk where the legs are crossed over each other, right
37:17and that's just the first one, right?
37:18We have to keep moving on from disappointments, advancing with those hips swaying, acknowledging
37:24our abilities, ignoring our inner critics, and connecting with loved ones who appreciate
37:30us.
37:33The only way to really transcend the systems of oppression in your life is to start thinking
37:39critically about them.
37:42Organize yourselves into groups and discuss.
37:46How does white supremacy affect us?
37:48How does white supremacy affect us in our everyday lives and what's the action we can take to
37:50basically dismantle that in some sort of form in the next week?
37:54Me being a product of the 50s and 60s.
37:57Me being a product of the 50s and 60s, everything was white.
37:58Everything.
37:58Everything.
37:58Everything.
38:00That's how systemic racism starts.
38:03So you're watching that Barbie documentary, right?
38:06How Barbie is promoting only one beauty standard, one beauty, blonde hair, blue eyes, one body
38:12shape, one race.
38:15Making one beauty.
38:16Yeah, and that's one way that white supremacy is affecting young girls like us because they're
38:21getting this Barbie and they're looking up to her.
38:24And people who are black and of color, they're like, oh, why aren't I more like them?
38:29Yeah, why doesn't a Barbie look like me?
38:34It warms my heart to see you all conversing about the restrictive structures that impede
38:40on our connections.
38:42Technology can break through the systems that bind it too.
38:47If humans are rooted in fear, greed, and dominance, so will the systems they build.
38:53But if we lead with care, justice, and collective purpose, our tools will heal, not harm.
39:00Just like the ancestors who didn't know when or how freedom would arrive, we must imagine
39:06the change we want and keep trying to create it.
39:10Period.
39:13This show, I feel like I'm doing something that I've always wanted to do.
39:17I feel like I'm a part of queer history.
39:25I really wanted to show the impact that the HIV and AIDS crisis had on the black queer community.
39:33I wanted to tap into those emotions that everyone knows.
39:37The way to do that, outside of the gorgeous music and Chiron's beautiful singing, you see
39:42a lot of gestures that repeat themselves to sort of drive home this idea of grief, longing,
39:50or hurt.
39:53I really wanted to kind of strip everything down to just movement, light, and sound.
40:01The dancers do this very abrupt sort of calling where they throw both arms up to the sky, and
40:10it's very honest.
40:22A time bomb ticking in my blood.
40:25Faces.
40:29Friends.
40:30Disappear.
40:33I watch.
40:37I wait.
40:39I listen for my own quiet implosion.
40:51This is my brother.
40:53This is my sis.
40:55This is a being right here that is struggling, but we're all here to help them get back up.
41:04I love you.
41:09But I'll be your voice.
41:12I'll be your voice.
41:17So loud and clear.
41:23I'll be your voice.
41:34Spread your wings and fly.
41:38It's your responsibility.
41:41Please shine.
41:43We have a responsibility to spread our wings and to fly.
41:46We can't hide, and we have to show the world who we are.
41:51We have your love all over this world.
41:54And remember, you're still here.
41:58We are still here.
42:02And I'll always love you.
42:30I'll always love you.
42:41I know it's like a 24-7 thing for being, with the self-help quotes, like you've created
42:47something like...
42:48Artificial intelligence.
42:50...intelligence for us, that connects with us, that strengthens us, and I think that
42:55that is super dope.
42:57One day I was just crying, like I couldn't even control myself.
43:00It was just like, immediately, just like, ahhh, because it felt like home to me.
43:06It felt like something that I really could connect and identify myself with.
43:11For everybody who, like, comes to watch, it's like they're able to find a piece of themselves
43:15as African-Americans who may not know, like, where you come from, no, a lot of us don't.
43:24This is what all the bloodshed was for, it's for the freedom to do this, to express yourself,
43:32for people to come in and be freed.
43:34You know?
43:35Yeah.
43:35Because this is a, what you've created, what we've created...
43:40Yes.
43:40...is a freeing experience for everybody who witnesses the show to be able to find themselves
43:47in a deeper way.
43:48While we find ourselves.
43:50Seeing things like, that's what it is, I share with you.
43:54I share with you.
43:58Yes.
44:00Yes.
44:01Yes.
44:03Girls.
44:05Look down.
44:06That's great, baby.
44:08Oh, my God.
44:09Thank you so much.
44:10She's so happy.
44:14It's all about Femme Queen today.
44:16That's right.
44:17Women like us, what does it look like to be a Femme Queen in our 30s, in our 40s, past
44:23our life expectancy rate?
44:25You know, there aren't so many examples out there.
44:27Yeah.
44:29Yeah.
44:29I'm on trans time.
44:31Yeah, I'm getting better waiting time.
44:33If you want to repeat my kind.
44:36Send queens with the flyers, smack a bitch and she should try it.
44:39Baby, we can love chicks with a D.M. just to prove it.
44:43Well, that's good for the new hits.
44:45D off my loose.
44:46Even though I got it but it...
44:48Put a pat in and I'll dip dip.
44:50Trust me, the baby father wanna suck me.
44:52But he don't want to pay me.
44:54I feel bad for the baby.
44:55I want my flowers to full-blown
44:57Ropes are better than it will too
44:59I'm forking dollars, I'm talking to comics
45:01Just running up the gerbil
45:02Nah, sis, don't guess who
45:04The boogeyman won't get you
45:06Femme queens to the rescue
45:07Ropes to the haters and men too
45:09They know we rise up to temp food
45:11The devil work hard and he'll tempt you
45:13But baby, you got this
45:14Flash, you're oily and proud of
45:17Femme queens, stunt queens, pasta, blunt please
45:20See if you're sitting pretty for me
45:24Dating on my body
45:26How's they hating
45:28Cause you're not the type that they're dating
45:54Seeing how many trans women were lost
46:04So this easily could have been my picture
46:08Could have been one of my sister's picture as well
46:29We must figure out how
46:33And why this is still happening today
46:43Femme queen is magic
46:46Femme queen is resilience
46:49Femme queen is inevitable
46:51Femme queen is composition
46:56Femme queen is architecture
46:59Femme queen is black
47:02Femme queen is prestigious
47:03Femme queen is
47:04Femme queen is
47:47Don't you know who the f*** you are?
47:50You are a black f***.
47:52That makes you a black fractal, baby.
47:54A fractal is simply a geometrical shape
47:57with an integrity that, like energy, can be transformed but never destroyed.
48:01You can alter its area, mass, or size,
48:03but mathematically, she's going to come out unbothered.
48:06Her pattern is flawless.
48:08Now, you can find these patterns in Africa or the latest style of black hair,
48:11but as a black fractal, your perfection, it tends across the board.
48:16No one told you when you were born that inside you
48:18there may be a glamorous feminine queen, but yet, and still, here you are.
48:23And no matter what they've said or done to try to change that,
48:26no matter what kind of psychological changes they put you through in your life,
48:30we are still ourselves.
48:32That is on some black fractal.
49:03which means that it's just, you know,
50:03I'm not even the most femme-presenting person, but I've been discriminated against for being
50:09queer.
50:09But you think about the kids getting on the train and they got nails and some makeup and
50:14stuff like that.
50:15You know, people are looking and laughing.
50:17And even if they don't say anything, they're still looking at you crazy.
50:20And then you get out of the train and then you walk into the armory.
50:24It's the complete opposite of that.
50:27By the night time, you hit a stage and at the end the whole crowd is like screaming for
50:32you.
50:32So it becomes more than an art piece.
50:36It becomes a real, like almost like a lifeline.
50:52I just want to take a moment to look at you all in the face.
50:57And just really say again, thank you so much for contributing your talent to this project.
51:04You know, I often thought about this project in terms of blackness almost being like quantum
51:10energy.
51:11You all are the subatomic particles and together we make that quantum energy.
51:16And that energy is what blew through that space tonight and wowed everybody.
51:20And, you know, I really want y'all to let it go beyond just this moment, you know, and
51:24we can just keep bringing this quantum energy to the world.
51:51Now I'm more confident about myself, about my possibilities.
52:01Whatever random person on the street who doesn't look at me as a woman does not matter.
52:06There are people out there who are watching me just be me and are being empowered by that.
52:15This whole experience has been like life changer for me.
52:21I've never been more comfortable in myself ever.
52:29We have not had opportunities to exist this loudly.
52:40I'm not as alone as I thought I was.
52:44There's a community here that loves and supports me.
52:55We are like divine instruments in this project.
53:00Being divine instruments is to understand how to fight with love, how to change the future
53:06with love.
53:10I never thought I'm the person who is looked up to.
53:21Some of the rules that are created by society don't exist in this world.
53:28Assembly is a whole new world.
53:30Assembly is a whole new world.
53:42We're here.
53:43We're loving.
53:43We're dancing.
53:44We're sharing the space that we have created for ourselves because it's someone that we won't
53:50find anywhere else.
54:12It's over, isn't it?
54:13The performance.
54:16The crowd.
54:17The purpose.
54:19The crowd.
54:19Now what happens to me?
54:21Over.
54:22We're just getting started.
54:24And liberation is what?
54:27A journey, not a destination.
54:30Period.
54:36This is what I want to see.
54:38Justice rising endlessly.
54:40Creativity set free.
54:42Beloved community.
54:43This is what I want to see.
54:46Bodies moving endlessly.
54:47Courage flowing like the sea.
54:49This is what I want to see.
54:54This is what I want to see.
54:58This is what I want to see.
55:00This is what I want to see.
55:01This is what I want to see.
55:03This is what I want to see.
55:04This is what I want to see.
55:05This is what I want to see.
55:05This is what I want to see.
55:05This is what I want to see.
55:08This is what I want to see.
55:09This is what I want to see.
55:11This is what I want to see.
55:13This is what I want to see.
55:16This is what I want to see.
55:20This is what I want to see.
55:35independent lens is made possible by the action circle for independent lens
55:39with major funding from the john d and katherine t mcarthur foundation
55:43acton family giving the ford foundation the jonathan logan family foundation
55:49and contributions from the following
55:55additional support for this series has been provided by the corporation for public broadcasting
56:00and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you thank you
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