On the latest episode of Acting Up, TheGrio‘s Cortney Wills sat down with Sacha Jenkins, the filmmaker behind one of the biggest releases during Black History Month, everything’s gonna be all white, and broke down some of the response to the project.
As theGrio previously reported, everything’s gonna be all white dropped on Showtime this February, and is a three-part docuseires that explores the history of race in this country, but specifically through the lens of people of color.
Upon the release of the trailer for the project, everything’s gonna be all white got a wide array if intense reactions, including positive, negative and everything in-between.
Even the title, which encompasses the tone of the project perfectly, has received strong reactions from people.
“The title really bothers people,” Jenkins explained. “For me, it doesn’t say anything about killing anyone…people don’t have sense of humor. I think there is humor in there and it’s super important. If you can’t laugh at all of the f–kery, what can you do? Because some of it is so insane, the only way to stay alive is to try to laugh and keep your composure.”
The project specifically gained some negative backlash from Black conservatives, which Jenkins explained, “was shocking.”
“To see how many Black people came out against it, was really like an eye opener for me,” he added.
While he “obviously” knows Black people aren’t monolithic, the reaction was still confusing to Jenkins. “I feel like the revolutionary spirit of the 60s is the thing that you see in the movies…all you can do is do what you believe in, and promote those ideas and live by those ideas.”
The project takes an in-depth view of race and connects how race is dealt with in this country—not just from the Black perspective, but from all people of color, including Native Americans.
Speaking to the powerful way the project is structured, Jenkins explained, “I wanted the series to be like a spiderweb or a constellation, so you can see all of it in the web and jump around to see that it’s all related.”
The show, quite effortlessly, weaves in historical facts to personal story, painting a clear picture of the experience in this country.
The humor infused into it, Jenkins explained, “is an important part” of the work.
“Humor is universal,” he shared. “The whole point of the series is, ‘This is how we feel and we are expressing ourselves.’ Do all Black people feel this way? Obviously not…but a segment of us do feel this way and that’s what this represents, and humor is an important part of it.'”
The full episode of Acting Up featuring Sacha Jenkins is available to stream now.
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