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At The Movies: A look into the isolating world of black punk rock
By Crystal Preston-Watson
cpresto5@mscd.edu

Afro-Punk: the ‘Rock and Roll Nigger’ Experience Image Entertainment 66 minutes Dir. James Spooner

One of the most vivid memories from my childhood is staying up late on Saturday nights to watch television. On those nights a whole other world filled with videos from Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and AC/DC was opened up to me. It was music that was different from what people in my neighborhood listened to, but I deeply identified with it. My family teased me relentlessly, and I didn’t dare tell anyone outside my family about my music choices. In my neighborhood, rock was something only strung-out white kids listened to.

The documentary Afro-Punk: the ‘Rock and Roll Nigger’ Experience delves into the subject of how something as simple as the music a person listens to can make them an outsider. The film explores the neglected and isolated experience of black punk rock. Filmmaker James Spooner, a black punk himself, follows four young individuals as they navigate a world in which they are sparsely represented. Intersected with the main characters’ stories are dozens of other interviews and ample performance footage from some of the biggest black punk bands, including Bad Brains, Ten Grand and Cipher. The film can be overwhelming at times, given the run time is only a little over an hour. However, Afro-Punk does well in giving the viewer a good, basic understanding of an experience that’s woven within the significant cultures of punk and African-Americans.

One of the biggest crimes a music documentary can commit is forgetting that it’s about the music and that the soundtrack is as important as the story being told. On the opposite end are the glorified music videos with little substance. Afro-Punk avoids this trap by balancing the music played throughout the film with narrative content.

Another problem that can happen, especially in documentaries that focus on African-Americans in music, is they are overtly hip-hop influenced. No matter what the genre, the visual style will often scream hip-hop, adding a bit of dust and scratches on the screen to proclaim that it all happened a long time ago. Watch MTV or BET during February or the off-month of June (Black Music Month) to see this proven time and again. It’s refreshing to see Spooner refrain from this flaw. It’s also a good argument for filmmakers having a personal connection with their subject. He shot the film the way one experiences punk: raw, gritty and without pretension.

What really makes Afro-Punk work is that it’s more than a look into the racism and bigotry of the punk scene toward black kids or the isolation of punk kids in the black community. Instead, it is an intense look into the lives of people who love a particular style of music trying to find their place in the world. No matter the background or musical taste of the viewer, that is something anyone can connect with.