Ode To Ava Duvernay
And why white discomfort is the only way to make Black lives matter
There are very few people that I admire in the world, Ava Duvernay, the prolific film director, producer, and rapper is one of them. For me, she epitomizes an intelligent, beautiful, and classy Black woman who naturally commands authority and respect. I absolutely adore this woman.
What I admire most about Duvernay is her courage. From the film Selma, to When They See Us to Colin in Black and White, wherever Duvernay puts her mark, there is excellence.
She tells our stories, she tells Black and African-American stories from our perspective, as raw and painful as they may be. She doesn’t sugarcoat or compromise on the story to accommodate white comfort. She tells the story like it is, even if it generates white discomfort. Her courage is indomitable, it is exemplary.
As I walk into the second part of my life, I feel so privileged to finally be able to see movies that recount history from the point of view of a Black person.
Of course, I had read about historic events like the Selma march or the story of the unjustly accused Central Park 8, but these stories were recounted through the perspective of a white person, and there was always something missing. Like when people talk about an experience…
