User:Christiantdge/Parkerson

Michelle Parkerson Michelle Parkerson (1953 -      ) Is an American filmmaker, producer, performance artist, writer and a professor from Washington DC. She is also a lesbian activist which is shown in a lot of her more recent work. She studied filmmaking at Temple University. While an undergraduate, Parkerson, won the Student Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science for co-directing “Sojourn” (1974). Parkerson’s most famous film is “But Then, She’s Betty Carter” (1980) where she plays famous jazz vocalist Betty Carter, who founded her own recording company. Along with “Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock” (1983) both films show the great contributuoons of Black women artists. Parkerson shows aspects of race and gender relations that are usually neglected in mainstream productions. She often uses “difference” to educate and enlighten on issues of homosexuality, homophobia, and Black women’s success and struggles. She takes risks and putting these issues out there for awareness and acceptance while they are very sensitive. “For Parkerson… ‘risk’ is the only option, because complicity and silence are ultimately self-destructive” (Bobo 179). Another one of her works is a short television series called “Urban Odyssey” that highlight ethnic leader from Washington DC. She served as producer and director.

Black Women and filmmaking

In one of her works, “Odds and Ends” (1993) she used an all-Black cast. The movie is a “Black Amazon science fiction. Based on a short story” (Bobo 180). The science fiction is about about Black amazon women warriors fighting against racial and gender annihilation in the future year of 2096 (McKinley 89). The production staff was predominately Black women, a good percentage of them were Black lesbians says Parkerson in an interview with Gloria J Gibson (Bobo 181). Parkerson leads a very important movement in African American Women Film, creating films that top the charts which show Black woman’s triumph. She also is a pioneer of Black lesbian film and video genre.

Other Black Women during the same time working with Black lesbian film is Pamela Grier in “Women in Cages” (1971). The movie is tied with lesbian sexuality, racial conflict and social commentary. Grier’s character, Alabama, straps down a woman bare-breasted in a breaking wheel with legs splayed open (Mask 78).

One of the most significant or bigger works was “A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde” (1995) which had a big impact due to Audre’s legacy. She was a Black, lesbian, warrior, poet, mother and a teacher. She was a professor at Hunter College, one of the primary voices of the Black literary movement during the mid ’60s. Movements of Black power, Black nationalist and African movements were being moved by the works of Lorde. She was bringing out more attention every day with what the African American can bring and do. When she came out publicly as a lesbian, it brought even more attention and drew more audiences. She soon was published by many feminist presses and became a foundational figure in the feminist movement. Parkerson’s work on this film brings more attention to the lesbian and feminist movement that allows for a better understanding of homosexuals in this new period.

Present Day In recent years Parkerson lives in Washington DC where she works on her projects and films and is a part of gay and lesbian movements in film and art and in Philadelphia where she is a professor of Film and Media Arts at Tempe University. She has also been a guest professor at various universities some including University of Delaware, Howard University, Northwestern Univeristy and many others.

Works

Sojourn (1973) But Then, She’s Betty Carter (1980) Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey in the Rock (1983) Storme: Lady of the Jewel Box (1987) Urban Odyssey (1991) Odds and Ends (1993) A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde (1995)

Awards

Audience Award Best Feature Documentary OUTFEST (Los Angeles)/Closing Night New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Golden Gate Award Best of Category San Francisco Film Society Starbucks Audience Award Best Feature Documentary San Francisco International Film Festival Prix du Public - Best Documentary Creteil Films de Femmes International Film Festival (France) - Audience Award Best Documentary at Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival First Place Documentary Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Outstanding Documentary at Los Angeles Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Sources Bobo, Jacqueline. Black Women Film & Video Artists. Routledge, New York. Mask, Mia. Divas on Screen. University of Illinois Press. McKinley, Catherine. Afrekete. Anchor Books. New York.