Source: OWN / OWN
As far as we’re concerned, the lived experiences of Black women aren’t highlighted enough in the media. And as phenomenal and dynamic as we are, we’re still largely ignored. Thankfully, there are women who are doing the work to rectify this.
Artist and storyteller Oge Egbuonu is bringing her documentary (In)Visible Portraits to OWN tomorrow, March 2.
According to OWN, the documentary, which was three years in the making, features Black women sharing stories of struggle, resilience and more. It seeks to shatter the “’otherizing’” of Black women in America and reclaims the true narrative as told in their own words.
In the trailer, we can prominent Black women in various fields speak about our shared experience in this country.
One woman says, “From the beginning everything was set up for us not to survive.” Another echoes, “We were meant to survive as units of labor. We were meant to survive as commodities. Society’s views toward Black women are framed through these particular images.”
Remarkably we have survived. And some of us have even thrived in this consistently hostile environment. And so much of that has been achieved through telling our stories.
Another documentary participant said, “You have to be able to give words to it, give name to it…by telling our own story there’s a kind of fierce independence of mind, will, tenacity.”
This project is Egbuonu’s directorial debut. She has previously produced Loving, the critically acclaimed film about the Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriage in the United States. As someone who previously held a seat on the Diversity Committee for the BRIT Awards, Egbuonu worked to reshape and restructure the committee in order to usher in more diversity in the music and film industries.
You can watch the trailer for (In)Visible Portraits in the video below.
(In)Visible Portraits airs Tuesday, March 2 9/8c on OWN.
