Black Womyn:Conversations With Lesbians of African Descent

November 30, 2007

black./womyn.:conversations with lesbians of African descent, an important and ground breaking two-hour documentary that was produced, directed, photographed, edited, and predominantly funded by Tiona M., a Black lesbian video and filmmaker, originally from Greenville, South Carolina and presently based in Philadelphia.

I had the opportunity to meet and work with Tiona, in 2005, during my artist-in-residency at the Digital Moving Image Salon at Spelman College. Since that time we developed a friendship and camaraderie, which includes her working as 2nd camera woman and graphic designer for my next project, which is a global documentary by and for women of color in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe affected by Violence Against Women (VAW) and HIV & AIDS.

Tiona began working on black./womyn.:conversations with lesbians of African descent five years ago in 2001 when she was 21-years old. Since that time she has traveled and filmed over 50 Black lesbians who are based across the United States and in Canada. Her interviews feature a wide array of diverse Black lesbian voices including Poet/Author Cheryl Clarke, Poet/Author Staceyann Chinn, Filmmaker Michelle Parkerson, and Author Fiona Zedde.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a moving image is worth a million words. I invite you to please visit www.myspace.com/tionamproductions to view the 40 minutes worth of clips, some of which are featured in the documentary but most of which are a part of the raw footage that will be featured in the DVD extras.

When I asked Tiona why was she “giving” some of her footage away for free on myspace when she needed money to get the documentary across the finish line, Tiona shared with me that she believes she has a social/political responsibility to make some of her raw footage accessible for free. This belief is underscored by the fact that Tiona consistently receives emails from lesbians of African descent from across the globe who’ve shared with her how just viewing the featured clips has literally saved their lives.

With the exception of a critically needed and well deserved 2007 $2500 Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grant, Tiona has self-financed this documentary which is both a labor of love and a commitment to making visible the invisible. She is now in need of $5000.

As someone who wouldn’t have been able to complete NO! without the support of countless women and many men across the United States and internationally, I know the importance of grassroots fundraising for social change documentaries.

Unfortunately, for too many Black women filmmakers, it literally takes a village to make a film that doesn’t stereotype, castigate, degrade, or malign Black women…

Your donation is not tax deductible. However, it is life sustaining for all Black lesbians who very rarely have the opportunity to see images of themselves or of lesbians they know. It is also an important documentation for non-Black lesbians to hear some of our stories and perspectives on our lives in the absence of racist, sexist, heteropatriarchal stereotypes.

black./womyn.:conversations with lesbians of African descent is not a Hollywood fabricated fantasy. It is also not a representation of every single Black lesbian. However, Tiona has dug well-beneath the surface to begin this long overdue audio/visual conversation by creating the space for the featured interviewees to speak in their own voices.

Your donation of $100 or more will guarantee an autographed copy of the deluxe DVD, which will feature extras. If you make your contribution by December 25th, 2007, you will also receive a special on-screen credit.

NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL. All donations received by December 25th, 2007 will be acknowledged with an on-screen credit.

You may make your donation two ways. Through her safe and secure paypal account, which is accessible via www.blackwomynconversations.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/tionamproductions. You may also write a check. For more information about writing a check, please email tionamproductions@yahoo.com

For very detailed information on black./womyn.:conversations with lesbians of African descent, please read the downloadable pdf black./womyn press kit.

If you know of other people (regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity) who you think would be interested in supporting Tiona, please do share this post with them.

Thank you for your time and attention to my request. I look forward to your joining me in financially supporting black./womyn.:conversations with lesbians of African descent.

In Solidarity and In Struggle,
Aishah Shahidah Simmons
www.AfroLezProductions.com/blog