And that’s the attitude that, quite literally, sometimes kills people. “There’ll be an article about a coming out, and people go, Why do we need to know this? It’s the same kind of thing, that same old, outdated attitude of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’, keep it in the closet. Though we’re at a moment when LGBTQ people have their highest visibility ever, and black men such as Michael Sam and Frank Ocean have come out in very public ways, Polk still thinks the idea of black gay love makes some people uncomfortable.

Patrik-Ian Polk at the premiere of Happyish. People still talk about Punks, 15 years later. I’d rather do this and look back have a career of this type of groundbreaking work as opposed to a bunch of films that really aren’t that memorable. Because there wasn’t really anything before.

I certainly don’t mind being known for that. “I resigned myself to the idea that if all I do is black gay work for the rest of my life, that’s fine. His films Punks (2001), The Skinny (2012), and the hugely popular web-series-turned-TV-show Noah’s Arc were some of the first to focus primarily on black gay characters. In so doing, he’s become what some call “the father of black gay cinema” and though it’s a heavy title, it’s also an accurate one. So I think I was inspired by the lack of representation, just telling the stories that I, as a gay black man, wanted to see.” I’d read white coming-of-age novels, gay-themed, plenty of those. “It was like, Wow, a story that’s somewhat similar to mine. Polk first read the book as a freshman at Brandeis University. The script, co-written by Polk and Rikki Beadle Blair, is an adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name by Larry Duplechan. “This story … gonna save a lot of lives and we’ll be part of that,” she said.īy featuring an openly black gay character at its forefront, Blackbird does the important work of allowing marginalized people to see themselves on screen. Mo’Nique, who plays Randy’s mother, and is an executive producer on the film with her husband, Sidney Hicks, says she believes “ America is ready for love.” She and Hicks decided to produce the film, knowing it would have an impact in the way black, southern, and church-going folks discuss homosexuality. The trailer for Patrik-Ian Polk’s Blackbird, which premieres in select cities on 24 April.

Blackbird by Larry Duplechan