Aishah Shahidah Simmons is an award-winning independent feminist filmmaker, writer, international lecturer, and activist based in Philadelphia. Ms. Simmons is the producer, writer and director of NO! the forthcoming feature length documentary that poignantly exposes and addresses the collective silence of the Black community when Black men and boys rape Black women and girls. I interviewed Ms. Simmons via phone about the NO! documentary back in 2003 and I’m happy to say she finished the movie and it is very compelling. I’m re-posting the interview here on PGB.

Trula: First off Aishah, I want to thank you for doing the interview. I appreciate you talking with me today so much.
Aishah: You are welcome, thank you for interviewing me.

Photo Of Aishah Shahidah Simmons

Trula: When I read about the March 7th screening of NO! I was so happy! Happy that the film is getting so much exposure and happy that this screening got so many people out. What has been the overall reaction from people after viewing the film?
Aishah: Overwhelmed. Astonished. Completely overwhelmed. Women who are survivors, viewing the film often opened up old wounds. So many women who had repressed what had happened to them talked about this, I got emails and snail mails from women who shared their experiences with me. I got email from a sister who cried for two whole days after seeing it…she talked about burying the pain of what happened to her through eating. She felt if she didn’t say anything, didn’t acknowledge it, then it would be like it never happened. She said NO! opened her eyes to how she had internalized that pain. She realized that shame and anger over her experience might be the driving force behind what caused her to over-eat and have weight issues.

Trula: Why did you decide to make this documentary?
Aishah: Actually it was the silence of the community, the black community. I’m a survivor, my mother’s a survivor, so many women and girls are affected by this, why are we silent? I decided to do this as a reaction to the silence of our community.

Trula: What resources have you had to produce the NO! documentary?
Aishah: Contributions of women, individual contributions by women. Some foundations and grass-roots funds. I have not had the support of major foundations. No. That’s why it’s taken eight years to get the film done. I’ve been told this film is airing dirty laundry and that the moral point of view in the black community is that you don’t go to a man’s room at 2 o’clock in the morning.

Trula: Yes, that one always gets me, how the time of day somehow makes rape less a crime.
Aishah: Or as if rape doesn’t occur at 3 in the afternoon or 9 in the morning. Rape can happen at any and every time of day.

Trula: What about black-owned businesses? Have you been approached by or received support from black business owners?
Aishah: No. That hasn�t happened.

Trula: What has been the response to NO! from the media, in particular the black media?
Aishah: Well, again I’ve been told it’s airing our dirty laundry; I’ve gotten that response from Black foundations. Other media, I was told by the programmer of a cable station that most people just don’t care about the rape of Black women and girls. That’s why they rejected the NO! documentary.

Trula: Why do you think so many of us in the black community have such a problem confronting this issue?
Aishah: I think it has to do with race. Racism is perceived as our one and only threat, the biggest threat to our existence…with black men being perceived as public enemy #1. So when we are victims of assault by black men, we�re faced with feeling as if we would be responsible for incarcerating a black man. We’re also faced with feeling as if rape isn’t a ‘black’ issue but a ‘womens’ issue. Things that affect black men are seen as black issues, things that affect black women are seen as women’s issues. But aren’t we still black? These are issues that affect all of us and our community needs to address it.

Trula: Do you think that NO! will ever be aired on BET or other stations that have black-oriented programming?
Aishah: I think it needs to be. It should be. We need to have it aired as part of a national agenda to address abuse and sexual assault in the black community. It needs to be aired in rotation, nationwide, to combat some of this other programming like the sexually explicit music videos. Now, will it be aired is another question.

Trula: Who are your subjects? What kind of women is in this film?
Aishah: There are two components to the film. The first part moves from our enslavement to present day. Then I look through the eyes of black women about our experiences. I talk about the history of lynching and how black women were at the forefront of the anti-lynching movement, and then our involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and groups like the Black Panthers.

I have scholars and activists in this part because I wanted to lay down the foundation that we, black women, have always been supportive of black men in the struggle against racism, even while we were being raped. Even while rape and assault has been going on in our communities. This is important because so many react as if talking about rape and assault in our communities is somehow not being supportive of black men, or as if it were not being loyal to black men.

The second part shows actual survivors of rape talk about their experiences. I have survivor accounts interspersed throughout the film, but the second part of NO! also focuses on survivors talking about what they are doing while they heal. One woman is teaching and another woman is organizing Take Back The Night in her area. I felt this was so important because I wanted victims and other people to go away from viewing NO! by knowing that it’s possible to heal.

Trula: NO! has been under production for eight years. When will it be finished?
Aishah: This year. 2003. I am on a major fundraising campaign to get all the funds necessary for the post-production costs. I still need $100,000. My goal is to raise the funding and finish NO! this year.

Trula: How can people see the draft of NO! now? Where is the next screening?
Aishah: The best thing is to book a screening through the website echosoul.com, this is my publicists’ website, or by emailing me. The address with my information is NotheRapeDocumentary.org. My email address is AfroLez at aol dot com. NO! has been screened at Take Back The Night events, and been sponsored by the Alpha’s (Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity) at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. We’ve had a great response to all of those screenings. The next screening is at Spelman University in Atlanta, on March 24th and 25th. You can book a screening in your town by sending me an email or though the website.

Trula: Aishah, I’m a survivor, and I’ll tell you, the one that hurt me the most, emotionally, was being raped and assaulted while in a relationship. You share that you’re a survivor as well…how did you find the courage to stand up and produce this documentary?
Aishah: I think it was part of my healing process. I think if I knew how intimately and intricately involved I would get emotionally I would not have touched it with a 10-foot pole. In my case I was raped in a hotel room I went to willingly and then changed my mind; I wasn’t dragged off the street or anything like that. So I struggled with coming to terms that I was raped. I thought, was I raped? Was what happened to me rape? So many times I wanted to drop the ball with NO!, but then heard a powerful testimony from a survivor or read a testimony through email or a letter sent snail mail. I felt I owed it to these women who I asked to share so much of themselves and their experiences to continue and also share my experience.

Trula: What advice do you have for black women to help them prevent sexual abuse and assault?
Aishah: Wow. I don’t know what women can do other than take precautionary measures; maybe learn self-defense. Women who have children can start by educating their sons about rape and abuse. But really, men have to stop it. I really don’t think women can stop rape…it is up to men. Black men have got to step up to the plate. We have got to start educating our young men, make this a community effort. It should be a collaborative effort between men and women, but ultimately it is on the men to stop the rape and abuse.

Trula: Thank you so much for talking with me, Aishah, and for producing NO! and doing all that you do. I think that this film is groundbreaking work and will help to heal our communities.
Aishah: You are welcome. Than you for interviewing me and for giving NO! exposure and support on Afro Mama.

To find about more about the NO! documentary and Ms. Simmons:
NotheRapeDocumentary.org

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This blog entry written by Trula Breckenridge. Thanks for visiting Seed & Flame!