At this moment, it is difficult to conceive of a time when Black arts and culture was not recognized or appreciated, but in 1969, when director Billy Jackson (“The August Wilson Center: Building on a Legacy”) started shooting his short film “We Are Universal,” it was still not a reality for many Black people or others. Jackson wanted to bring the message of the Black is Beautiful movement to the world.
Born and raised Pittsburg, photographer, award-winning film director, producer, and activist Billy Jackson has made a name for himself chronicling Black American history. In addition to
“We Are Universal,” his Nommo Productions has produced more than 50 documentary, dramatic, and promotional films which often explore Black life and culture. He recently spoke with Amsterdam News about his 1969 short film “We Are Universal,” currently screening at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) alongside Leroi Jones’ “Dutchman” thru Feb. 19. PGH Sound and Image conducted the film’s restoration.
“We Are Universal” visits five cities speaking to cultural and political luminaries about the influence of the Black is Beautiful movement on art and vice versa. Jackson had not even graduated from Northeastern University when he won a grant for $10,000 to do his documentary. Jackson explains, “This was my first documentary. I had been involved in a lot of protests and activism in the civil rights movement and wanted to do a documentary on it.”
Jackson uses jazz, stunning video footage, and incisive interviews to interrogate how American Blackness is defined through the lens of art, literature, and especially through music. It was perhaps one of the first attempts to do so in the wake of the Civil Rights era. Prominent figures such as Quincy Jones, Nikki Giovanni, Jesse Jackson, Hugh Masakela, Charles White, and others weigh in.
Before “We Are Universal,” Jackson was a still photographer covering events and fashion. “I wanted to extend my voice and realized that still photography, unless I stayed in fashion or covered news, was very limited. So I decided that motion photography would have a better benefit as far as reaching people and providing some kind of a voice.”
Being a fashion photographer certainly made a major impression, forcing Jackson to confront notions of beauty. It gave him a vantage point to keenly observe how that definition tried to exclude Black people and their culture. “The definition of beautiful was the biggest focus for me at that time,” Jackson recalls. “Black was not beautiful [to the white community]. I thought that it was, and I needed to define just why.”
“We Are Universal” subtly expands on the application of notions of beauty to include Black culture, in addition to, or perhaps even more, than physical attributes. “In the documentary, the responses to the questions I asked of the different artists, came out as to what the difference is between our definition of beautiful and what the definition of the majority population had, for the arts and for our culture especially.”
Jackson shared that many nights spent in Pittsburgh legendary venues for showcasing Black artists such as the Crawford Grill, in addition to subsequently rubbing shoulders with artists in New York, propelled the film as well. “Their influence communicated to me that I needed to take a piece of our culture and show it to the world.”
Sadly, Jackson believes we are still fighting many of the same battles he tried to address in his film. Genuine understanding and appreciation of Black culture is still scarce. However, the opinions put forth in “We Are Universal” about the universal appeal of Black American culture have certainly been proven true. Said Jackson, “When we talk about art, they’re talking the profit motive. So nothing has changed. There’s still racism. However, we’re a more desirable commodity. I always say we’re the new flavor and we’re more salable. There are more ways to monetize our presence. We’re all over the place. So that is our entry into the mainstream, rather than the true fabric of our beauty.”
“We Are Universal” remains relevant, as not just a vital historical and political document. Its importance as a cultural document remains as well. Jackson is hopeful that “We Are Universal” will reinforce the impact of Black American culture here and around the world. “I want it to raise their consciousness about culture, about our history, about our beauty, about things we take for granted. As Quincy Jones says in this documentary, the Beatles went out and became very popular, but a lot of us don’t realize they got their licks from people like John Lee Hooker and BB King.”
At one point in “We Are Universal,” legendary artist Charles White states, “We’re going to achieve a sense of our worth, our rights, on this continent and art is going to be a tremendous weapon, a tremendous force for achieving that.” “We Are Universal” and other critical cultural artifacts stand as reminders of how much has been achieved and how much is yet to be done.
“We Are Universal” is now available for streaming rental or purchase on Vimeo. Visit www.NOMMOproductions.com to access the film and learn more.