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Ive been performing live comedy since 2010.
Im a comedian, TV and film writer, Sundance Fellow, DJ, Mauritanian, and Muslim.
Yes, he sexually transmitted ebonics to her.
At first I was mad!
I was going to hop online where, you know, where justice happens.
Then, I was like, You know what, what if it happened the other way around?
What if I had sex with a white woman and could finally say Hello, officer?
I made a trailer and set up a GoFundMe to crowdfund the short.
Police violence isntinright now.
Somebody told me that I should both sides the story.
You know, show the police officer side!
(Who am I?
The New YorkTimes?)
You know how many fucking TV shows about police there are?
Google it, it looks like a damn Cheesecake Factory menu.
In April 2018, I decided to make my own short-film version ofhashtag.
For months, I wrestled with this feeling.
Maybe it can work!
Look atThis Is America!
No, its more harmful than good.
They need to see it.
They need to be aware!
But it didnt change them.
Black expression is policed by white people at all levels of gatekeeping.
The same framework of white supremacy that lives in the police lives in white people.
They are the cops to Black peoples creativity.
White people who are liberal-minded still parrot white supremacist thoughts.
Oh theres more diversity!
Now theres less jobs for white people is just Immigrants are taking our jobs but with a LaCroix.
Look, we have a Black character/writer/actor/comedian on our lineup sounds a lot like Look at my African-American!
White proximity to Blackness is cool, but Black proximity to whiteness can feel like survival.
Being Black means we have to have receipts.
But we shouldnt have to have receipts.
What can I do to create a no-strings-attached, no-white-promo space for Black people?
How can I relinquish power and trust that a Black person knows their voice and what theyre doing?
We cant be exploited as unpaid diversity coordinators likeKeisha Zollar was by the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York.
We cant be powerless Chief Executives of Not Looking Racist Even Though There Be Racism Afoot.
We need more leaders like Milly Tamarez ofDiverse As FuckandWho Made The Potato Saladwith Shenovia and X.
We need shows likeWyatt CenacsProblem Areasto be given more than two seasons to grow.
We need more all-Black writers rooms so expression doesnt get curbed as it does everywhere else.
We need Black DPs, directors, social-media managers, and showrunners.
People always ask me Where ishashtag?
The money went straight to their pockets; I didnt take a cent home.
The response from alotof white people came off as, Excuse me?
I ordered a little bit of Black trauma for the table.
I was wondering whats the holdup?
My short film was a failure to me not in the sense that it was a bad film.
White people already see our pain.
They just look away when it makes them uncomfortable.
Ive been too patient for too long, and that patience has run out.
You might still want to seehashtag.
Just look around youre in it.
We cant keep simply sharing Black trauma and going through the cycle.
Awareness isnt enough; we need action.Thisis the time we break it.
This is the last time you get to go through the loop.
Theres no looking away; we wont let you.
