Recognizing the power of Black History in art with Thomas Allen Harris

Thomas Allen Harris

During Black History Month, we will spotlight the voices of Black creatives. From content creators to co-founders, we’ve asked questions to those that inspire us to tell us what’s on their mind. The interview questions remain the same throughout, but the answers provide a unique view of every single person. 

Thomas Allen Harris, a film and media artist, centers his art around family, identity, and spirituality. His work allows him to travel around the world, creating platforms for unique stories from all different cultures and identities. He recounts his grandfather's literature collection for influencing his storytelling in his films and series, including well known titles such as “Family Pictures USA” and “Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People”.

What does Black History Month mean to you?

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the lost and forgotten stories of the contributions that African Americans and African Diasporic people have made to this country and to the world. A big part of my work is about lifting up these stories and histories. I grew up with a grandfather who was steeped in Black history and had a huge library. When I began going to school, I was the one who found myself teaching my teacher and the class about Black history that had never made it into our textbooks. I must admit, it was uncomfortable at times because I found myself challenging my teacher as well as disputing stereotypes and disinformation of my fellow students. It was during this time that I realized the tremendous power wielded in storytelling, perhaps that’s why I became a film and media artist.

How does your storytelling speak to the Black experience?

My films are unique audio-visual experiences that illuminate the search for identity, family, and spirituality. The stories are centered in and around the African Diasporic experience – in the USA, but also in Central and South America as well as on the continents of Africa and Europe. I have traveled extensively with my work. My second feature length film was produced in Brazil, entitled É Minha Cara/That’s My Face (2001). It is a mythopoetic odyssey shot entirely on Super 8 mm film exploring identity and spirituality across three generations of an African-American family.

I also made a film in South Africa – Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela: A Son’s Tribute to Unsung Heroes (2005) – about the first wave of freedom fighters who left South Africa in 1960 to help create the global Antiapartheid Movement – one of these men was my stepdad, Pule Leinaeng, who raised me.

For my installation AFRO (is just a hairstyle): Notes on a Journey Through the African Diaspora and my short film Heaven, Earth & Hell, I shot elements in Burkina Faso, France, and Canada. Out of these productions and travels, I have created family and community through Queer networks, and I see the central role that Queer African Diasporic people have played in the creation of culture, the distribution of media as well as the activism around human rights. I am interested in continuing to tell, support and share these intercultural/international Black stories that center Queer narratives.

What kind of stories do you feel still need to be highlighted for the Black Queer community?

I think it's a question of diversity – to give voice to all of the different types of experiences and stories that are in the LGBTQIA+ community – both past and present. I have been traveling the country with a new TV series Family Pictures USA – which looks at America through the lens of the family photo album. The project grew out of a participatory model of filmmaking that I have been pioneering since 1990 that began with VINTAGE: Families of Value (1995) and continued with my socially engaged art project Digital Diaspora Family Reunion.

Wherever we go, someone shares stories about Queer ancestors – aunts, great uncles, cousins or community members. They usually do so in hushed voices, showing images on their cell phones or pointing out places these people lived or where they’re buried. It made me realize that for a certain generation of straight Black folk, they still associate LGBTQIA+ stories with shame and/or caution, even though today we have come so far and have such greater visibility and acceptance. I am working on creating a way for folks to bring forth these great stories that are suppressed within the Black American story and within the Black family photo album. This is something I also did in my film, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (2014), in which I shared the story of my grandmother’s cousin – whose name was also Thomas but who went by Sugar and was regularly arrested in NYC in the 1940s for cross-dressing. Sugar was found dead, murdered, in Harlem and my family never spoke about her until I came out to my grandmother and her sister, my great aunt Laura (both now deceased), who recalled a song that Sugar used to sing. They sang that song for me, Sugar’s song, and in their words and feelings, I was able to conjure up an image of Sugar that has never left me.

In celebration of Black History Month, Revry has curated a powerful collection of stories told by Black artists featuring films, TV series, music, and more. See the playlist on Revry.