These days, a lot of people are asking me about the recently released movie 'Jumping the Broom.' It's a hit at the box office and with critics, so it's got people talking about urban movies and so-called "black Hollywood." As an entertainer and filmmaker myself, I'd like to offer my perspective.
I loved 'Jumping the Broom.' In many ways, it reminded me of my own story, from uptown Harlem to downtown Manhattan -- from Harlem to the Hamptons. I love the fact that it shows people of color living on Martha's Vineyard. That's a world that most people don't realize exists. We need more urban movies like this one that show the way people of color are living and demonstrate that we can be successful and still come from all kinds of backgrounds - some affluent, some working class and some in-between.
'Jumping the Broom' exposes a part of our society that almost never gets shown in movies. Let's face it, the truth is that if you just went by most of what you see on the big screen, you'd think all people of color in this country are oppressed, depressed or in living poverty. You'd think we were all hard-core criminals, or about to become hard-core criminals.
Personally, I make movies to uplift people and bring them together, not to shame them. I do not make movies that involve buffoonery and exploitation. If Hollywood doesn't like it, if they don't want us to be authentic, then we can't keep trying to fit in where we're not wanted. That's why I'm working to create an industry within the industry, a network that I call The System Within that promotes this unheard of concept: Let's Hollywood to come to us instead of us going to Hollywood.
Now, I'm an action-movie buff myself, and I know I've got to put some action in my movies so people will see it and be entertained. But at the end of the day, there has to be a message. Some people will get it and some won't, but the goal is try to help liberate people.
My movie'The Stick Up Kids' is about urban renewal. It's about a group of hustlers and thieves who do what they do because it's what they were taught; it's what they know. What they don't know are the words "jurisdiction" and "gentrification." The movie is about gentrification in Harlem, and about how when families are forced to move out of their homes and communities, their heritage - which we all share - is lost.
People need to own their own communities, not just legally, but also culturally and spiritually.
We need to make more movies that instill a sense of pride in our community. You've got to create your own pride and not rely on other people to define your pride for you. Everybody's seen 'The Wizard of Oz,' right? Well, life is like 'The Wizard of Oz.' There's Dorothy surrounded by all those people in a place she doesn't belong, but all she's got to do to go home is click her heels three times. She controls her own destiny. It's like life, we're all like that. All you've got to do is click your heels, baby.