O Happy Day: The Early Days of Black Gay Liberation

Overview

The seminal short film O Happy Day imagines the early days of gay liberation for black gay men. Lofton juxtaposes images of black men from late 60s and early 70s films with images of Black Panther Party demonstrations, as a way of intentionally revising history. The soundtrack is punctuated by a 1970 quotation from Black Panther leader Huey Newton: ""There's nothing to say that a homosexual cannot also be a revolutionary. Quite on the contrary, maybe a homosexual could be the most revolutionary..."" O Happy Day blurs the difference between the Black Power movement and the Gay Power movement, and instead focuses on the similarities between the two.

Details

Status

Released

Release date

June 24, 1996

Original language

English

Spoken languages

English

Countries

United States of America

Director

Charles Lofton

Budget

Not recorded

Revenue

Not recorded

Homepage

Official site

IMDb

tt0137134