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Melvin Van Peebles on Taking Control of Black Representation

The African American film director is best known for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which added a political dimension to the black action movie genre. Van Peebles says that, unlike his own work, the blaxploitation films that came later were apologies for systems of oppression, not critiques of them. Prior to his career in film, he lived in France as a writer. His new book, coauthored by his son Mario, is called No Identity Crisis.

18:39

Other segments from the episode on July 17, 1990

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 17, 1990: Interview with Oliver Stone; Interview with Melvin van Peebles; Review of the novels "Coyote Waits" by Tony Hillerman and "Blossom" by Andrew Vachss.

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