In anticipation of the Summer Olympics in Paris starting on July 26, Black Public Media is making a splash with the return of “Black Folk Don’t…Swim.” This short film, part of the earlier, irreverent series “Black Folk Don’t” (featured in Time Magazine’s “10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life”), humorously tackles some of the biggest myths and stereotypes about Black people. It is now streaming for free on Black Public Media’s AfroPoP Digital Shorts and YouTube channel.
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“Black Folk Don’t…Swim” features writer, television personality, and podcaster Touré, alongside writer, educator, and media figure Melissa Harris Perry. The film explores whether Black people have embraced swimming, especially with Black swimmers like Simone Manuel and Shaine Casas competing in this year’s Olympics, and Anthony Nesty making history as the first Black U.S. head swimming coach, leading the men’s team.
This subject is vital, as up to 70 percent of Black people do not know how to swim, and Black children ages 5 to 19 drown in pools at a rate 5.5 times higher than white children.
Directed by Angela Tucker, an Emmy and Webby award-winning filmmaker, “Black Folk Don’t…Swim” adds to her impressive body of work. Tucker’s recent projects include “Belly of the Beast” (a New York Times critics’ pick directed by Erica Cohen), the Webby-winning branded series “The Trees Remember” in collaboration with REI Co-Op Studios, and the Lifetime holiday film “A New Orleans Noel,” starring Patti LaBelle. Her latest film, “The Inquisitor,” about political icon Barbara Jordan, will be broadcast on PBS. Tucker is a Sundance Institute Women’s Fellow, a recipient of Firelight’s William Greaves Fund, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She founded TuckerGurl Inc, a boutique production company dedicated to stories that highlight underrepresented communities in unconventional ways.
Since 1979, Black Public Media, a Harlem-based national nonprofit, has funded and distributed films about the Black experience, continuing to amplify voices and stories that might otherwise go unheard.
For more information, and to watch “Black Folk Don’t…Swim,” visit the Black Public Media YouTube channel.