Negro Terror : The Documentary That Became One Man's Legacy
Late last year, Documentary Weekly was approached by the Southern Documentary Project filmmaker John Rash, who submitted a premiere of his first feature film Negro Terror. Now, tragically, his film has taken on far greater importance.
The title alone grabbed our attention but the film’s premise was just as enticing : the cinematic portrait of a black, punk and skinhead band from the most unlikely of places : Memphis Tennessee, the deep south.
The opening shots of drummer Ra-id screwing his shredded cymbals into place as lead singer Omar disses Trump to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner as he tests the mic were enough to have us hooked on this wonderfully unassuming yet powerful film.
Our ensuing feature reached close to 60,000 people, received over 3,000 engagements and swelled our follower numbers. With the film due to be released in May, Negro Terror’s future as a band, and as a film, seemed bright.
But just a few months later, on the 18th of April, the band’s larger than life leader Omar unexpectedly died at the age of 37. Following a small stroke, Omar had checked himself into hospital and was diagnosed with a staff infection. Despite his family and friends expecting him to make a full recovery, he died from complications a few days later.
Now, John’s film opens to local musicians, fans, family and friends marching through the streets of Memphis as they sing When The Saints Go Marching In in his honour. It seems half the music community turned out to pay their respects, leaving Tonya Dyson, a close friend of Omar’s, wondering “how all these different musicians and artists know Omar“ - in her words, evidence of “how powerful his spirit was”.
It was that same charismatic strength of spirit, perfectly captured in John’s film, that drew us, over 4000 miles away in London, to Omar’s cause.
Negro Terror is of course not just about music, it’s about breaking boundaries and paving the way for black people in a musical and geographical space that continues to be hostile to them. In a previous interview, Omar put it best : “music doesn't have a color […] And it's not about being an 'all black' punk band either. The whole idea is for young African American kids to feel comfortable doing whatever it is they want musically. [Negro Terror] is about destroying those old ideas."
But what made Omar more than a musician and activist, and what proudly shines through in the film, was the respect, consideration and kindness that he had to others. Now, following his tragic passing, that is surely what this film will be remembered as – not just a showcase of his striking musical project, but a legacy of his wonderful character.
In the days following the news, John expressed a similar feeling on Facebook :
“I hope the film we made together will let others know you and your vision for generations to come. Your legacy will not be forgotten.”
From this week, Negro Terror is available to watch in full on Amazon Prime or Vimeo for free.
