Danny Glover and the Haitian Historical Hero
Danny Glover had a hard time raising funds for his directorial debut film, Toussaint, because financiers complained the film did not include any white heroes. Toussaint is a biopic about the historical black hero Toussaint-Louverture, an ex-slave in the 1700s who won independence for Haiti from the French, making Haiti the first black nation to free itself of imperial rule and become a republic. The uprising, unfortunately, was later bloodily put down by Napolean who recommitted the nation’s people to slavery. Glover eventually raised enough money with the help of friend and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who wanted to support a movie that counters what Chavez termed ‘the Hollywood film dictatorship.’
So Toussaint (starring Don Cheadle, Mos Def, Wesley Snipes and Angela Bassett) will get made and be released next year, but Hollywood still won’t back a movie about black people unless there’s a white hero at the forefront. We’re getting too old for this shit.
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