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and connected with the punk music scene and its culture but also felt alienated from both his white peers in the scene and the black community outside the scene. After examining the world of hardcore punk in
America at the time, and noticing the lack of people of color, along with the absence of dialogue around race despite its activist leanings, he began to question what it means to be black within alternative scenes. Digging deeper into the subject of race became the inspiration for his documentary. Traveling throughout the United States and abroad, Spooner followed the lives of four African Americans who submerged and dedicated their lives to the punk rock scene and its values. Through exclusive interviews with punks and various punk rock bands including, Fishbone, 24-7 Spyz, and Dead Kennedys, Spooner's documentary covered issues of loneliness, exile, inter-racial dating, and the double lives people of color lead within a predominantly white sub-cultured community.
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explores the lives of black youth within a white punk subculture with the aim of expanding notions of blackness and reclaiming rock's roots by providing a platform for black artists that were not given the opportunity elsewhere. Growing up biracial on the streets of New York City, Spooner discovered
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Spooner toured the film throughout the United States and the world, screening it over 300 times, garnering followers, and building community. He then created a message board to connect alternative black people from around the world. Soon after he held shows to foster that community. Shows included
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across the United States of
America—and taking place as the world shifted with the galvanizing power of the internet. The film focuses on the lives of four African Americans dedicated to the punk rock lifestyle, interspersed with interviews from scores of black punk rockers from all over the
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after a series of prior music gatherings entitled "The
Liberation Sessions" and inspired by the black punk community active on their message boards. Spooner's last year with the festival was in 2008 due to philosophical differences with its direction.
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Film & Arts
Festival, Festival International de Cine de Mar del Plata, and The Milan International Film Festival. It won an Official Selection at the
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Tributes, The Double Consciousness Rock series at CBGBs, a west coast tour and screening with Ricky Fitts, and others.
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and produced by
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In 2005, James
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