American filmmaker and activist Marlon Riggs was BOTD In 1957. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, he was raised in Texas and Germany, and studied at Harvard and UCLA Berkeley. His 1987 documentary Ethnic Notions explored racist stereotypes of African-Americans in American popular culture, garnered him critical praise and an Emmy Award. He is best known for his 1989 film Tongues Untied, an exploration of Black male sexuality, incorporating interviews, poetry, performance art and rap to expose the racism and homophobia experienced by Black gay men. Shown at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals to critical acclaim, it infuriated American conservatives, including Senator Jesse Helms, who threatened to defund the arts after the film’s release. Riggs’ other work includes Color Adjustment, a critique of Black under-representation in television, and Je Ne Regrette Rien, a series of interviews with HIV+ Black men. Riggs also contributed critical essays to newspapers and literary journals, and worked with CBS and the National Endowment for the Arts to improve their diversity policies. Riggs lived with his partner Jack Vincent for 15 years. He died of AIDS-related complications in 1994, aged 37. His final unfinished documentary Black Is… Black Ain’t was released posthumously, winning an award at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival.