Dustin Lance Black: LGBT Drama 'When We Rise' Says 'We Can Beat The Backlash Together'
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | April 10, 2017
Writer-director Dustin Lance Black said this week that his miniseries on the LGBT rights movement says together we are stronger.
When We Rise, broadcast in February on ABC and currently on Hulu, features an all-star cast in an eight-hour miniseries that “chronicles the personal and political struggles, set-backs and triumphs of a diverse family of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its turbulent infancy in the 20th century to the once unfathomable successes of today.”
Black made his comments at Deadline's The Contenders, an Emmys event held on Sunday.
“We had never had an LGBTQ movement or history told in this kind of popularized fashion,” said Black. “It broke my heart every day that we didn’t have that. It’s hard to be a people without a history. It’s hard to be inspired as a young person or have hope out there in the country if you don’t know you have forefathers and foremothers. The whole point of this was to finally bring that history to the screen … in order for it to feel truthful and connect.”
“I’ve never had anything so well received in my career,” Black, an Oscar winner, said of the response.
“This show, at its root, says we are stronger together, that we can beat the backlash together. Not just LGBTQ people together but all of our social justice movements locked arm and arm, pushing back against backlash to get us moving towards progress for all people,” Black added.