Nate Parker is at the centre of quite the **** storm. He’s behind the new anti-racist movie Birth of a Nation. At the same time, his past has come back to bite his butt in the form of a rape allegation from his college years.  His defence of his actions has been less than impressive–siting his immaturity at the time and how much he now loves his wife and daughters.

He has a new interview in Ebony magazine that reeks of PR spin. Count the number of times he says “I”. But not once does he take ownership of his actions. “I” assumed consent. “I” was a victim of the toxic masculinity of the times. (Times were different back when I went to school, but you can’t convince me this behaviour was acceptable at any time.) As for the real victim, “I” never gave her a second thought.

She’s dead now. Suicide.

Nate’s co-writer on the film was his co-accused at the time. They “ran a train” on the woman. I feel filthy just writing those words.

Read the Ebony article and decide for yourselves.

I go back to the words of Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

If promoters of Birth of Nation go ahead with their plans to tour college campuses, I urge students not to protest. Not to attend. I urge them to counter-program screenings of The Hunting Ground.