Presenter: Aishah Shahidah Simmons
NO! is a feature length documentary which addresses the international reality of rape, and other forms of sexual assault through the first person testimonies, scholarship, activism, and spirituality of African-Americans. A rape and incest survivor, Aishah Shahidah Simmons spent eleven years, seven of which were full time to make NO!. In response to racist, sexist and homophobic economic censorship that she received while making NO! she developed an international grassroots Black feminist lesbian-led educational fundraising campaign that raised awareness about intra-racial rape and sexual assault in African-American communities while raising funds for the making of NO!. Through this campaign, Aishah was able to connect with diverse audiences at community centers, colleges/universities, high schools, juvenile correctional facilities, rape crisis centers, battered women's shelters, conferences,across the United States and internationally around the issues of rape and sexual assault.
In its various work-in progress stages (ranging from 8minutes to 74minutes), NO! was translated into both French and Italian. This translation work was done on a volunteer basis by grassroots European and Diasporic African, Caribbean, and Aram feminist and/or lesbian, queer women and trans ment based in France and Italy because they wanted NO! to be aurally accessible to their communities. In all instances, these activists, if they were employed, used their vacation time, ranging from a few days to three weeks, to travel with Aishah to work as her interpreter while simultaneously translated NO! during numerous community based screenings in their countries.
