On 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper interviews Nate Parker, producer, director, writer, and star of the film The Birth of a Nation, which is based on Nat Turner’s account of the 1831 Virginia slave rebellion. During the interview Cooper brings up the rape case Parker was involved in 17 years ago. He was a 19-year-old student at Penn State at the time. Parker was acquittal on all charges. Cooper brings it up because Parker’s past has become an issue for the marketing of the film.
[Nate Parker is also the author of the book ‘The Birth of a Nation: Nat Turner and the Making of a Movement‘]
Parker, now 36, spoke to NBC BLK and said about the film and humanity at large: “The reality is we’re tethered to our past whether we like it or not. We can look at who we were and how we got here and we can kind of dissect the condition.” Parker added, “It’s my responsibility to use my art to talk about these things. Hopefully we can create a discourse where we’re all dealing with it…honestly. In a way we can all heal.” 60 Minutes airs Sundays at 7pm on CBS.
.@NateParker discusses his upcoming film #TheBirthofaNation at #NABJNAHJ16, urges journalist to create a dialoguehttps://t.co/xopMFTMdEg
— NBC BLK (@NBCBLK) August 10, 2016
