Short film by George Ellzey Jr. now streaming on OTV.

Language is the building block of every civilization which shapes culture, identity, and community. Accompanied by contemporary dancer, Deja Hood, SWITCHIN' explores African American communication habits and the policing of said language for white spaces.

Developed over time, the African American or black community produced its own distinct inter-community non-verbal and verbal language to counter American culture. Through certain phrases, words, and gestures we have crafted a vocabulary that varies in emotional meanings and is uniquely universal to black spaces; however, to thrive in patriarchal white America, African Americans learned the skill to survive and compete in mainstream culture. Code-switching.

Gleaning from the message of Solange’s song F.U.B.U., the goal of the SWITCHIN’ is to illustrate and celebrate the language of African Americans in comparison to the appropriation and manufacturing of said communication by white people who “get so much from us (black people) then forget us”.