Trailer watch: Negro Terror

There's a punk documentary called Negro Terror. It is about an African-American punk band from Memphis, TN navigating the sometimes tumultuous music scene of America's south.

I was reading the latest issue of Maximum Rocknroll and in their Movies column, they talked about a punk documentary called Negro Terror. It is about an African-American punk band of the same name from Memphis, TN, navigating the sometimes tumultuous music scene of America's south.

It caught my attention because of how Negro Terror, all consisting of African-American band members, deal with some of the negative aspects of hardcore punk and skinhead life. Omar, the lead singer of the band, has been playing in punk bands since the 80s and considers himself a skinhead, guitarist Rico comes from rock bands and drummer Ra'id is new to the scene and hasn't even told his family about it.

Carolyn Keddy, the MRR columnist, talks about how Negro Terror have confronted some of the contreversy they have courted (sometimes with their name) and how they haven't backed down from some of the more racist elements of skinhead punk. Interestingly, the band recently covered the Skrewdriver song "Invasion", incorporating images "that showed the reality of African-American life emphasizing police harassment flipping the meaning of the song". Fantastic. Any time you can stick it to Skrewdiver, I'm all for it.

Filmmaker John Rash made a documentary film about the band called Negro Terror. The film will tour the United States starting in May and you can watch the trailer below. Pretty awesome and just one way punk and hardcore can help educate and bring communities together instead of tearing them apart.

https://vimeo.com/302526945