This poem whispers to me and rocks me to sleep and tells me stories of indigenous people diseased and tricked and slaughtered and made to be extinct. I exist. I am an African. I am an old Jewish woman muttering prayers in Yiddish as my name is replaced with a number on my arm. I am a little Japanese girl staring in horror as my village is bombed and burnt to the ground.
I was born in India but not to the right caste, so regardless of what I accomplish, I will always be a peasant. I died in Mexico three feet from the border, gunned down by evil troops who shoot for a living, who sacrifice their souls for the man made boundaries of these Americas. Somewhere dozing in subway stations and flying high on the and taking the L to Brooklyn and the 15 to Vegas and the MARTA through Atlanta and cruising down a dark street in Oakland is a poem.
This poem comes from somewhere deep. Somewhere where the angels sleep, where pixies dance and mermaids weep where hymns are hummed so God will keep us all in mind on judgment day. This poem warns but does not sway, for what you do is up to you, where you go and who you know, if you close up or if you grow.
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Gina Loring is the daughter William Marshall, a character actor best known in vampire fandom as the star of Blacula and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream Marshall played Mamuwalde, an African prince seeking support in abolishing the slave trade who appeals to a Transylvanian count—Dracula.
No slouch in the creative department herself, Loring is a poet, vocalist, professor, workshop facilitator and activist. I wanted to know more about her personal connection to Blacula, so I sent along a few questions.
Anthony Hogg: Your father left an indelible impression on vampire fans with his starring role in Blacula. Are you a fan of the movie? How well do you think it holds up today? Blacula is a distinctive movie in that it seamlessly blends the genres of blaxploitation, historical fiction and horror.
The film was also groundbreaking in that it illustrated that black actors can play all sorts of roles, from something as regal as a prince to something as mythical as a vampire. Currently, there are several examples of vampires of color in television and film, but Blacula was an anomaly at that time. AH: Riding on the wave of then-popular blaxploitation movies, Blacula is not a stock standard horror movie.
Do its themes still resonate? In the original script, Blacula was a pimp, and it was his input that shifted the narrative of the film for the character to be rewritten as African royalty.
I think that in itself speaks to the social responsibility and artistic merit of the film, and its thematic relevance. Unfortunately, the themes of racism, greed, and lack of integrity within humanity all remain current, so the storyline still resonates.
While Blacula may have had an impact, people of color continue to be marginalized or excluded entirely from most mythical, fantasy and science fiction films. We need more movies like Blacula that provide actors of color a platform to play evocative and complex characters, both hero and villain.
What was your awareness of the fandom around his role as Blacula beforehand?
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