NO! The Rape Documentary is a revolutionary film that explores the issues of intra-racial rape in the Black community. The viewer is asked to reflect upon and experience the issues of rape and sexual assault through the eys of African American women.

I can say alot about the documentary since I have personal experience with it. I had the fortune of getting my song "No" which also deals with sexual assault and rape in the end credits of the film.

I have had the pleasure of working with the filmmaker as well in a variety of capacities, so I disclose that upfront. I am both honored and proud to know the filmmaker, Aishah Shahidah Simmons.

Produced by Aishah Shahidah Simmons, an award winning producer & director, NO! features artists, poets, activist, scholars, and clergy members who discuss their ideas about ending rape and challenging men to stand up for women.

I can only imagine the challenges Aishah experience in making the film and persevering. Some I know of first hand, some I could never experience even through her eyes.

She experienced what she calls economica censureship while making the film. Funders either didn't get it, didn't care, or didn't want to see the film succeed.

But here NO! stands today, alive and well.

Before watching NO!, I thought I was invinsible, and immune to the issues of rape. I mean..I'm careful about my surroundings and I try to avoid being alone at night roaming about.

Stranger rapes, experts call it. But the stark reality I learned in Aishah's film NO! is that only a small percentage of rapes occur by strangers. Most rapes are actually committed by someone we know. The stranger in the bushes is simply a myth. It happens, but it is not the majority of rapes among those reported.

NO! Feature a host of experts, activists, artists, clergy, and rape survivors sharing their opinions and perspectives.

What would it take to end rape they are asked. Not just in the Black community, but for all women.

The list of interviewees is as follows:

• Rev. Reanae McNeal, Imani Revelations

• Dr. Salamishah Tillet, Writer & Co-Founder, A Long Walk Home, Inc.

• Scheherazade Tillet, Art Therapist & Co-Founder, A Long Walk Home, Inc.

• Dr. Aaronette M. White, Social Psychologist & Activist

• Dr. Janelle White, Sociologist & Activist

• Barbara Smith, Scholar, Author, & Activist

• John T. Dickerson, Jr., Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center

• Adrienne Davis, J.D., Legal Scholar, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, President Emerita

• Bennett College for Women and Spelman College

• Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Author & Historian, Spelman College

• Ulester Douglas, Director of Training, Men Stopping Violence

• Essex Hemphill (deceased), Poet, “To Some Supposed Brothers”

• Elaine Brown, Former Chairperson, Black Panther Party

• Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin, Scholar & Author, Columbia University

• Dr. Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Islamic Scholar & Former SNCC Organizer

• Rev. Dr. Traci C. West, Author,

  “Wounds of The Spirit: Black Women, Violence, and Resistance Ethics"

• Honoree Jeffers, Poet, “that’s proof she wanted it” Loretta Ross, National Coordinator, SisterSong

• Moon Wisdom, Choreographer/Dancer, “For Women of Rage and Reason”

• Dr. Aminata C. Baruti, Choreographer/Dancer, “Blues Migration Dance”

• Samiya A. Bashir, Poet, “Treason” Michael Simmons, International Human Rights Activist

• Dr. Charlotte Pierce Baker, Author “Surviving the Silence: Black Women’s Stories of Rape”

• Rosetta Williams, Poet & Visual Artist

• Sulaiman Nuriddin, Men’s Intervention Program Manager, Men Stopping Violence

• Queen, Poet

1. The film took 11 years to make
2. The film was shot and edited completed by an all women cast
3. The film raised money by traveling across the world
4. The film's first interview was with Essex Hemphill right before his death
5. The film was turned down by HBO who sited "too many smart Black women."