At first glance you may see Bill Duke in a
crowd of actors and producers and need
a reminder of exactly where he fits. This
lifelong student of films and history has
spent much more time behind the camera
in the last 20 years than in front of it.
At second sight you may be arrested,
a bit, by his size and skin tight shaven
head; this talented African-American actor
has been described in print as imposing
and intimidating. But look closer into
his huge dark, warm eye--and that great
big smile-- and you’ll know what his life
is about.

Words like ‘calm,’ ‘equanimity’ or ‘humanitarian’
come to mind. Those perceptions
are reinforced when you speak to
him and hear the timbre of his voice, all
slow and easy. It’s then you realize you
that you are in the presence of a deeply
caring, gentle man.

Although you may know Duke from his
acting roles over the years, we may not
connect the face in front of the camera
with the name of the man who early in
his career directed such films as A Rage
In Harlem, starring Danny Glover, Forest
Whitaker and Gregory Hines, about
gangsters and Harlem, and love in its
most pure expression; or Band of Angels,
set in the post-Civil War South, which
traces the history of the Fisk University
Jubilee Singers from their roots as a
struggling opera company to their early
success as gospel and spiritual forces.
Now many years later and still behind
the camera, Duke is developing for the
big screen Not Equally Broken, a book
by Bishop T.D. Jakes. Jakes is the beloved
pastor who started out in West Virginia
with ten members in his church. He grew
it into a worldwide ministry and is often
mentioned by Dr. Phil, whose public
adoration for him is well known.

This, Duke says, “Is a powerful story
of destruction and restoration. It offers
insights into issues many relationships
face.” Duke is also working on a project
for HBO about the music scene in Detroit
in the 1960’s, focusing on the rivalry
between American Bandstand and Soul
Train. He has grown, along with his
films, more and more socially conscious
through the years.

As his talent has evolved, he has taken
the responsibility of telling accurate stories
more seriously.

In the film Cover his commitment to
taking personal responsibility first took
flight as he tackled AIDS. This film was
inspired by the heartache he experienced
after getting the news that his goddaughter
had been diagnosed with the disease.
It was a hard dose of reality that was
important for him to share. At that time,
both Duke and his goddaughter were
shocked to find out that her significant
other of 14 years had been sleeping with
other men. Duke said, “It inspired me
to research the growing phenomenon of
men in so-called monogamous relationships
who are spending
every possible moment
sleeping with men on
the low down.” Cover,

Duke, stresses, “does not
condemn anyone’s sexual
behavior, it emphasizes
responsibility. No matter
what your preference,
you have an obligation to
your partner.”

The way his god daughter
had been infected
with AIDS by a man she
trusted, unaware of his infidelity, also
provoked Duke, and that was another
motive for directing and producing
Cover. “Then,” he said, “seeing all the
stats – the fact of the matter is that one in
seven black men in DC is infected with
HIV, that of the newly reported cases of
HIV/AIDS among women, 70 percent
are black women, and that the majority
of those women are infected by men who
know they have the disease but did not
tell them. To just stand still and not do or
say anything is, in my mind, criminal.”
Not surprisingly, Duke has become
something of a walking catalog of
statistics and an expert, evidenced as he
weaves into his often passionate discussion
about the twin causes – HIV/AIDS
and education – that he has made his
priority.

“I’m not an activist or anything, but I’m
a filmmaker so I try to use my skills as
a filmmaker to do what I can do,” Duke
said, “We cannot afford to get blamnesia…
that’s the black man’s amnesia. Our
concerns have to transcend our personal
needs.”

For more of the interview downlaod the magazine