'We Are Freestyle Love Supreme' Hulu documentary postponed to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protests
The stars of the Hulu documentary 'We Are Freestyle Love Supreme' have now decided to delay the release date in order to express solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests that have been sweeping the country. The 85-minute feature, which explores the origin story of the improvisational hip-hop collective called Freestyle Love Supreme (which spawned a Broadway musical of the same name) was scheduled to air on June 5, but that release has now been postponed to July 17.
One of the stars of the freestyle rap group, the 'Hamilton' hitmaker Lin-Manuel Miranda had previously pledged his support for the BLM protests and apologized for his previous silence on this thorny issue. The sickening death of George Floyd on May 25 has caused a lot of unrest, violence and property damage throughout the nation, and things are threatening to reach a tipping point. So in view of the current sociopolitical climate, the makers and stars of the documentary, the rap group Freestyle Love Supreme have decided to push the airdate to a more convenient time in order to keep the attention on the current burning issues that are clearly far more pressing.
The hip-hop collective Freestyle Love Supreme released a lengthy statement on Twitter that started with the caption: "Black Lives Matter. We will be postponing the release of the #WeAreFreestyleLoveSupreme documentary and look forward to sharing it with you in the future. Today, take action: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co" Their main post read: "We. Are. Freestyle. Love. Supreme. We are for the freedom of expression, creativity, inclusion, equality, and most of all, love." The group then emphatically stated, "Our work has always centered around creating a safe space for those ideals to flourish. Our show does not exist without the operations of brilliant black artists that created two of our most beloved American art forms, jazz, and hip-hop." The statement continued, "Today our country, our world struggles to reach an end to this systemic racial injustice, intolerance, police brutality and hate. We add our voices to that fight. To that struggle. Because in this moment, our collective attention is turned toward these most pressing concerns.”
Freestyle Love Supreme then dropped the bombshell. "We have decided to postpone the premiere of our film, 'We Are Freestyle Love Supreme'. We believe that through activism, understanding, and love, this country will realize that now is the time for lasting, real change, and equity."
Fans seemed to unanimously approve of this move, with one saying, "Thank you for using your platform to support the cause. Thank you... As a black woman who also needs moments of joy, please don’t delay too long." Another follower said, "I am sad for the delay while being so proud of your decision to postpone the release! Thank you for leading the way through your stellar example of how it's done." Other fans chimed in, saying "Disappointed, but totally understand. What's going on needs to take center stage for all of us right now." An understanding fan concluded, "Sad because of the delay but somehow I feel prouder than ever of your actions. Keep using your voice like this. You are miracle workers and we owe you so much. Thank you."
The new release date for Hulu's 'We Are Freestyle Love Supreme' has now been updated as July 17.