Meet Roderick Lawrence Ingram Jr.

Tell us about you:

I am an actor, activist, writer, producer, and cofounder/ President of Black Man Films LLC. I am a Cleveland native and graduate of Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. After graduation I moved to Harlem NY and began the work. I won the 2022 BronzeLens Film Festival award for best actor for the lead in “Silent Partner” (Oscar-qualifying live action short) and a 2020 Audelco nominee. My credits include Simba in Disney’s “The Lion King” National tour, Ramses in the Broadway-bound “THE PRINCE OF EGYPT”, Othello in John Leguizamo’s “Othello: The Remix”, Floyd Barton in “August Wilson’s Seven Guitars”, and Jesus in “Godspell”.

What is your definition of having a positive attitude and leading a positive life?

I am a ruler of my own fate and destiny. During the pandemic I was jobless and dealing with my own mental health - during this time I began to really research Black male mental health and microaggressions and Black Man Films LLC was created in this space.

I am a young Black man in America who is working in systemically racist institutions filled with conscious and unconscious biases. I feel it is my duty to create a space for my Black men and women to be represented as authentically and truthful as possible. Utilizing Black Man Films LLC as a platform of activism through art - Black men and women will be represented as strong, affluent, and brilliant. I created our premier film "Silent Partner" film to express my point of view and the POV of other Black men and women who for generations have been held back by others, under the guise of kindness and helpfulness, yet kept under an unyielding yoke that treats us as less than equal.

Tell us about a time when being positive was the furthest from your mind but somehow you were able to make it through whatever you were going through:

I believe my presence in your magazine will let your audience know that anything is possible when you make the decision to do something. I operate in the realm of I can do anything. I wholly believe I am going to achieve everything I want. If I want it, I can have it and will have it. That is the belief I operate under. No doubt - only results

Share with us a stereotype that you have been put in but you continuously do your part to not fit the characteristics of the stereotype. Explain:

I have a very clear vision for my future and I’m going to do whatever it takes to achieve all of my goals - not only for myself but for my people.

Black women are Queens and should be respected as such. We need to honor our Queens - none of us would be here if it were not for Black women. None of us.

Black men are misunderstood even amongst each other and being able to collaborate with other Black men in the work that I create is necessary and rewarding.

My father had a very difficult like and knowing what he has accomplished and overcome is motivation for me to be excellent in all that I do. Excellence is the only option.

Education and knowledge really is power- You cannot create change in this world without first being knowledgeable. You must be educated to even enter certain spaces to create real, authentic change.

As Black man in today’s America - the representation that we are given in the media is horrendous. Black Man LLC is here to dismantle those stereotypes.

Confidence and knowing of who you are is an essential part of accomplishing everything that I intend to accomplish. My identity cannot waiver - if it does my vision will also waiver.

Do you know someone who is doing the DANG THANG and deserves to be showcased? Email us at info@latonyamechelle.com

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