When the Gaudí awards ceremony ended, the majority comment was that the best part of the gala had been the speech by the actress and singer Yolanda Sey claiming her black Catalanness, especially in the audiovisual world.
How did the idea of holding this parliament come about?
It was a proposal from Oye Polo, who directed and scripted the gala, and they were clear that they wanted to talk about the racial issue in Catalan cinema, but they didn't want to do it and they proposed it to me.
Who wrote it?
The three of us were talking about what we wanted to get out of it. The speech has a lot of Oye Polo's mark in terms of irony, and the content was mostly proposed by me.
With the use of irony, a lot of people were a little confused at first.
Yes, it was like that. We used irony so that it wouldn't be out of tune with the general tone of the gala. Wanting to turn the tables and put things the other way around is a way of getting people to empathize more, although there were some who were a little surprised.
Has there been any reaction from the profession in general or towards you in particular?
At the moment, no. Now the buzz is more mainstream and the video is widely shared on social media. This takes time, but I have a good feeling.
In your words, you denounced the stereotypical roles that are usually given to black performers: immigrants, sex workers... When you encountered them, how did you act?
In recent years, from the Tinta Negra collective, we have noticed that there is a kind of change. These are things that we have been reporting for a long time, but it is true that there have been changes in the theater world. But they are like mushrooms and the norm is that we get stereotypical castings. A few years ago, I starred in a film about a girl who came from Nigeria, without papers, a prostitute [ La mujer ilegal ], and I really enjoyed doing it, because I'm not saying that these things shouldn't be done do, but they don't have to be the only ones. Since then I have rejected many, because I don't want to do just that and because I keep a close eye on how this issue is treated.
What is Black Ink?
It is a collective of black performers and playwrights from Barcelona, which arose with the controversy of the play Àngels a América, by the Teatre Lliure. They say there are few black actors and actresses, that there aren't many of us. Thus, en masse, we show that we are many different faces and raise awareness.
When you played one of the twelve Colometes in Carlota Subirós' production of La plaça del Diamant at the TNC, was there any reaction?
There was no comment. Just like when I did a character of Yerma, at Teatre Lliure. She is an actress playing a character that is fictional. The work is a convention and everyone is understanding it. When you see that nothing happens with these things, it's hard for me to understand when they tell us that it can't be, that it's not credible, that it's strange. When you try and do it, you see that there is no reaction.
Neither negative nor positive, oi?
exactly In La plaça del Diamant, it was highlighted a bit that there were many different actresses who played the character, but not specifically how you play Colometa. It has been shown that once it has been done, nothing has happened and, on the other hand, when they tell us that we will not be caught, they argue that it would happen.
Are you comfortable with the term “racialized actress”?
Yes, I find myself there, because that's how the world sees us. The day we stop being racialized, we will stop using it.
What would you say to someone who doesn't understand that you can play any role as a Catalan? What is being Catalan?
There has been a lot of uproar on the networks and the most negative comments are those who say that people in Catalonia are white, the race is white. I understand where this comes from, because most people are white, but when they say that, they deny my existence, because I was born here. They are telling me that I am not real and that I cannot represent myself, therefore I do not exist. It is a burden that we carry, that affects us emotionally, at work, on many levels.
what to do
There needs to be a change in mentality, we need to appeal to everyone's conscience, because there are non-white people who were born here and who, therefore, are Catalan. With this attitude, they are saying that there are first-class and second-class Catalans, and they are labeling me as a second-class Catalan, with fewer rights. This is very serious, because they are saying that there are classes within Catalan.
It's the Catalan word for soca-rel.
Yes, the eight Catalan surnames. It scares people when we say that maybe we have to rethink Catalanity. But it is not to rethink it, but to realize that it is now different from twenty or forty years ago.
Is your public projection also a responsibility?
When they proposed to me to make the speech, I took it as a responsibility because I want things to change for the whole group. I have received messages from families who have black children thanking me for their children, who do not see any kind of representation, and this affects the street level.
