Filmed in Oakland, San Francisco, and New York City, Tongues Untied shares fierce examples of homophobia and racism: the man refused entry to a gay bar because of his color; the college student left bleeding on the sidewalk after a gay-bashing; the loneliness and isolation of the drag queen or trans woman. Yet, they also affirm the Black, gay male experience: protest marches, smoky bars, "snap diva," humorous "musicology" and vogue dancers, in Marlon Riggs' seminal film.

Marlon Riggs graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and received his masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he became the youngest tenured professor at the Graduate School of Journalism.
In 1989, Marlon completed his landmark experimental documentary film Tongues Untied. Ultimately, it was aired on national PBS as part of the television series P.O.V. The three principal voices of Tongues Untied are those of Riggs, and poets Essex Hemphill, and Joseph Beam. Tongues Untied had political backlash; Republican Senator Jesse Helms famously argued to defund the arts after its release. He produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films, including Ethnic Notions, Tongues Untied, Color Adjustment, and Black Is...Black Ain't. His films examine past and present representations of race and sexuality in the United States.

Marlon Riggs was an Oakland resident and lived in the Adams Point neighborhood where he died of AIDS related complications in 1994 at the age of 37.

"A Black male warrior fighting for the right to love other Black men,
Marlon Riggs affirms what was nearly lost, newly found: the certainty
that Black male lives are utterly precious."
—Alice Walker, Author, The Color Purple