Harsh.TV Hotspot Features Al Greeze

"Are Black Men Really Frustrated With Black Women?"

Or is it Black men who choose not to be with Black women the problem?

When Al Greeze first read the telling Essence article entitled, "Blame it On Rio," all he could think was, "say it ain't so." Black women are still the Black man's Nubian Queen, right? The independent documentary film "Frustrated" answers that question, and so many others. Call it a film of confessions from Al Greeze, a New York film maker who is not afraid to take on controversial and riveting issues within the African American community.

Most young black men in the United States don't graduate from high school. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the U.S. than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world. Seventy-percent of Black children are being raised in female-headed households. And these homes lack adequate male role models. Where are the black men who are available? "Frustrated" reveals that many are running away from the sistahs and into the arms of Brazilian beauties.

"When Black men leave Back women, the children suffer", says Greeze. "I produced this film to try to get everyone back on the same page as a community and to think about how Black families are going to sustain themselves if the number of available men is continuing to decline.

“Frustrated” has found that the men who travel, vacation, work and live in Brazil strongest argument is, “In Brazil, we are treated like men", the the women counter, "then act like men". The facts were concealed by a sea of Brazilian beauties and the time old adage that sex sells as depicted in the Essence article by Dr. Jalani Cobb, "Blame it on Rio". Frustrated is straight-talk and the contentions are compelling. What Greeze discovers is disturbing but not necessarily surprising.

"Frustrated" is the result of a conflict between the male ego and identity and the independence and economic and educational divide of the female success. By the interviews in the film, you can tell the Sistahs aren't ready to give up; let the battle begin. But no longer willing to go into battle, some men have waived the white flag, ceased fire and decided to cross the border rather than concede of unrealistic expectations and reality driven social norms. And with that, the family suffers.

Greeze's goal is not to criticize either gender but to depict the needs, wants and expectations from both sexes in their relationships. What Greeze exposes is an opportunity for women and men to understand where communication and reality take a back seat and individualism is the name of the game to mend the cagey and guarded dance between the two sexes in an attempt to re-build the African American family nucleus.

To view the trailer of Frustrated, please visit www.greezefilms.com.