Wednesday, October 29, 2008
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY
As you may have seen on flyers posted around campus, there is going to be a screening of a documentary called, "The Black List," which chronicles the lives of a number of prominent African Americans. The documentary filmmakers will also be on hand to discuss their film and respond to questions. This all takes place on Monday, Nov. 3rd at 7PM in the Hub-Bub Showroom (149 S. Daniel Morgan Ave. about a block west from city hall, perhaps a mile from the Wofford campus). You may earn 5 extra credit points by attending and posting a two or three paragraph reaction to what you saw as a comment on this blog post.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
The documentary was really interesting. I enjoyed hearing what all the Black people had to say. I especially liked that the people chosen to speak had all done great things with their lives. Many had won great prizes in life, worked a great job, or even had influential parents.
One speaker said that there is a "definition of Black America but not White America." I thought that really tied into our class on how Whites tend to not identify themselves racially but Blacks and other minorities do and have to live their lives a different way.
I was very impressed that the men who directed and interviewed all of the people in the movie, Lukas and Elvis, came to speak at the event. It was so nice of them to come answer questions of people in Spartanburg and they had many interesting things to say.
“The Black List” was an excellent documentary. Each person interviewed had at least a one-liner, , if not their entire interview, that really impacted me. Still, there were a few who stood out to me above the rest. The first was Faye Wattleton, former president of Planned Parenthood, and one of the least famous interviewees. At one point she said that she was sorry that her daughter, a Harvard-educated Lawyer, didn't grow up in a segregated African American community, like she did. I thought that this was a surprising thing to say, but it was definitely brought up in one way or another in many of the other interviews as well. Additionally, after the movie a woman asked a question about this topic. Much of this sentiment comes from the desire to feel comfortable in the place where you live, that you are amongst people who care and support you. Kareem Abdul Jabbar, spoke to this when he quoted someone from a book he wrote, saying “I'd rather be a lamppost in Harlem than governor of Georgia".
Another aspect of the black community under segregation is that it forced together black people from all walks of life, producing a spirit of togetherness. Docters were living next to plumbers and lawyers next to postmen. Now those who find success immediately move out of the black neighborhoods, solidifying their achievement. While this makes sense for them to move to a nicer and safer area, it deprives the black community of much needed role models, who can show those left behind a way out. Al Sharpton brought up this deficiency in his point about the new definition of manliness in black society, which glorifies the thug/gangster image. These characters are looked up to in inner-city black neighborhoods because they are the ones who hold the power there, including money and the ability to insight fear amongst others.
I have to mention one of the best lines in the documentary, which was delivered by Chris Rock. I forget his exact words, but he said something about true equality being when black people can suck like white people. His example of the community he lives in was hilarious. He mentioned the three or four other black people who live there, all of whom are hall-of-famers or world-class in their professions, and then his white neighbor, who is just a dentist. In speaking of baseball, he said that the profession was not fully integrated until sometime in the 70s, which he realized because there started to be black players who sucked. Though his comments were very funny they are also very true.
Ok, Gwen & Jessica O. Glad you enjoyed it. I would just add to some of your comments, especially Jessica's note about the importance of living in a black community that some of them brought up, that that supports Dr. Tatum's major point about the importance of developing a healthy racial identity.
“The Black List “is a documentary film that features prominent African Americans and their thoughts regarding race and their accomplishments, and a few comments on the upcoming election. The first guest is Slash, the guitar player and only white member of Guns and Roses. He makes the statement that his racial identity never really came up until the lyrics in one of the band’s songs included the n-word. Slash was brought under fire by many minority members because they wondered why he had not stood up for his people. He had not considered the fact that so many people were concerned and aware of his race as a member of the band. Slash found it ironic that he is featured in the Jewish Hall of Fame, and by the context of his statement, I assume that he is not Jewish. Al Sharpton is also a guest on the documentary. Sharpton discussed the significance of the Black church. For many African Americans, especially during the Civil Rights Movement era, the church was really the only place an African American could hold a title. The church offered a sort of dignity to it’s members and as a result, African American colleges and support groups were formed due to the sense of community.
Walking into the Hub Bub to view the film, I had no idea what to expect. My knowledge of the documentary was that it told of the lives of Black people who had succeeded despite all obstacles. Over all I enjoyed the experience. It was an educational event in that it offered a candid glimpse into the lives of people who have struggled and won the battle to “become somebody.” It was nice to realize that change has come and is continuing to work in American society. I don’t believe that at any other time than the present, American has been ready to accept even the possibility of an African American president.
I really enjoyed the documentary last night. It gave me personal insight from various different people with different backgrounds about their opinions on life. I know that they are all successful African Americans now, but they each shared a little bit about themselves that told me that it was not always that way. One of the men talked about how our culture has never truly been "monolithic" and he was completely right in that comment. I personally would not have none that had I not taken this class.
Because I was unable to take notes last night while watchig the film, I watched youtube videos of the speakers who I really liked. During all this, I watched a promo video of Chris Rock commenting that a black list " is a list of people who are unemployed who are treated like black people." I went on and tried to dig a little more, and the co-creater of the film said that he assumed that as well when he was little, but that so much of black culture is about taking the negative and making it positive. I thought that was really interesting and relates to a lot of things we have talked about in class. I highly recommend this film to people, because I believe it will open eyes and break barriers.
Aften & Amy, ok, I've read your comments. Aften, I believe you meant to say Slash was Black (not White).
Before attending the viewing of “The Black List”, I was highly anticipating it because I had heard about the documentary over the summer, but was unable to view it. Before I give my praises of an extraordinary documentary, I must give a few criticisms. The only “criticism” I have is that the documentary failed to interview someone from the medical field, someone from the education field, as well as a religious leader. Although, Al Sharpton spoke from a religious standpoint I believe it is still important to have someone with a strict religious background to speak about the pillar of the Black community, which is the Black church. I would have loved to have seen Dr. Ben Carson interviewed as well or even Dr. Jocelyn Elders. An interview from an educators point of view would have also made a great impact; for example Marian Wright Elderman. However, my criticisms are not technically criticisms they are just things I would like to see in the next video because without the people I mentioned the documentary was amazing.
The video included many great people in the African American community. I was immediately drawn into the film at the very beginning. I was intrigued to learn that Slash was African American. As many times as I have seen Guns-N-Roses on television I never knew one of the members was African American. I was pleased to see that when he was put in a situation to defend his race, he did just that. I can’t imagine how he felt when his band mate wanted him to be a part of a song that was completely negative towards his race.
Keenan Ivory Wayans provided the comic relief of the film. His story of the high school prank was very funny. While he was telling the story I immediately knew his reply as to what the Black student was going to do when he was frightened. Myself as well as the Black student beside me both said, before he had a chance to, that as a Black person we would turn around “swinging”[our fists].
Richard Parsons quoted his grandmother as saying, “Now remember, you want to be a credit to your race”, I completely understood where she was coming from. This is something I believe the grandmother figure in most African American’s lives pass on to them. As an African American I have heard statements like this all of my life. I have always been told that I have to work twice as hard to achieve half as much as my fellow white classmates.
Overall, each of the interviews had a meaningful purpose and the documentary was well put together. Elvis Mitchell deserves much praise for a great idea and for the wonderful execution of the film. I look forward to viewing volume II in February. I would also like to see more events like this on campus and in the Spartanburg community.
Ok, Jessica H.. I agree it would have been nice to have someone like Marian Wright Edelman, or even Beverly Tatum.
Post a Comment