At Last: Congress Apologizes for Salvery and Jim Crow Laws

Sometimes good news comes out of nowhere or, as on Tuesday, out of congress, where the House has apologized for slavery and the Jim Crow laws. A lot of people have been pushing for this for some time. But there has never been, until now, sufficient collective will to make it happen. So we say: Well done congresspersons! But also: About time!

The full text of the bill makes interesting reading. This is not a collection of vague words. It reads like the person who wrote it, and the people who passed it, really do understand that there is a lot to apologize for. Consider these assertions, which the House of Representatives has now asserted to be true:

...a century after the official end of slavery in America, Federal action was required during the 1960s to eliminate the dejure and defacto system of Jim Crow throughout parts of the Nation, though its vestiges still linger to this day;

Which is what Dare Not Walk Alone is all about. And this:

...African-Americans continue to suffer from the complex interplay between slavery and Jim Crow--long after both systems were formally abolished--through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;

So, if you should hear someone saying that racial inequality is all in the past and that things are all well and good today, kindly tell them that ain't so, and when they ask "Says who?" you can now answer "Says the United States House of Representatives."
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Theater in New York to "Pioneer" Dare Not Walk Alone

Exciting news for supporters of Dare Not Walk Alone. On August 22 the film will start a week long run in New York, at the Pioneer Theater, Third Street at Avenue A. Times are not yet posted on the theater's web site but we are told there will be two showings a night.

Please let friends and family know about this. Obviously it will be a huge boost to the film if folks turn out in strong numbers for these showings. Here's the theater info:

Pioneer Theater
155 East 3rd Street, at Avenue A
New York City
Showtimes: (212) 591 0434
Pioneer Theater Website

Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama: Could both be right about responsibility?

As reported by the New York Times today, the Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized for critical and crude comments he made about Senator Barack Obama. While regrettable in a number of ways, this incident sheds welcome light on an issue that needs to be discussed more openly, the question of responsibility for the current state of affairs in poor black communities. One is reminded that the director's original tag line for Dare Not Walk Alone was "The War of Responsibility." Watching the movie certainly puts sentiments like Rev. Jackson's in context.

Now Senator Obama is inclined to say that absentee fathers are, at least in part, to blame for some of the problems afflicting black Americans, for example: “We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception.” Rev. Jackson thinks this is “talking down to black people.” Rev. Jackson says other issues should be highlighted, including unemployment, the mortgage crisis and the number of blacks in prison. In other words, past actions by white are also to blame.

According to a statement by Rev. Jackson reported in the Times: “My appeal was for the moral content of his message to not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy which would be a corrective action for the lack of good choices that often led to their irresponsibility.”

Surely both men are right. There is definitely a woeful lack of good choices in some communities. And bad choices by white politicians have not helped. It has to be very discouraging to grow up in a neighborhood that has no sewer system and then watch your county commissioners divert federal funds intended for sewer improvements into a wealthy and predominantly white sub-division. Or attend a school that has far less resources than the white school on the other side of town.

But the fact is, some people succeed despite such things, and maybe some of them are able to do so because they have fathers who stuck by them and encouraged them. And while some fathers shirk their responsibilities for purely selfish reasons, others find themselves ill-equipped to cope with their responsibilities. As the Times points out, the way you see this issue is partly determined by your age. Here's what Rev. Jackson's son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois, who serves as a national co-chairman of Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign, had to say: “Reverend Jackson is my dad, and I’ll always love him...[but]...I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself.”

Back in 2003-2004, when Dare Not Walk Alone was conceived, it was almost impossible to think that America could have a public debate on this topic. That is one reason so few people were prepared to back the film. Which proves things can change a lot in four years.
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Notre Dame to Screen Dare Not Walk Alone

The University of Notre Dame will be showing Dare Not Walk Alone in October as part of the WORLDVIEW Film Series. There will be three showings: Friday, October 10, 2008, at 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm, and Saturday, October 11, 2008, at 6:30 pm. Click here for details.

The screenings will be in the the Browning Cinema which is equipped to show films in almost any format (and is the only THX-certified cinema in Indiana). Director Jeremy Dean will be there for a Q&A session on Friday evening.

WORLDVIEW is an initiative from the Office of the President to promote constructive dialogue about issues of diversity, including race, ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic class, and gender…through the arts.

Dare Not Walk Alone to Screen in Gainesville, Florida

After playing New York in August, the theatrical release of Florida filmmaker Jeremy Dean's Dare Not Walk Alone will continue in September at Gainesville's historic Hippodrome State Theater. Dates and times will be announced on the blog. Here are some comments on the film from Variety and the prestigious Film Journal International:

"This thoughtful documentary brings alive a disturbing time in American history." -- Film Journal

"Dean's ability to explore history through such a local nexus creates a uniquely intimate document" -- Variety

"The racial politics of the current presidential election make this film all the more significant" -- Film Journal

Dare Not Walk to Open in New York City in August

We are pleased to announced that Dare Not Walk Alone, the independent documentary described by the LA Times as "a powerful slice of roiling American history," will be playing in New York in August, opening on the 22nd. Details to follow.
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An Historic First for America: Senator Obama secures Democratic nomination

One month shy of the 44th anniversary of the signing of the first civil rights act, the headline from New York Times says it all: Obama Claims Nomination; First Black to Lead a Major Party Ticket. We've come a long way America!
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More on Race, Politics, and Dare Not Walk Alone

Carrying on from the previous post about racism that has surfaced during the Obama primary campaign, it is useful to ask where the racism resides. Dare Not Walk Alone paints a disturbing picture of one Florida community where the effects of past racism are still felt, even though none of the local officials in power there today could be described as racist.

The film quotes some pretty stark statistics that present a local snapshot of the racial divide 40 years after the first civil rights act was signed into law. One statistic that was not included in the film: infant mortality rates. Across America as a whole, black babies are nearly 2.5 times more likely than white babies to die before reaching their first birthday; but things were worse than that for black babies born in St. Johns County in the period just prior to the movie being made (2002-2004). Their mortality rate was 18.2 per 1,000 live births, way lower than the rate of 74.4 in Haiti but worse than Albania, Fiji, Grenada, and Vietnam to name a few). That number of 18.2 is also pretty dismal compared to an overall US average of 6.8 and a rate of 5.2 for white babies born in St. Johns County (these numbers are from the CDC, CIA, and PRB).

It has to be said that, following new initiatives by both the state and non-profit groups, the infant mortality rate for black babies born in St Johns County appears to have been reduced in the last couple of years. However, there is still a black/white divide both locally and nationally. That's not a political statement but a fact. Where things get political is when you talk about why the gap exists and what should be done to close it. As with the black/white unemployment gap, some responses are potentially incendiary, like: "Those kids should get jobs instead of hanging out on the corners." Reaction to a statement like that can vary, depending on the race of the person making it. But whoever says it needs to bear in mind that getting a job is easier said than done, at least in some parts of America.
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Racism in the Raw: Obama campaigners run into reality

With so much going on in the presidential primaries this story did not get much notice: Racism alarms Obama backers - Washington Post. The central fact of the story, that folks doing grass roots campaigning for Senator Barack Obama have encountered overt racism, will come as a surprise to some people, but not to others.

Try making a movie about race in America today and you learn a lot about how people really feel. You find that there's a fair amount of racial prejudice just beneath the surface. Scratch the surface, for example, just by bringing up the subject, and you can get you an earful. So you have to expect the same to be true for a black person taking a run at the presidency. While some white folks are clearly quite happy to vote for a black president, for others it may just be too much, and that's a sad reflection on our country.

When Dare Not Walk Alone played in Los Angeles last month, here's what the Film Journal critic said: "The racial politics of the current presidential election make this film all the more significant." So, does this make Dare Not Walk Alone a political film?

That's a hard question to answer because politics, like beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder. The film does not preach. There is no narrator making statements. This is not a Michael Moore style documentary. Jeremy Dean lets the events and the people involved speak for themselves. (As Variety noted "Dean's ability to explore history through such a local nexus creates a uniquely intimate document.")

But that doesn't mean some of what is said in the film is not controversial. When a black US congresswoman compares parts of St. John's County, one of the wealthiest counties in Florida, home to the nation's 'oldest city' and The Players Championship, with Haiti, you can bet that riled some white politicians in the county. But then a former politician [white] describes the deplorable lack of proper sanitation. And the camera captures some scenes that are not staged and not very pretty. In the end, most people are going to get the idea that things are far from rosy and the filmmaker is not just making this up.

Is life like that for all African Americans? No. Do all white people think black people complain too much? No. Do all black people think white people can't be trusted? No. Will carrying an Obama sign while white teach you something about race in America? Probably, it pretty much depends where you are carrying it.
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Packs a Punch! What critics are saying about Dare Not Walk Alone

Here is the cream of the Los Angeles reviews for Dare Not Walk Alone which played there last week.

"Powerful slice of roiling American history" -- LA Times

"Packs a punch" -- LA Weekly

"Mesmerizing and heart-rending" -- L.A. City Beat

"Dean's ability to explore history through such a local nexus creates a uniquely intimate document." -- Variety

"The racial politics of the current presidential election make this film all the more significant." -- Film Journal

"Clear-eyed look at the adversaries of Martin Luther King Jr.’s utopian “dream”...reminds us that, for far too many Americans of color, “free at last” has meant trading one sociological prison for another." -- LA Weekly

"Has great potential to do real good in the world" -- Boxoffice

"A very strong comment on the capacity of people to ascend from their suffering." -- Boxoffice

"Dean handles the historical material with skill, insidiously intercutting vintage travel promos touting St. Augustine's tourist-friendly beaches with sequences of mass chaos in the same locations." -- Variety

"More than just another civil-rights history lesson. This thoughtful documentary brings alive a disturbing time in American history." -- Film Journal