Join us on Zoom for today's program!

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Please click the link below to join the webinar:

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https://moadsf-org.zoom.us/j/82815248250?pwd=OCszNmhMQ3NJaDFFa1ExcGlOTGdTQT09
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Passcode: 609238

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MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, BLACK PUBLIC MEDIA and POV Community Network present —

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African Diaspora Film Club at MoAD | FRESHWATER with dream hampton and DESCENDED FROM THE PROMISED LAND: THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET with Nailah Jefferson

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Join us for our final installment of The African Diaspora Film Club. Modeled after our African Book Club, we meet to discuss a film, two films in this case, that we have all viewed in advance of the discussion. The conversation will be moderated by Cornelius Moore, a longtime director at California Newsreel and film series curator at MoAD. We will be choosing a selection of films, some previously screened at MoAD. You may have already seen it, or this may be your first introduction. In either case, join us for a lively discussion of the film.

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This month we will discuss two short films with filmmakers dream hampton and Nailah Jefferson. FRESHWATER (dream hampton, 2022, 10 min) is meditation on Detroit unveiling the fluid nature of memory in familial legacies. DESCENDED FROM THE PROMISED LAND: THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET (Nailah Jefferson, 2021, 22 minutes) ponders how Black Wall Street might have influenced the nation had the Tulsa Race Massacre never happened. The film offers an intimate look at the tragedy's lingering economic, psychological, and emotional impacts through the lens of several family descendants.

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This event is a collaboration with Black Public Media and POV Shorts, the best and boldest independent non-fiction short films from POV on PBS www.pbs.org/pov

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You will receive instructions to join via zoom after you sign up here. Look for an email from MoAD after you sign up, if you don't receive it in your inbox, look in your spam or junk mail.

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We will not screen the films during the convening. You may view FRESHWATER on POV/PBS here, and you may view DESCENDED FROM THE PROMISED LAND: THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET on Black Public Media's AfroPop Digital Shorts Series here.

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View the films in advance and then join us for the discussion on Sunday, December 10, 5-6pm (PST).

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ABOUT THE FILMS

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FRESHWATER

Detroiters experienced an enhanced form of water destruction from massive flooding that destroyed homes, belongings and lives in the summer of 2021. The water rose in streets, alleys, yards and, most devastatingly, in people’s homes, where it submerged possessions and memories, and surfaced emotions many were not prepared to confront. 2022 Blackstar Film Festival; Freep Film Festival; Gary International Film Festival; Chicago International Film Festival; RiverRun International Festival; Mountainfilm Festival; Media City Film Festival

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DESCENDED FROM THE PROMISED LAND: THE LEGACY OF BLACK WALL STREET

If the Tulsa Race Massacre had never happened, would Black Wall Street have influenced the entire nation? In 1921, North Tulsa’s Greenwood District, the most prosperous Black community in America, was set ablaze, bombed, and looted during a racially motivated violent attack against the thriving Black community. Businesses, homes, and lives were lost and Black Wall Street as it was known, has never reclaimed its former glory. The Tulsa Race Massacre was only the first in a line of repeated targeted attacks on the progress of the Greenwood District and its residents. Guided through the lens of Black Wall Street descendants Byron Crenshaw, Jacqueline Blocker, and Michelle Blocker, we draw a century-long thread from the Tulsa Race Massacre to the present, exploring the lingering economic, psychological, and emotional impacts that have undermined the rebuilding of the once-thriving community. Through intimate interviews and lyrical verite, Byron, Jacqueline, Michelle, and their family members reach back to uplift the stories of their forebears, the success they created, the pride they possess, while also reckoning with the unfulfilled potential of what could have been a Black Promised Land.

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ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

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dream hampton is an award-winning filmmaker and writer from Detroit. For two decades her essays and cultural criticism helped shape a generation. Her most recent works include the award winning short film "Freshwater" (NYT OpDocs/PBS, 2023) and "Ladies First (Netflix, 2023). Selected works include "Treasure" (Frameline, 2015), "Finding Justice" (BET, 2019), "It's A Hard Truth Ain't It" (HBO, 2019) and the Emmy nominated "Surviving R. Kelly" (Netflix, 2019), which broke ratings records and earned her a Peabody Award. In 2019, hampton was named one of TIME 100's most influential people in the world.

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Nailah Jefferson is a New Orleans born filmmaker whose work spans fiction and nonfiction. He debut film Vanishing Pearls told the story of the little known African American oyster fishing community in Louisiana in the aftermath of the 2010 BP Oil Spill. It premiered at the Slamdance film festival and later aired on Netflix. In 2021, Nailah’s short documentary Descended From A Promised Land: The Legacy of Black Wall Street screened at the 2021 DOC NYC and Martha's Vineyard Black Film Festival and in streaming on Black Public Media’s AfroPop Digital Shorts Series, September 2023, Nailah’s second feature documentary, the HBO Original Donyale Luna: Supermodel premiered on HBO and Max. The film was hailed as one of the best documentaries of 2023 by Vogue Magazine. Nailah’s most recent film, Commuted, tells the story of Danielle Metz, a woman whose triple life drug sentence was commuted by President Obama after serving 23 years. Commuted premiered at the 2023 New Orleans film festival.

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The African Diaspora Film Club is presented in partnership with Black Public Media

Black Public Media (BPM), formerly known as National Black Programming Consortium develops, produces, funds, and distributes media content about the African American and global Black experience. Our mission is to commit to a fully realized expression of democracy and we accomplish this by supporting diverse voices through training, education, and investment in visionary content makers.

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For 40 years, BPM has addressed the needs of unserved and underserved audiences. BPM continues to address historical, contemporary, and systemic challenges that traditionally impede the development and distribution of black stories.

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This event is a collaboration with POV Shorts, the best and boldest independent non-fiction short films from POV on PBS www.pbs.org/pov

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