Harlem screening of Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust and preview of her new film on food griot, Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor

As March, Women's History Month comes to a close, I'm reminded that stories of women's struggles and achievements cannot be contained – or explored -- in 31 days. Happily, we can experience this month as a tribute to women, guiding us to actively seek women's stories and contributions throughout the year. Indeed, I began this month with a tribute to Julie Dash and a screening of her lyrical film about a Gullah family, DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, held at MIST Harlem/My Images Studio and Madiba Harlem.

A Sighting: Julie Dash in the audience at MIST Harlem 

Award-winning filmmaker Julie Dash sitting in the front row in the studio at MIST Harlem. Photo Credit: Luvon Roberson/What's The 411 Networks

Many of us braved the wintry March night and were rewarded: We were also treated to a preview of Dash's new film THE TRAVEL NOTES OF A GEECHIE GIRL, about the life and works of food anthropologist/griot Vertamae Grosvenor, who wrote the acclaimed cookbook and memoir, Cooking Vibrations or Travel Notes of a Geechie Girl. Smart-Grosvenor was born and raised in the same South Carolina Low Country depicted in DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST and spoke Gullah.

Watch Video of Vertamae Grosvenor

Following the screening, Julie Dash and New School Media Studies professor Michelle Materre discussed the history of the film. Dash, who grew up in Queens, New York City, spoke about her parents' Geechie heritage, how she and her family visited relatives in the Low Country during the summer, and the many ways in which being a "Geechie" was mocked when she was growing up. Dash then took questions from individuals in the standing-room-only MIST theatre. Dash also graciously granted me an interview, which her production crew filmed.

Another Sighting: Julie Dash on-stage and in-conversation

Award-winning filmmaker Julie Dash (Right) being interviewed by Professor Michelle Materre, New School Media Studies professor 

Gorgeous, Vibrant Images Framed in DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST

Dash's award-winning film for cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992, tells the story of three generations of Gullah women in the Peazant family at the turn of the 20th century who choose either to migrate North (the mainland) or remain on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST is told through the eyes of women and the voice of the narrator, Unborn Child, a girl. Renowned for its innovative use of song and language (the characters speak Gullah) as well as its visually arresting, lush imagery of black women, nature, food, and African Ancestors, the film was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the US National Film Registry, in 2004.

Although DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST was made in 1991, it is just as fresh and powerfully moving today as when I first saw it. As I watched the film this time, I was aware of how Dash and cinematographer/photographer Arthur Jaffe framed nuances of color, movement, hair textures, and ways of being that I had missed before. Yet, today, at least one reality remains: I have never seen such striking images of black women. That remains constant.

The film features Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbara-O, Trula Hoosier, Vertamae Grosvenor, and Kaycee Moore; and was filmed in South Carolina, on Saint Helena Island. In addition to the film, Dash wrote two related books: Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African-American Woman's Film (1992), which includes the screenplay; and Daughters of the Dust: A Novel (1997), which chronicles the family's events 20 years after the film's timeline.

Julie Dash's DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST helped me see how one screenwriter-director and author explores women's stories and captures women's images that flow over generations and, like water, sustains and delights us year after year. Despite the bitter cold early-March winds I endured to and from MIST theatre that evening, mine was a magical Gullah experience in Harlem.

QUICK TAKE: BIO of Julie Dash

Born in New York City, Julie Dash is a filmmaker, music video and commercial director, author and website creator. Dash's film studies began in Harlem in 1969, but eventually led her to the American Film Institute and UCLA, where she made The Diary of an African Nun (1977), based on a short story by Alice Walker, which won a student award from the Directors Guild of America. Dash's critically acclaimed short film Illusions (1982) later won the Jury Prize for Best Film of the Decade awarded by the Black Filmmakers Foundation.

Dash's first feature — Daughters of the Dust (1991) — was the first film by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release in the United States; the Library of Congress named it to the National Film Registry in 2004. Dash returned to the film's characters and their Gullah milieu in her novel of the same title, published in 1999.

Dash received an M.F.A from UCLA in 1985.

CLOSING LINES: Snippets & Quotes

The New York Times review of the novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST, which takes place in the 1920s:

"while the film focuses on the Peazant family at the point of their migration from an isolated island community of formerly enslaved Africans, the novel carries the story to the next generation--to the 1920s and Amelia Varnes, a student of anthropology who returns from New York to observe Gullah society for an ethnographic study and, in the process, rediscovers her matrilineal heritage. Inspired by Zora Neale Hurston, Dash elegantly combines sultry descriptions with evocations of oral tradition, cultural theory with a sincere reverence for Gullah esthetics and experience." –
The New York Times Book Review, Casey King (12/14/1997)

Documenting Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

This year's Day of Remembrance pays particular tribute to the many women who suffered and died during the slave trade. ... Women slaves played a key role in maintaining the dignity of their communities. Too often their leadership and brave resistance have been underestimated or forgotten. –Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General

The UN Secretary-General's statement is the backdrop to my Black History Month and Women's History Month experiences this year. It all began when, along with about 300 others, I showed up at the United Nations on February 11 to view the pre-screening of Episode 4 of THE BOOK OF NEGROES, the BET mini-series, based on the acclaimed novel by Lawrence Hill. You may remember TBON was on Oprah's 2010 Summer Reading List (also known in the US as Someone Knows My Name.

Book of Negroes is a historical document that records names and descriptions of 3,000 enslaved African-American who had to work for the British army during the American Revolution so as to qualify for their freedom. Following their service, they were evacuated on a British ship to points in Nova Scotia, Canada. Indeed, according to the author Hill, "Unless you were in Book of Negroes, you couldn't escape to Canada."

The screening was held in the cavernously imposing Economic & Social Council Chambers, at UN headquarters, with dizzying elevated tiers of semi-circular seating, all mounted with banks of mics and hundreds of tabletop monitors, lit up in cobalt blue hashtags -- #REMEMBERSLAVERY and #BOOKOFNEGROES. I noticed a smaller monitor where, with only a click, I could surf through several hundred channels of the world's languages. I figured out how to "program" the slender headphones, delightfully clicking away, first French then Mandarin Chinese, Swahili, Xhosa, Creole, and more. Much more. Tower of Babble, indeed.

United Nation's Economic and Social Chamber. Photo by Luvon Roberson

What's The 411 Book Editor, Luvon Roberson, at her seat at the United Nation's Economic and Social Chamber. Photo Credit: Luvon Roberson

Then, the lights dim, and I was transported from my high-tech 2015 world to Aminata Diallo's world in 1783. When only 11 years old, Aminata is snatched from her parents and village shackled in iron manacles, and beaten, enduring the horrific Middle Passage across the Atlantic. Yet, throughout this amazing woman's life, in the face of fearsome turbulence, adversity, and heartbreak, we see her steadfast determination, independence, and burning ambition for justice for herself – and all enslaved peoples. When the lights come up again, I am so immersed in her world that I feel a bit disconcerted to find myself, blinking, in the bright lights of the United Nations chamber. #REMEMBERSLAVERY #BOOKOFNEGROES.

Following the screening, we are treated to a Q & A with the stars of The Book of Negroes mini-series: Leading actress Aunjanue Ellis who plays Aminata Diallo, the enslaved African woman who wrote down and catalogued Book of Negroes and ultimately won her freedom through that service, and Oscar-award & Emmy-award winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., as well as the mini-series director, co-writer Clement Virgo.

Q and A session with stars of the mini-series, Book of Negroes, and the mini-series writer and co-director. Photo by Luvon Roberson

The preview screening, co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Canada, can also be viewed here. 

Book of Negroes would never have documented – or help set free -- so many of the transatlantic slave trade without Aminata Diallo's shining intelligence, tireless labor, and fiercely courageous efforts. Actor Lyriq Bent plays Chekura Diallo, the loving and brave man she eventually marries but, who, as a child, was among her enslavers in Africa. Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr., plays Samuel Fraunces, the renowned tavern owner/businessman in New York, who supports Aminato Diallo's efforts, yet caters to slaveholder General George Washington. After returning to Sierre Leone, West Africa, Aminata Diallo later becomes a vocal abolitionist in Britain, who fights to write her own story about the horrors of slavery. Actress Aunjanue Ellis shares her views on Aminata Diallo, here. 

Every year, on March 25, the UN holds International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This year, as I sought to learn more about the contributions of African-Americans to US history -- and the world -- in February: Black History Month, I came to see new and fuller expressions of women's lives and stories for March: Women's History Month.

More on Women & Slavery...

From March 25 to March 27, the United Nations is holding a "Women and Slavery" briefing and hosting a global video conference of students living in countries affected by the transatlantic slave trade. For more information, visit Twitter: @rememberslavery, Facebook: www.facebook.com/rememberslavery, and Website: rememberslavery.un.org. You can also watch the events live on the UN webcast. Videos, profiles, historical documents, and more about THE BOOK OF NEGROES is available on the BET website here. 

CLOSING LINES & SNIPPETS...

The novel by Lawrence Hill is entitled The Book of Negroes (also known as Someone Knows My Name), and was published in 2007, by HarperCollins. The historical document is Book of Negroes. The television miniseries is The Book of Negroes (miniseries).

Stephen Somerstein Photographs Revisit Civil Rights March at NY Historical Society; Actor-Activist Harry Belafonte Gives Opening Remarks

Black History Month, always a busy time for me, seemed even more so this year. While I certainly view every day as an opportunity to learn more about the contributions of African-Americans to the U.S. and the world, for Black History Month, I make a concerted effort to set a daily plan so that I can remember, honor, and share our history. One highlight for me this year: A photographic journey I took back in time to 1965 and a Civil Rights March in Alabama.

Watch Video Interview with Stephen Somerstein

I was at the preview of an exhibition of Stephen Somerstein's photographs, entitled, The 1965 March: Freedom's Journey from Selma to Montgomery, at the New York Historical Society. It's a photographic tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery March, with dozens of iconic images that capture the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. What I found so powerful is that the photographs showcase the diversity of people who were on the front lines of the 1965 protest, as well as the people -- on the sidewalks or from their porches -- who came out to cheer the marchers on.

THE SELMA MARCH'S ICONIC IMAGES CAPTURED

I was able to see, up-close and personal, images of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addressing the crowd of 25,000 civil rights marchers in Montgomery.

There were also images of folk singer Joan Baez, standing in front of state troopers blocking the entrance to the State Capitol; and images of white hecklers yelling and making gestures at the marchers.

Hundreds of marchers started in Selma, and by the time they reached the state capital in Montgomery, 54 miles and five days later, their numbers had swelled to 25,000. Standing on the steps of the State Capitol Building, Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr., delivered his now-emblematic speech, "How Long, Not Long." 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressing civil rights marchers in Montgomery, Alabama. Photo by Stephen Somerstein and part of the exhibit, The 1965 March: Freedom's Journey from Selma to Montgomery at the New York Historical Society

This is where he asks and answers, "How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

BLOODY SUNDAY

How did such a massive gathering happen? Why did so many people join the March? And, how did they find the fortitude to march after "Bloody Sunday"?

March 7, 1965 is "Bloody Sunday." That's the day when – at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge -- police tear-gassed, beat with Billy clubs, and slashed with whips those who were protesting, marching for their civil right to vote. I learned a good deal about the struggle and power of those "foot soldiers for justice," at the photographic exhibit, which showcased dozens of the 400 photographs taken by then 24-year-old Somerstein, a City College of New York (CCNY) student. But, what I learned weeks after I viewed the photographic exhibition is that Edmund Pettus was a Confederate general, a U.S. Senator from Alabama, and Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan.

How ironic. Fifty years later, thousands of people, including President Obama, will gather on March 7, 2015 to commemorate "Bloody Sunday." This year, I discovered anew the exceptional courage and resistance of the protestors: Following "Bloody Sunday," Martin Luther King, Jr., led another protest march two days later to cross the Pettus Bridge, but turned back at the Bridge. He wanted federal court protection for the marchers. Finally, on March 21, 1965, the protestors made their way to Montgomery by crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Five months later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

FIRST-PERSON STORIES

While at the pre-opening reception, held to benefit the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, I spoke with five people who were students at the time and heeded the call from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to go south to help blacks register to vote.

People who heeded Dr. King's call to go south, when they were college students in 1965.

They told me what they experienced as young whites working, side-by-side, with blacks in the face of sometimes deadly resistance of Southern whites, in 1965. Today, they say their path to the fight for social justice began 50 years ago, when they journeyed south. I also talked with Somerstein at the reception -- which opened with remarks by actor-singer-activist Harry Belafonte. Somerstein told me that "it was time to share these historic images with the public."

"The 1965 March: Stephen Somerstein Photographs Freedom's Journey from Selma to Montgomery" exhibition will be on view at The New York Historical Society until Sunday, April 19, 2015. To learn more, visit the New York Historical Society's website. 

CLOSING LINES: Snippets of MLK,Jr., "How Long, Not Long"

• "I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" (Speak, sir) Somebody's asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?" Somebody's asking, "When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?" Somebody's asking, "When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, (Speak, speak, speak) plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, (Speak) and truth bear it?" (Yes, sir) I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, (Yes, sir) however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, (No sir) because "truth crushed to earth will rise again." (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (Yes, sir) because "no lie can live forever." (Yes, sir) How long? Not long, (All right. How long) because "you shall reap what you sow." (Yes, sir)"

• "How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

Images of Books & Authors in Unexpected Places

Every time I visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem, I make certain to walk into the center of the African cosmogram, at the entryway to the Langston Hughes Auditorium.

The African Cosmogram, in honor of Langston Hughes and Arturo A. Schomburg, located at the entryway to the Langston Hughes Auditorium. Photo Credit: Luvon Roberson, Book Editor, What's The 411 Networks

Long flowing sapphire-blue lines weave their way from the rust-brown innermost circle of the cosmogram, spilling outward only to stop at the walls of the Schomburg itself. The cosmogram represents Langston Hughes's poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers:

I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

While I've long loved the brilliant flow of both the poem's rhythm and the rivers depicted in the cosmogram, it is only recently that I made a new discovery about that space I've so often stood at the center of: Beneath it, Hughes's remains are interred in a stainless steel vessel.

I did not know.

I only knew that I was drawn to that center-space, which is inscribed with this verse from his poem:

"My soul has grown deep like the rivers."

Another Reflection on the Image:

"The circle is an awesome and active trail, a continuing cycle of connections, in the lives of Schomburg, Hughes, and all others who come to the Schomburg Center. To those who believe there is simply too much bad mojo in the world, this circle holds the cure."

— Christopher P. Moore, Curator and Special Projects Coordinator, Schomburg Center.

LANGSTON HUGHES: Inspires Writers of Today

It seems fitting to think of Langston Hughes in this space at this time. He was born on February 1, 1902 and died on May 22, 1967, and now, nearly 50 years later, continues to inspire.

On February 19, 2015, The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College directed by Dr. Brenda Greene, celebrates his life and voice in Langston Hughes, Personal and in the World, a program with readings and conversation on the influence of his work on contemporary literature and writers. Professor Gordon Thompson, director of the Langston Hughes Festival at CCNY, and Professor Robert Reid-Pharr, director of the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean, at CUNY's Graduate Center, among others, lead the program's homage to Hughes.