Blog

February, 18, 2013

The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights

Independent Lens

Whitney Young was one of the most powerful, controversial, and largely forgotten leaders of the civil rights movement, who took the fight directly to the powerful white elite, gaining allies in business and government, including three presidents.
Interviews
February, 15, 2013

Powerbroker Filmmaker Bonnie Boswell on How Her Youth Shaped Her Film

826chi in Interviews

Filmmaker Bonnie Boswell has an unusually close tie to her film, The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights. Whitney Young, Jr., was her uncle, and his parents helped raise her. We sat down with Boswell to learn more about…
Black and white closeup shot of Whitney Young Jr. at microphone
Uncategorized
February, 13, 2013

A Cherished Last Letter of Civil Rights Leader Whitney Young, Jr.

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Journalist Bonnie Boswell has many fond memories of her uncle Whitney Young, Jr., a pivotal behind-the-scenes player in the civil rights movement and the subject of her documentary, The Powerbroker: Whitney Young's Fight for Civil Rights. Even though he was…
African American chefs serve plates of soul food from aluminum containers.
January, 14, 2013

Soul Food Junkies

Independent Lens

Filmmaker Byron Hurt grew up eating lots of soul food: grits and scrambled eggs covered with cheese, buttered biscuits smothered with gravy, bacon, collard greens seasoned with ham hocks, fried pork chops, macaroni and cheese, deep-fried chicken, fried fish, barbecue…
Beyond the Films
January, 10, 2013

‘Green Book’ Helped Keep African Americans Safe on the Road

826chi in Beyond the Films

In Soul Food Junkies, filmmaker Byron Hurt briefly describes what it used to be like for African Americans to travel in the United States. He talks about how blacks would take along boxed lunches in order to avoid being turned away…
Uncategorized
January, 9, 2013

Can Food Deserts Become Oases?

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In one short but memorable scene in the documentary Soul Food Junkies (premiering on Independent Lens Jan. 14), filmmaker Byron Hurt interviews a woman who just can't find decent, healthy food in her neighborhood. She gives a local market an earful…
Uncategorized
January, 8, 2013

Filmmaker Byron Hurt on His Hopes for Soul Food Junkies

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Byron Hurt with his new film Soul Food Junkies. We sat down to discuss how his father’s health issues inspired him to make the film, and his hopes for the film’s impact on the health of future generations. What impact…
Nutayunean tribe
Lists
November, 21, 2012

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with 8 Documentaries

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November is Native American Heritage Month, but that wasn’t always the case. At one point, it was a single day to honor Native American history, and before that, there was no official government recognition at all. The history of the…
Young Filipina woman named Margarita swimming, in Left by the Ship
May, 24, 2012

Left by the Ship

Independent Lens

JR, Charlene, and Robert are half American; they are among the many children born to U.S. servicemen who were stationed in military bases in the Philippines until in 1992. Their stories illuminate the limbo of a generation of Filipino Amerasians.…
Young girl holds megaphone to her mouth.
May, 17, 2012

Precious Knowledge

Independent Lens

Precious Knowledge interweaves the stories of students in the Mexican American Studies Program at Tucson High School. While 48 percent of Mexican American students currently drop out of high school, Tucson High’s Mexican American Studies Program has become a national…
Headshot of Precious Knowledge director Eren McGinnis.
Where Are They Now?
May, 16, 2012

Director Eren McGinnis on the Front Lines of Arizona’s Ethnic Studies Wars

826chi in Where Are They Now?

In January, the Tucson Unified School District ended its highly successful Mexican American Studies program after state officials threatened to withhold funding from schools that taught ethnic history and literature in a manner they contended encouraged race resentment and revolution…
April, 26, 2012

Facing the Storm: Story of the American Bison

Independent Lens

Tens of millions of bison once roamed North America. For 10,000 years, Native Americans on the Great Plains had a sacred relationship with the animal, relying on it for food, clothing, and shelter. But with the arrival of European Americans…