MyCultureMyRules Presents: An American History Film Series
Dedicated to films that honor, celebrate, and elevate Black culture and traditions. Enjoy film, food, and engage in conversations that educate, inspire, and build solidarity.
02/02 Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and The Emergence of A People (6-9pm)
The first documentary to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social of emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present, this film probes the recesses of American History through images that been suppressed, forgotten, and lost.
Bringing to light the hidden and unknown photos shot by both professional and vernacular African-American photographers, the film opens a window into the lives of families, whose experiences and perspectives are often missing from the traditional historical canon. African-Americans historically embraced the medium as a way to subvert popular stereotypes as far back as the Civil War era. These images show a much more complexed and nuanced view of American culture and it's founding ideals.
Inspired by the book, Reflections in Black, by photo historian Deborah Willis, the film features the works of esteemed photographic artists, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, Anthony Barboza, Hank Willis Thomas, CoCo Disco, Clarissa Sigh, James Van Der Zee, Gordon Parks, and many others.
MyCultureMyRules Presents: An American History Film Series
Dedicated to films that honor, celebrate, and elevate Black culture and traditions. Enjoy film, food, and engage in conversations that educate, inspire, and build solidarity.
02/02 Ethnic Notions (6-9pm)
Ethnic Notions is a 1987 documentary film directed by Marlon Riggs.
It takes viewers on a disturbing voyage through American history, tracing for the deep-rooted stereotypes that permeated popular culture which have fueled anti-black prejudice. From the Ante-bellum period until the advent of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Through these images we can begin to understand the evolution of racial consciousness in America. Approaching a complex and delicate subject with great sensitivity, it equips viewers to view media and other cultural representations with a more critical eye.
Free: ($5-$10 suggested donation)
