Black in Asheville - Documentary Premiere Screening

1 University Heights,Asheville NC 28804

05 April, 2023

Description

UNC Asheville's Africana Studies is proud to host the premiere of the local documentary Black in Asheville with Filmmaker Todd Gragg, co-sponsored by the the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Department of Health and Wellness, the Humanities Program, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Sara and Joseph Breman Professorship & the Roy Carroll Distinguished Professorship: Black In Asheville is a documentary that brings together Asheville residents and historians to recount Asheville’s Black history. A story that has to be preserved for generations yet to come. This film takes us back to the Antebellum Period and demonstrates in accurate fashion what life was like for slaves in Asheville. Further the film will explore the deplorable conditions of slaves during the Civil War and their transition to the Postbellum Period of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and Black Code Laws. As slaves transitioned to freedmen after the Civil War, they continued to live a segregated existence filled with the violent threats designed to control free people assuring that they were kept controlled. This film shows how the establishment of churches and schools was vital to the progression of Black life. It is important to tell these stories that history intentionally omitted, so that future generations are made aware of the many important contributions. This film raises the question, “How much better off are Blacks today in a supposedly non-segregated Asheville and seeks to define where do we go from here?”This event is open to the entire campus community of students, faculty, and staff, as well as the general public. Popcorn, sweets, and beverages will be served. The premiere screening will begin at 6pm in the Mullen & James Humanities Hall on UNC Asheville campus, and will be followed by a Talkback with the FIlmmaker, Todd Gragg.