Common Grounds Cinematic Conversations

4602 North College Avenue,Indianapolis IN 46205

13 November, 2021

Description

Explore resistance to change in the U.S. through a day long film festival and a panel discussion on the enduring legacy of the plantation. Explore resistance to change in social and political hierarchies of the U.S. through three films— including “Antebellum”(2020)— a panel discussion, and community conversation. Visit spiritandplace.org for a complete film schedule. In every system in the United States, we have plantation politics and power dynamics even if we do not have plantations today. From the halls of Congress to the halls of academia, throughout voluntary associations and community foundations, institutional remnants of plantation power dynamics remain. On the one hand, the plantation system left us with a populace trying to maintain their structures and access to power (white plantation owners of the past controlling philanthropy resources and agendas today), one population fighting to establish citizenship rights and access to resources (descendants of formerly enslaved Africans with limited generational wealth). The humanities provide a lens through which empathetic change can emerge. We begin by asking the question “What is the role of faith in changing plantation perspectives that persist in social and political hierarchies?" We hypothesize this with the presupposition that it is on the plantation that Black performativity is first juxtaposed with white dominance and the political economies that undergird the colonial project of America germinate. On the plantation, resistance to hegemonic dominance, cultural assimilation, and subjugation of Black aesthetics and agency emerge as themes that can be explored through cinematic portrayals. Can faith spark changes in perception that can undo centuries of embedded mores and norms? How might the "most segregated hour in the US" be utilized to cultivate anti-racist practices? Join us as we welcome local and national scholars, faith leaders, and everyday citizens to discuss this topic and watch several films. The confirmed list of participants and schedule of films will be listed here in the coming weeks. This event is part of the Spirit & Place Festival, and is a partnership between Good to the SOUL, LLC, Crossroads AME Church, The O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Center for Africana Studies and Culture at IUPUI, and the IU School of Liberal Arts American Studies Program at IUPUI. Email [email protected] for more information.