Black Family: A Place Of Our Own 60 mins
Produced by Stanley Nelson
In this cinematic love song to place and identity, director Stanley Nelson explores the rarely seen world of the black middle class and the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, where African Americans have vacationed for generations. Using wonderfully evocative photography and landscape cinematography, Nelson lets us into a side of black identity rarely incorporated into the larger lore of Americana. Through intimate interviews in gloriously manicured surroundings, Nelson relives his family's ties to the Vineyard, taking us along for a very satisfying trip down memory lane.
Comments | hide
Stanley
Thank you...for all of us who were and are blessed to have been on the bluffs during the 60's and beyond.We all pray that we will spend and end our days in a community/family of Respect...Peace...and JoyAt it's best., Oak Bluffs is a state of mind and a state of being.A place where those of us who try to carry the cause of equality for all model,as best we can,love and support for each other through good times and not so good times.My Grandfathers favorite poem was" Invictus",...From the tree of knowledge,comes a branch,will it become a club or a staff.Oak Bluffs is a state of mind and a stateof being.
Posted by Mal | Feb 01 2010 at 03:47 pm | report this comment
Stanley-
What a wonderful and brave documentary as you candidly depict what we experienced as children growing up during summers on Martha's Vineyard and how your family constellation effected you. Your mother, Alelia, was always simply fabulous: candid, funny, well read, gracious to a fault and she always held evening court at the Inkwell after she took her swim. I miss her too. Know that she is extremely proud of you, Jill and Ralphy.
Love, Pam
Posted by Pam Hayling Hoffman | Jan 25 2010 at 02:29 am | report this comment
am cryi ng.. and the video is so touching i don't know what to do, it have encourage me that there is always hope and there is always a place you can be yourself and surround yourself with people who loves you .i am african living in england in white community ....thank you so much i will let my children watch it to know is always the best to know your root. thank you so much. God bless you
Posted by wendy | Jan 13 2010 at 09:03 pm | report this comment
Tales of the Diaspora are many and here a global cross section will be selected to give life to contemporary...
The Open Letter Project (NMI 2008)
The Open Letter Project is a national collaboration of producers from the third annual New Media Institute,...
The popularization of black art and culture is a story with many chapters. In these selections an attempt...
The language of media production and distribution is one that has often written its own script. The artist...
What does it mean to be a man? The Masculinity Project will gather multi-generational voices to explore...
![Burning in the Sun [Remix]](/media/files/335/ORIGINAL_sm.jpg)
Burning in the Sun [Remix] 11mins
Daniel Dembele returns home to Mali with an idea, cheap renewable energy for the masses, can he make his solar panel social business stick in West Africa?
This War At Home 7mins
In a letter to a namesake uncle lost in Vietnam author Ivan Sanchez ponders the value of war, and connects this generational void to the deterioration of his Bronx neighborhood.
Never Will Be Forgotten: Oscar Grant Tribute 8mins
Youth producers at Youth Movement Records reflect on the injustices they witness in the aftermath of the police shooting of young Oscar Grant.
Remix: In Search of Our Fathers
Filmmaker Marco Williams documents his journey to finding his biological father.
None on Record: Nick 05mins 24secs
After arriving to New York City, Nick entered into Columbia University on fellowship. Transitioning from female to male in his third year of study.
Single Father 12mins 37secs
According to a 2006 report by the US Census Bureau there are 2.5 million single fathers in America, in 1970 there were 400, 000.
Perceptions Shattered 51' 26
A series of audio stories produced by youth producers in partnership with Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and WBEZ Chicago working with a variety of youth producers.
NMI 2006 ~Black Hole 2 mins
A video-textural exploration of the physics of well-being as it relates to blackness.
NMI 2006 ~ The Other Side 3mins 16secs
Ever wondered what would happen if you kept throwing a tennis ball at a wall?
NMI 2007 ~ Blues People 2mins 07secs
As part of NBPC's 2007 New Media Institute, producers around the nation convened in Jackson Mississippi to document the blues through new media.
Ruff N' Tumble In Nigeria 9mins 33secs
Decade-long CNN journalist Carol Pineau profiles a successful entrepreneur in Lagos, Nigeria.
Daallo Airlines 6mins 41secs
Not withstanding a collapsed government, Somalian businessman Mohammed Yassin Olad maintains a successful, and critical, airline business.
NMI 2007 ~ Remixing The Blues 1min 34secs
As part of NBPC's 2007 New Media Institute, producers around the nation convened in Jackson Mississippi to document the blues through new media.
NMI 2007 ~ Blues People 2mins 47secs
As part of NBPC's 2007 New Media Institute, producers around the nation convened in Jackson Mississippi to document the blues through new media.
I ran across this in an email sent to me about blacktv247.com and scrolled to see what may interest me. So I ran across this subject, the black family, to see what it was about. I've always heard about Martha's Vineyard, but never knew that there were black families that actually lived there, well middle-class families that weren't servants. It's interesting how you grew up, away from the 'other' black folk. In a way, it is not different as far as the families. In your case, your father left because he couldn't accept the fact that he wasn't treated equal, but really he had 'arrived', versus the other black fathers who just left because they couldn't provide or didn't want to contribute to the black family. Either way, it makes no sense..I love the documentary and see the similarities in the 'disappearing acts' of family members. I'm not sure why it happens when there is a big loss to the families as your mother was to your family. We lost our grandmother, who was 90 years old in 2007 and things just haven't been the same since. She had a quiet presence you know and could command even from her wheel chair. My daughter and I are trying to put together a 'family book' of the lives of our families back then, but it has been hard as to preserve our heritage.
Thanks for the courage to document this in video and I'm sorry you and your sister has parted what was so tight, your friendship as brother and sister. It happens and I'm not sure although we are cut from the same cloth.
Sincerely,
LH
Posted by Suzi | Feb 20 2010 at 03:18 pm | report this comment