I love all 115 of you who braved that snowy weather Wednesday night to join us for our January ITVS Community Cinema screening of "Banished." I had friends/coworkers who reluctantly came to the screening because they knew the subject matter would be difficult, and it was. But, thanks to an insightful discussion with our panel, there was some hope in the air as we said our goodbyes.
Oh, we had an amazing panel. I always say that, and it's always true, but this was an especially powerful talk. It resonated with me because I grew up in the south and was often frustrated by casual racist comments in my community (I am NOT saying that racism is exclusively southern). Race and reparations and apologies and wrongdoing – this stuff is traditionally hard for people to talk about, and I think there's a great sense of relief when we just put it out there. That's why I love our Community Cinema series so much. A bunch of strangers gather round and get down to the nitty gritty. Often, after our screenings, you'll see clumps of people standing around in friendly debate.
On our panel, we had local filmmaker donnie l. betts, Dr. Vincent Harding and Dr. Rachel Harding from the Iliff School of Theology and Veterans of Hope Project, Dr. Reiland Rabaka of CU-Boulder's ethnic studies department and real estate attorney Wayne Vaden, with civil rights attorney Trish Bangert moderating.
I wish we had taped the discussion so we could stream it online or transcribe it here. The talk was less about monetary reparations for our nation's wrongdoings against its black citizens (which is raised in the film) and more about formal acknowledgements of those things. We discussed the negative psychological impact of never hearing acknowledgement of a horrible thing that happened to you – like a rape, a murder, a robbery. We talked about the power of redemption and how the whole nation, regardless of race, could find healing if we could make more formal acknowledgements of our racist and violent past. It was good to sit in a room with strangers of all ages and backgrounds and talk about love, empathy, understanding and, as one person said, "a revolution of the heart."
Lots to think about.
And if you're in the mood, see what others across the country are saying about "Banished"
here on the ITVS site.
In the meantime, check out photos from our "Banished" event above. Don't miss our next screening February 20 of "Iron Ladies of Liberia."
Thanks to our audience, our panel members, the Denver Film Society, the Denver Urban Spectrum and CU Denver's College of Arts and Media!
See you next time.
-Allison, Rocky Mountain PBS
Photos courtesy of Clinton T. Sander, University of Colorado Denver
