Homecoming: Sometimes I Am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay

Homecoming: Sometimes I Am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay

African-American, family, documentary, activist, woman filmmaker

Gift from filmmaker. Acquired for teaching and research and because I wrote a promotion review letter for her.

1999

Homecoming uses the story of Charlene Gilbert's family, who grew cotton and vegetables in Montezuma, Georgia, to tell the story of black agriculture in the south from the Civil War. By 1920, there were nearly one million black farmers in American, a number that dropped to fewer than 18,000 by the end of the century. While those figures parallel the decline of farming nationwide, Homecoming points out how racist practices affected Black farmers. Homecoming features archival footage of farms and the voices of Malcolm X and Julian Bond. Also included are excerpts from the testimony of freed slaves who went on to farm. The film, produced for the Independent Television Service, has won many awards including Best Documentary by the Prized Pieces International Film and Video Festival. Charlene Gilbert is an independent filmmaker living in Cambridge, Mass., where she is a Bunting Fellow at Harvard University. She received her B.A. from Yale University and her M.F.A. from Temple University. Gilbert's works have been shown at national and international festivals. --Swarthmore College

60 mins

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