The Appalachian Festival is an annual event that guests of
all ages comes to enjoy. The Festival takes place in Frostburg, Maryland in
order to celebrate the culture of the Appalachian Mountains. Throughout the
3-day weekend excursion, there is local food, musical performers, a petting
zoo, in addition to small shop vendors set up under the tents. The musical acts
and food vendors pull in the crowd every year, but before the tents are even
completely set-up, film festival takes place Thursday to kick off the events.
In the Compton
Science Center, a room was set apart for the viewing of the chosen films. One
of the films viewed was “Anne Braden: Southern Patriot.” Sociology Professor, Kara
Rogers-Thomas, PhD. introduced the film with an explanation of the theme for
this year’s festival. “We want to explore social justice issues in Appalachian
culture,” she explained to the group of students; primarily of which only
attended for extra-credit purposes, which she also jokingly acknowledged in her
introduction. Nevertheless, the students had their paper handy and minimal lighting
left on so that they can write in a straight line.
The
film began and a glazed expression was adopted by most of the viewers, many
with their faces aglow by the shining of the iOS7 iPhone update. The introductory
credits were short and soon interrupted by a slow, gravelly voice that sounded
worn but strong. The camera panned to Anne Braden, sitting in a small desk
chair, not far from that of high-school students’, and she was speaking to a
room of women. Braden began with a modest explanation as to why she has been invited
to share her story. “People are more interested in people…until they learn
about the issues, then they can focus on that” she says, perhaps urging them to
listen to the problems, rather than her personal opinion on the problem.
Many of
the viewers were still looking at their phones, too important to be burdened to
pay full attention, but a few tore their gazes from the artificial light that
is sure to be the cause of early blindness to give Anne their attention. Braden’s
story began with her early family life. She lived with her well-off family in
Alabama. Her parents supported segregation and had an African American woman clean
their home. The woman that cleaned the house had a daughter close to Anne’s
age, and Anne recalled seeing the daughter wearing a shirt that Anne no longer
fit, but the garment did not fit the daughter either. She said that she
remembered feeling as though it did not make sense that these people were not
equal to her. She knew even as a child that it was not right.
Anne
worked in Birmingham at a newspaper and she frequently covered in her stories
the injustices that were occurring between the races. She recalled that one
day, she was sitting in a restaurant and the waitress was a young black woman.
She said that the man she was sitting with asked her about the latest story she
was working on. Anne replied, “Nothing, just a colored murder.” The waitress’s
hand began to shake but she did not say anything or show emotion on her face.
Anne recalled that she wanted to hug her and apologize whilst explaining that
she did not mean what she said; until she realized that she had meant exactly
what she said.
The
attention in the room was fully on the screen. One or two devices are still
shining in the dark, but the rest of the room is listening intently, taking in
the horrific stories recounted by Anne herself, and from old friends that she
kept. The adventures she took in effort to bring civil liberty in a time of
turmoil and hatred rang in the ears of students who have not experienced hatred
to that degree. Stories of house-bombs, mobs, lynching, jail-time for charges
that could not possibly been proven; a world unimaginable to them.
As the
final credits ran, the room brightened and the students stood up, stretched, and
checked their phones to make sure no Twitter emergency occurred in their
momentary absence. 20 year old Junior, Gina, turned around, “I’m glad I came,”
she said with a yawn. The irony of her body language is not lost, but the lack
of humor in her eyes as she left, said that she heard something she would not
forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment