Voces, Independent Lens
A Thousand Pines
Raymundo Morales runs a crew of 12 Oaxacan tree planters traveling the United States in this intimate portrait about a hidden world of guest workers regrowing America’s forests.
Homecoming ... Sometimes I Am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay
“This is the story of my family, this is the story of black farmers in the 20th century, this is the story of land and love.”
- Premiere Date
- February 3, 2000
- Length
- 60 minutes
- Funding Initiative
- Open Call
Producer
Charlene Gilbert
Charlene Gilbert received her MFA from Temple University and her BA from Yale University. She received an NEA Fellowship, a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship, a Mid-Atlantic Media Arts Fellowship, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Award for Excellence, and the Ronald Meltzer Economics Award. Her films include Ina Mae Best, This is My House,… Show more
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The Film
In 1920 there were nearly one million black farmers in America; in 1999 there were fewer than 18,000. Filmmaker Charlene Gilbert travelled to Georgia, the place she calls home, where her cousin still farms the family’s land. Gilbert recounts her family history while she investigates the social and political implications of the decline of black farming, and explores the bittersweet legacy of the land, a symbol of both struggle and survival.
Homecoming ... Sometimes I Am Haunted by Memories of Red Dirt and Clay paints a picture of the courageous journey of black farmers who started as freed slaves after the Civil War. By 1910, there were 200,000 African American farmers who had bought land, a staggering number considering the poverty and discrimination they faced. However, the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision on Brown v. Board of Education polarized the whole country. Its impact in the South went far beyond the classroom; many farmers who needed credit found they suddenly couldn’t get it, a process known as “red-lining.” Gilbert unearths footage of U.S. government farm bureaucrats paying lip service to black farmers. A 1964 study of the Department of Agriculture under the Johnson administration found that there had been discrimination against African Americans in every level of the agency.
Homecoming explores the spiritual and symbolic meaning of land for black farmers in America. For Charlene Gilbert, tending a 10’ x 10’ garden plot in a Philadelphia community garden and making this film link her to the red dirt that her family farms in Georgia.
