Banished

"It was the early 1900s when Obadiah (Oba) and Merriweather's (May's) parents died tragically, leaving them orphans at t... (more)

"It was the early 1900s when Obadiah (Oba) and Merriweather's (May's) parents died tragically, leaving them orphans at ten and eleven years old. When none of their nearby relations volunteer to take them in, they are set on a train to Arkansas to go live on their Amish aunt and uncle's cotton farm. Once there, it didn't take long to discover they would be treated cruelly, no matter what they did. May, always anxious to be a godly young lady, took on more and more responsibility, trying desperately to keep the peace and convince her older brother not to run away. But when they became teenagers and Oba received one especially cruel beating, he disappeared, leaving May to shoulder even more responsibility while navigating the dangerous and lonely world she'd been placed in. When she encounters Clinton, a young black man, on the road one day, she sees a kindness in his eyes that she's been thirsting for. He is immediately drawn to her, too, but quickly reminds her that he is black and she is white. In that time and place, there is no chance of starting a friendship. But still, they find themselves meeting discretely, spending more time together than is proper, finding joy and solace in each other's company. When things go from bad to unbearable at the farm, May realizes she must escape from her aunt and uncle. If only she knew where Oba had gone! Can she turn to Clinton for help? Where is God when she needs Him most?"--Amazon.com. (less)

Lauren Drain's childhood seemed average American, but when her liberal-minded father set out to film a documentary about... (more)

Lauren Drain's childhood seemed average American, but when her liberal-minded father set out to film a documentary about the audacious and cultish hate group, the Westboro Baptist Church, he found himself seduced. At 14, Lauren was moved with her family to Kansas to live in the Westboro compound. There, Lauren found a new community offering both a warm welcome and a complex set of rules and regulations, including curbs on her teenage freedom and punishments meted out unjustly. The WBC's modus operandi is its aggressive and vitriolic campaigns against anyone and everyone it deems immoral or sinful--the U.S. military, the Catholic Church, homosexuals, and more. Over the next seven years, Lauren would try to assimilate their extreme beliefs. She traveled the country as an active and vocal picketer, spouting the church's message of hate at public events, with shockingly offensive signs promoting their agenda. But as she matured and began to question and bristle against some of the church's tenets, she was unceremoniously cast out, and permanently cut off from her family. BANISHED is the story of one young woman's journey into and out of a world of extremists, and of building a positive new life out of the ashes of her old one.--From publisher description. (less)

"It was the early 1900s when Obadiah (Oba) and Merriweather's (May's) parents died tragically, leaving them orphans at t... (more)

"It was the early 1900s when Obadiah (Oba) and Merriweather's (May's) parents died tragically, leaving them orphans at ten and eleven years old. When none of their nearby relations volunteer to take them in, they are set on a train to Arkansas to go live on their Amish aunt and uncle's cotton farm. Once there, it didn't take long to discover they would be treated cruelly, no matter what they did. May, always anxious to be a godly young lady, took on more and more responsibility, trying desperately to keep the peace and convince her older brother not to run away. But when they became teenagers and Oba received one especially cruel beating, he disappeared, leaving May to shoulder even more responsibility while navigating the dangerous and lonely world she'd been placed in. When she encounters Clinton, a young black man, on the road one day, she sees a kindness in his eyes that she's been thirsting for. He is immediately drawn to her, too, but quickly reminds her that he is black and she is white. In that time and place, there is no chance of starting a friendship. But still, they find themselves meeting discretely, spending more time together than is proper, finding joy and solace in each other's company. When things go from bad to unbearable at the farm, May realizes she must escape from her aunt and uncle. If only she knew where Oba had gone! Can she turn to Clinton for help? Where is God when she needs Him most?" -- Amazon. (less)

"Banished" vividly recovers the too-quickly forgotten history of racial cleansing in America when thousands of African A... (more)

"Banished" vividly recovers the too-quickly forgotten history of racial cleansing in America when thousands of African Americans were driven from their homes and communities by violent, racist mobs. The film places these events in the context of present day race relations by following three concrete cases where black and white citizens warily explore if there is common ground for reconciliation over these expulsions. "Banished" raises this larger question: will the United States ever make meaningful reparations for the human rights abuses suffered, then and now, against its African American citizens? Can reconciliation between the races be possible without them? (less)

Like few other films, it demonstrates compellingly the continuing effects of slavery and its aftermaths upon contemporar... (more)

Like few other films, it demonstrates compellingly the continuing effects of slavery and its aftermaths upon contemporary African-American families." - Randall Robinson, author of "The Debt...What America Owes to Blacks" "One need not support indiscriminate reparations to appreciate how BANISHED is a powerful, eye-opening film... Like Elliott Jaspin's landmark book, "Buried in the Bitter Waters", Marco Williams' film makes a compelling moral case for tangible recompense to the families whose land was stolen as a result of community-wide white mob violence." - David Garrow, author of "Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference" "BANISHED provides a remarkable exploration of four sundown towns -- places where historically, and even today, African Americans could not live or even spend the night. It is the perfect antidote for those who think we live in a post-racial society." - Dr. James Loewen, author of "Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism" "A compelling and necessary chapter to the literature of racism in this country." - Hollywood Reporter "Remarkable! This crucially important documentary raises some difficult questions about what can be done in the present to make up for the crimes of the past." - TV Guide "A wrenching investigation of racism, resentment, and reparations." - Village Voice "From the first minutes, viewers know that they are in the hands of a master storyteller. BANISHED has great anthropological value." - Society for Visual Anthropology. (less)