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I was recently reading up on the late, great activist, musician, and scholar Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, who recently passed away. In scrolling through her Wikipedia page, I was made aware that Dr. Reagon was the person responsible for much of the music in the documentary series Eyes On The Prize. Black people of a certain age, may recall this series as being a lengthy and weighty (14 parts, y'all!) encapsulation of the black struggle that was viewed as required watching for any self-respecting member of the community. 

As a child growing up in Oakland, California, Black History Month meant lots of cultural assemblies and long, (kinda) boring stints in the darkened school auditorium watching episode after episode of Eyes On The Prize. Despite the fact that some of the events flashing on the screen before us on the screen had happened a mere 20 years before, there was something about the grainy footage and stirring gospel music that made it feel like this was all ancient history. Even as we sat in the city where the Black Panthers were founded, we didn't feel there was any connection between the bobby-skirted and bow-tied people on the screen and us, squirming in our uncomfortable wooden folding seats. There is simply something about documentary that historicizes, that lends itself to putting a neat bow on a story or situation.

This week, I have been thinking a lot about how we archive our projects and tell our stories to keep a movement alive rather than stuff it into "history". As organizations fade away, how can they leave remnants behind that serve as seeds or fertile ground rather than mere memorial? 

Here are some links I've been perusing this week:

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