Open Call: Pitch Reels

Reparation Blues Pitch:

In 2001, the United Nations held a World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerances in Durban, South Africa. Over three thousand NGO delegates, numerous government representatives, and Indigenous people of color from across the globe converged in Durban to make their struggles and injustices afflicting their countries know to the world. The question of Reparations for the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade was a key concern for Africans in Africa and throughout the Diaspora. It was a highly contentious issue that ultimately motivated a dramatic walk-out of the United Nations meeting by the U.S. delegation.

My proposed three-minute video is a performance piece that revolves around a poem, written by poet, singer and performance artist Ghail Rhodes-Benjamin titled “Reparation Blues”. The poem, performed in a black box theater, will juxtapose dynamic visual highlights from WCAR, including verite´ footage of the U.S. walk-out and the response of African-America activists. This three-minute digital video will be a nuanced, hybrid compilation that highlights the struggle of political activists to have the issues of reparation heard around the world.