[Sdpg] VIDEO this black soil: a story of resistance and rebirth

Tue Dec 28 07:50:34 PST 2004

this black soil:
a story of resistance and rebirth

Chronicles the successful struggle of Bayview, VA, to pursue a new vision 
of prosperity.

58 minutes
(DVD version also available - See below)
Color
Grade Level: 10 -12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2004
Copyright Date: 2004
ISBN (VHS): 1-59458-050-2
ISBN (DVD): 1-59458-085-5

Directed by teresa konechne
Produced by Working Hands Productions

"Destroy(s) the myth that being poor means ignorance, apathy or surrender." 
Cleveland International Film Festival

This inspiring and provocative new film chronicles the successful struggle 
of Bayview, Virginia, a small and severely impoverished rural 
African-American community, to pursue a new vision of prosperity.

Catalyzed by the defeat of a state plan to build a maximum-security prison 
in their backyard, the powerful women leaders and residents created the 
Bayview Citizens for Social Justice, a non-profit organization, secured $10 
million in grants, purchased the proposed prison site land and are now 
building a new community from the ground up.

Under the leadership of visionary women, this new rural village challenges 
all conventional ideas of community development and includes not only 
improved and affordable housing, but a sustainable economic base to earn a 
living wage, a community center for educating its residents, a daycare 
center, laundromat, and a community farm, which not only provides jobs and 
income for the organization, but returns them to their roots, working on 
the land.

Bayview's story has been featured in national and international media 
including: CBS' "60 Minutes", the New York Times, Washington Post, People 
magazine, and the BBC.

DVD Version: This program is recorded on DVD-R, which is not compatible 
with some older DVD players. See the new DVD page for more details. Besides 
the enhanced video and audio characteristics of the DVD version, there are 
no additional features on this disc.

Awards:
Director's Citation, Black Maria Festival
Audience Award, Best Documentary, Central Standard Film Festival, Minneapolis
Bronze Plaque, Columbus International Film & Video Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival
Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival
The Green Film Festival
Bulldozed! Film & Video Festival
James River Film Festival
Downstream International Film Festival
The Green Festival, Washington DC

Reviews:
"The tendency of today's policymakers to serve up prisons as the answer to 
rural America's economic plight comes with devastating consequences...The 
story of Bayview, Virginia provides a much-needed example of what can 
happen when indigenous rural leaders reach beyond the boundaries of race, 
class, and geography to fight back against the prison industrial complex. 
Teresa Konechne's inspired and inspiring chronicle of one community's 
successful struggle to defeat a plan to locate a prison in their town and 
pursue a sustainable future instead should be in the toolkits of all 
educators, organizers, economic developers, advocates for justice, and 
founders of innovation across the nation seeking an answer to the question: 
'If not prisons, what?'" Tracy Huling, Author, "An Analysis of the 
Economics of Prison Siting in Rural Communities", Founder/Co-Director, 
National Resource Center on Prisons and Communities

"This is the story of people who help themselves and destroy the myth that 
being poor means ignorance, apathy or surrender." Cleveland International 
Film Festival

"Teresa Konechne puts the Bayview residents at the center of her 
documentary, telling their hard won story without the intrusion of a 
narrator. We see both the obstacles and victories, making this an inspiring 
primer of grassroots organizing from the bottom up. This film is truly an 
example of what REAL democracy looks like! ...this black soil honors the 
struggle of 'ordinary' people seeking economic justice, improving their 
lives and discovering their own power through activism." Lydia Howell, 
Print/Radio Journalist

"A model for grassroots organizing, but it also speaks to the importance of 
local governance...This sort of human triumph makes for an inspiring 
experience, but Konechne ensures that her doc also provides the tools for 
others who wish to follow in the footsteps of Bayview's activists." 
Caroline Palmer, City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

"A potentially incisive template for social activism, Teresa Konechne's 
This Black Soil spans almost a decade and stands as a heartening shot 
across the bow for everybody who imagines the poor can't come together to 
seize power." Central Standard Film Festival Program

"This black soil is unique in that the filmmaker is able to document a 
decade long process of American activism at the grassroots level. It serves 
as a motivational and inspirational story for all social activists. Highly 
Recommended" Monique Threatt, Educational

This Black Soil: A Story of Struggle And Change 
http://www.ruralpolicyforum.org/ruralmatters/online_chat_media.htm
(Documentary, 2001, 58 minutes)

This inspiring and provocative film chronicles the successful struggle of 
Bayview, Virginia, a small and severely impoverished rural African-American 
community, to pursue a new vision of prosperity. Catalyzed by defeating the 
state's plans to build a prison in their backyard, and with leadership by 
women in the community, the residents created the Bayview Citizens for 
Social Justice (BCSJ) non-profit organization, secured $7 million, 
purchased the prison site land and are building a new community from the 
ground up.

Against formidable odds -- which at times included state and county 
governments, the funding process, and themselves -- the community developed 
and now manages a complex and innovative development project. This is the 
story of people who help themselves and destroy the myth that being poor 
means ignorance, apathy or surrender.

This Black Soil was produced by Teresa Konechne and her students at 
Virginia Commonwealth University. Konechne is an interdisciplinary artist, 
educator and activist. Growing up on a South Dakota farm and her life-long 
passion for the land resonates throughout her eclectic creative
expressions: video, performance, installation and writing. Her new 
one-woman performance, Folding Prairie, is constructed from the images and 
voices of the rural women of South Dakota as well as her own biographical 
writings, movement & video projections. This Black Soil will be available 
beginning in spring 2003 from Bullfrog Films.

For more information:

Visit the Virginia Commonwealth University site, scroll down to "VCU 
Documentary Traces Struggles of Bayview" 
http://www.vcu.edu/uns/ucn/archives/2001/021901/other021901.htm

In the Spotlight, A Community's Poverty By Sylvia Moreno Washington Post 
Staff Writer, Sunday, May 10 1998 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/aug98/bayview051098.htm - 
An article on the condition in Bayview, Virginia, the setting of This Black 
Soil.

Gilmore Pledges to Help Bayview By Sylvia Moreno Washington Post Staff 
Writer, Wednesday, August 12, 1998 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/aug98/bayview081298.htm - 
An article on the Governor Gilmore's reaction on a visit to Bayview, 
Virginia, the setting of This Black Soil.

Rebuilding Bayview: Community Design as Catalyst for Social Change Maurice 
D. Cox, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, University of Virginia 
http://urban.arch.virginia.edu/site-mem/abstract1.html

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Save Our Land, Save Our Towns: Examines the causes and effects of -- and 
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Livable Landscapes:: How growth and sprawl affect the quality of life in 
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