Black Family: A Place Of Our Own 60 mins
Produced by Stanley Nelson
In this cinematic love song to place and identity, director Stanley Nelson explores the rarely seen world of the black middle class and the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, where African Americans have vacationed for generations. Using wonderfully evocative photography and landscape cinematography, Nelson lets us into a side of black identity rarely incorporated into the larger lore of Americana. Through intimate interviews in gloriously manicured surroundings, Nelson relives his family's ties to the Vineyard, taking us along for a very satisfying trip down memory lane.
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Stanley
Thank you...for all of us who were and are blessed to have been on the bluffs during the 60's and beyond.We all pray that we will spend and end our days in a community/family of Respect...Peace...and JoyAt it's best., Oak Bluffs is a state of mind and a state of being.A place where those of us who try to carry the cause of equality for all model,as best we can,love and support for each other through good times and not so good times.My Grandfathers favorite poem was" Invictus",...From the tree of knowledge,comes a branch,will it become a club or a staff.Oak Bluffs is a state of mind and a stateof being.
Posted by Mal | Feb 01 2010 at 03:47 pm | report this comment
Stanley-
What a wonderful and brave documentary as you candidly depict what we experienced as children growing up during summers on Martha's Vineyard and how your family constellation effected you. Your mother, Alelia, was always simply fabulous: candid, funny, well read, gracious to a fault and she always held evening court at the Inkwell after she took her swim. I miss her too. Know that she is extremely proud of you, Jill and Ralphy.
Love, Pam
Posted by Pam Hayling Hoffman | Jan 25 2010 at 02:29 am | report this comment
am cryi ng.. and the video is so touching i don't know what to do, it have encourage me that there is always hope and there is always a place you can be yourself and surround yourself with people who loves you .i am african living in england in white community ....thank you so much i will let my children watch it to know is always the best to know your root. thank you so much. God bless you
Posted by wendy | Jan 13 2010 at 09:03 pm | report this comment
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I ran across this in an email sent to me about blacktv247.com and scrolled to see what may interest me. So I ran across this subject, the black family, to see what it was about. I've always heard about Martha's Vineyard, but never knew that there were black families that actually lived there, well middle-class families that weren't servants. It's interesting how you grew up, away from the 'other' black folk. In a way, it is not different as far as the families. In your case, your father left because he couldn't accept the fact that he wasn't treated equal, but really he had 'arrived', versus the other black fathers who just left because they couldn't provide or didn't want to contribute to the black family. Either way, it makes no sense..I love the documentary and see the similarities in the 'disappearing acts' of family members. I'm not sure why it happens when there is a big loss to the families as your mother was to your family. We lost our grandmother, who was 90 years old in 2007 and things just haven't been the same since. She had a quiet presence you know and could command even from her wheel chair. My daughter and I are trying to put together a 'family book' of the lives of our families back then, but it has been hard as to preserve our heritage.
Thanks for the courage to document this in video and I'm sorry you and your sister has parted what was so tight, your friendship as brother and sister. It happens and I'm not sure although we are cut from the same cloth.
Sincerely,
LH
Posted by Suzi | Feb 20 2010 at 03:18 pm | report this comment