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Listen Up! New Voices for Reproductive
Justice takes a socially conscious
look inside the 153-year-old Woman’s Movement. Atlanta based
filmmaker, N’Dieye Gray Danavall, travels to Washington, D.C. to
follow several feminists groups as they work to organize and prepare for
the groundbreaking 2004 March for Women’s Lives. Intense
with desire, “Listen Up!” punches away at the over-insinuated
identity of the Woman’s Movement by giving ear to the voices of women
of color who have been in the trenches all along. Danavall works to put
a new face on the movement as female activists express their struggles,
frustrations and hopes for its future. |
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Interviews with
Feminist Leaders and Activists: |
Loretta
Ross,
March Co-Director |
Eboni
Barley,
NARAL Pro-Choice GA |
Dazon
Diallo,
SisterLove, Inc Director,
Atlanta
,
GA |
Nkenge
Toure,
Pacifica
Radio,
Washington
,
DC |
Camryn
Manheim,
Actress/Activist, The
Practice |
Beckie
Rafter,
NARAL Pro-choice GA |
Malika
Redmond,
National Center
for Human Rights Education, Atlanta, GA |
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The Idea
While taking her first
feminist studies class at Georgia State University-then graduate
student-N’Dieye first learned about the march from a white classmate.
After asking all of her friends and colleagues if they knew about
the event, which was occurring in less than four weeks, she received
blank stares and “no” answers. Frustrated
that an event of this magnitude was occurring-in her hometown,
Washington, DC, and nobody had heard of it-N’Dieye began to seek
information about event. One
email was sent out on a listserv (thelist@connectdc.com) that catered to
many people of color involved in Afrikan culture & community
organizing in DC asking for more info on the march; that email was then
forward across the country. A flood of responses came to her inbox and
the idea for the documentary began.
A Journey Back
Home
Three weeks later, N’Dieye
traveled to
Washington
,
D.C.
with colleague, Redelia Shaw, to videotape the March for Women’s Lives. Before
the march, organizers for women of color marchers were interviewed in
Atlanta
,
GA
by N’Dieye; including the national co-director of the march, Loretta
Ross. Pre-march planning
events called “Meet-ups” were recorded.
During the march, random women of color (Blacks, Latinas, South
East Asian, Native Americans, and Arabs etc.) were briefly interviewed
to discover:
- The
purpose of the March and what it means to the women of color
marching.
- Issues
and concerns of women of color including the abortion issue.
- The
demographic make up of the marchers
- Their
political views and ideology
What Was Recorded
Over 13 tapes, 60 minutes in length were recorded
before/during the march. Each
tape holds an average of 8 interviews.
After the March, N’Dieye attended a post March rally in
Atlanta
,
GA
and
was also invited to
Chicago
for a
follow-up meeting with SisterSong. That two-day meeting was also
videotaped. The documentary
utilizes footage captured before, during and after the 2004
March for Women’s Lives.
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