Is there any way for the rest of us to see this? Jessica Welton Welton Design 205 North Tilden Street Richmond, VA 23221 804 274 0060 [log in to unmask] On Jul 30, 2007, at 1:23 PM, Jim Glanville wrote: > List Members: > > After nearly six years in the making, the documentary movie > "Melungeon Voices" was premiered on June 30th and July 1st, 2007 at > the Seventh Melungeon* Gathering in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. > > The documentary tells the Melungeons' story in their own words > using interviews, family photographs, and family records. It > describes the long years of ostracism, marginalization, and > outright discrimination they suffered—often at the hands of > government agencies such as Virginia's Bureau of Vital Statistics > and its registrar, Walter Plecker. > > Featured prominently in the documentary is Melungeon author and > activist Brent Kennedy, who retold Melungeon history as the prime > example of a multi-ethnic population who put aside their racial and > cultural differences, came together, and survived as one people. > Kennedy's rallying cry was "One People, All Colors." > > The Sunday evening showing, which this writer attended, drew > sustained applause. The documentary concludes on a sad note, with a > notice that Brent Kennedy suffered a debilitating stroke in Fall > 2005. Nonetheless, Kennedy was in a wheel chair in the center of > the front row for that showing, when, for the first time, he saw > the finished production from start to finish. > > This showing was particularly poignant because of the sharp > contrast between the vigorous on-screen Kennedy, and the Kennedy in > the audience, > > The documentary was produced by Julie Williams Dixon, a 1981 > graduate of the Department of Communications at Virginia Tech and > videographed by Warren Gentry. Dixon is a principal in the > Raleigh, NC-based script writing and video production company Words > and Pictures. Gentry is a principal in the Raleigh, NC-based Warren > Gentry and Associates video production company. > > As members of this listserv well know, race is a deeply embedded > aspect of Virginia history and one that periodically obsesses our > discussions. > > "Melungeon Voices" offers an optimistic message about race in > Virginia. In this writer's opinion it deserves the widest possible > showing. > > Jim Glanville > Retired Chemist > 201 Graves Avenue > Blacksburg, VA 24060-5305 > > *Melungeons are a mixed-ethnic people descended from Native > Americans from the Virginia/Carolina region as well as African- > Americans, Europeans, and Mediterranean/Middle Eastern people who > intermarried in colonial times. Traditional Melungeon centers in > Virginia, are Lee, Scott, Tazewell, Wise, and adjacent counties. > > Selected Bibliography > > Alther, Lisa. Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree. New York: > Arcade, 2007. > > DeMarce, Virginia Easley. "Review Essay: The Melungeons." National > Genealogy Society Quarterly, 84(2): 134-149, 1996. > > Elder, Pat Spurlock. The Melungeons: Examining An Appalachian > Legend. Blountville, TN: Continuity Press, revised, expanded, > updated manuscript edition, 2004. > > Gallegos, Eloy J. The Melungeons: The Pioneers of the Interior > Southeastern United States, 1526-1997. Knoxville: Villagra Press, 1997 > > Kennedy, N. Brent with Robyn Vaughan Kennedy. The Melungeons: the > resurrection of a proud people, an untold story of ethnic cleansing > in America. 2nd, rev., and corr. ed. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University > Press, 1997. > > Reed, John Shelton. "Mixing in the Mountains." Southern Cultures, 3 > (4): 25-36,1997. > > Winkler, Wayne. Walking Toward the Sunset: the Melungeons of > Appalachia. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 2005.