Last Disinterested School headlines the Yonkers Film Festival 2019
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Posted By: Alice Crowe-Bell on September 24, 2019 Last Disinterested School headlines the Yonkers Film Festival, Monday, November 4, 2019, at 6:45 – 7:35 pm at the YoFi Digital Media Arts Center 28 Wells Avenue Yonkers, NY 10701. For more information, visit https://www.yofifest.com. Last Disintegrated School tells the untold story of the day Thurgood Marshall came to a segregated mountain community called Hillburn in upstate New York. Marshall, an NAACP lawyer at the time, assisted Hillburn's striking parents in breaking down racial segregation at Brook School, the last school to be integrated in New York in 1943. Hillburn is located in Rockland County, NY. Last Disintegrated School shatters the myth that school segregation was only a southern problem. The film questions the adequacy of how the American education system teaches history. Have we really made progress? Last Disintegrated School is written by Alice Crowe and directed by Alicia Crowe, identical twins, first-time filmmakers, and attorneys, and hot sauce entrepreneurs. The film is narrated by Chuck D, member of Prophets of Rage, and leader of the legendary hip-hop group, Public Enemy, rapper and Hall of Fame music artist. Music is composed by Sam Waymon, award-winning music composer, and brother of music icon Nina Simone. Last Disintegrated School is part 3 of a series called Secrets of the Hollow, the other two episodes are Assault on Mt. Moor, and the Hidden History of Blacks in Rockland. "Last Disintegrated School is dedicated to our late cousin, Edith Palmer, family historian, a retired librarian, who devoted her life to genealogy and research. Palmer's research connected the dots about our grandparents who were both public school teachers in the segregated south in Clayton, a town in Johnston County, North Carolina in the 1920s. Our grandmother Edith Cleopatra Crowe was a mathematics teacher. Our grandfather Julius Crowe was principal of White Oak School, a Rosenwald school in Newton Grove, NC in Sampson County. Julius Crowe was a graduate of Brick College in the early 1900s. Brick College, a traditional and trade school for black students, was founded by the American Missionary Association near Enfield, Edgecombe County, N.C. We are honoring our grandparents legacy by telling the story of the Last Disintegrated School," says Alice. "When we learned that Justice Thurgood Marshall was the lawyer who advised Hillburn striking parent's we knew this was a story we had to tell," says Alice. Our passion for telling this story stems from the fact that like Mr. Marshall, and other legal champions for freedom and equality like Mary Ann Shadd Cary, we too are graduates of Howard University School of Law. Marshall trained under the philosophy of Charles Hamilton Houston, Dean of Howard University Law School, and NAACP first special counsel. Hamilton is known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow." His legal strategies played a crucial role in almost every civil rights case that went before the Supreme Court between 1930 and 1954, Brown v. Board of Education. Mary Ann Shadd Cary set the framework for fighting for freedom and equality. Shadd Cary was an activist, writer, educator, and lawyer who graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1880. "As descendants of enslaved African people we fulfilled a family legacy by attending Howard University School of Law," says Alicia. "Last Disintegrated School debunks the myths about Rockland County history as a benevolent safe haven filled with abolitionists and supporters of the underground railroad. Secrets of the Hollow, a three-part series puts the pieces together to understand why Thurgood Marshall would have to come to a mountain community in upstate New York in the first place? Or why black parents would have to risk their livelihoods, homes, and reputation in a small community for the sake of educating their children," says Alicia. "We are inspired by Ava Duvernay, an award-winning filmmaker. Duvernay encourages black filmmakers to tell our stories and give agency to our voice because our voice matters," says Alicia. Last Disintegrated School is co-produced by the Crowe' sister's production company A Crowe Flyz Productions in association with Turnstone Productions. Executive producers are Camille Yarbrough and Chiz Shultz. Last Disintegrated School was made possible with funding from the Arts Council of Rockland, The Rockland County Legislature, the Rockland County 'Women's Bar Association, the Julius and Eleanor Kass Family Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation, and friends and family. For more information, press only: Alice Crowe 845-348-1160 acrowe29@gmail.com acroweflyz.com https://yofifest2019.eventive.org/films/5d... If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Alice Crowe-Bell
From Nyack, NY Howard University class of Member Since December 2014 |
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