About
This poignant and powerful documentary explores the complex history of interracial cooperation, urban change, and social conflict in Brownsville, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, from the 1930s to the 2000s. A case study of the tragedy of urban American race relations, the film recounts the transformation of Brownsville from a poor but racially harmonious area made up largely of Jews and blacks to a community made up almost entirely of people of color.
In the 1940s Brownsville was famous for its grass-roots integration. But it later achieved notoriety for one of the most divisive and bitter black-white confrontations in American history, the 1968 Ocean Hill Brownsville School War, in which the African-American (and Hispanic) community battled the predominantly white and Jewish Teachers Union.
Brownsville Black and White examines some of the most troubling and perplexing issues facing America and its cities and raises a multitude of discussable questions. The film will provoke reflection, analysis, and debate in a variety of courses in sociology and social issues, American history and American studies, African American studies, urban studies, race relations, cultural anthropology, Jewish Studies, and education.
Reviews
"BROWNSVILLE, the last work of renowned populist filmmaker, Richard Broadman (1947-2000), features poignant personal testimony, painstakingly researched archival images and striking contemporary footage. The humane guiding spirit of its director makes it a rare treat." – Jewish Film Institute
Film Links
DER Filmmaker Bio: Richard BroadmanCredits
Brownsville Black and White
Directed by
Richard Broadman
Executive Producer
Laurann Lento Black
Producer
Richard Broadman
Co-Executive Producer
Mia Saunders
Associate Producer
León Siminiani
Music by
Frank Wilkins
Cinematography by
Evans Brown
Nick Doob
Ted Reed
Film Editing by
Richard Broadman
Sound Designer
Richard Broadman
Sound Mixer
Stephen Olech
Sound Designer
Ted Reed
Additional Editor
Noel Buckner
Historical Advisor
Jerald Podair
Research Director
Wendell Pritchett
Historical Advisor
Judith Smith