Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Thank you Thomas Allen Harris. I saw your film last night and the theatre was packed with an incredibly diverse crowd of native people, black and white folk, students, educators, an Italian playwright, old couples, interracial couples, lgbt community, elders... people sighing, cringing, crying, sitting on the edge of their seats, eyes transfixed to the screen. This is an extraordinary documentary. Shifting the gravitational field and critical frame of how we see ourselves and our shared history. An excavation of countless unseen images and unacknowledged photographers, a massive archive from the Civil War, Reconstruction and Civil Rights eras...It was so heart-felt. So brave. Raw. Tender. Vulnerable. Relentless. It's challenging to articulate everything I felt while watching this film. But I just want to thank you for opening your journey to us. For creating epiphanies in our eyes, hearts and minds. For weaving together so many lost stories and lives. For your ambition, passion and breathtaking skill. For illuminating the invisible, unseen and unheard.