40 years later: Now can we talk?

40 years later: Now can we talk? by Lee Anne Bell (Producer), and Markie Hancock (Director). United States: Hancock Productions, 2013. $19.95, DVD and discussion guide.

Reviewed by Marquis Dwarte, Baltimore County Public Schools.

In this compelling documentary, executive producer Lee Anne Bell and director Markie Hancock, chronicled the events that transpired in Batesville, Mississippi's South Panola High School during its transition to a racially integrated school. To better understand the challenges of integration, Bell and Hancock employed one-on-one interviews and focus group discussions as means to provoke discussion about and provide insight to the experiences of, both, Black and White alumni from South Panola's graduating class of 1969. The interviews were conducted at Batesville High School, and this setting provided strong visual cues for the viewers and evoked authentic emotion from the participants. For the first time ever, the Black and White students of South Panola High School's class of 1969 were afforded an opportunity to speak honestly and openly about the events that took place during the early years of school integration. With more than 40 years passing, the question still remained why it took over four decades for South Panola's class of 1969 to finally invite their Black peers to the class reunion.

Throughout the documentary, a series of reoccurring themes emerged as the alumni provided their stories, experiences, and accounts of the impact...